2014 Chrysler 300 Series on 2040-cars

Auto blog

180,000 new vehicles are sitting, derailed by lack of transport trains

If you're planning on buying a new car in the next month or so, you might want to pick from what's on the lot, because there could be a long wait for new vehicles from the factory. Locomotives continue to be in short supply in North America, and that's causing major delays for automakers trying to move assembled cars.
According to The Detroit News, there are about 180,000 new vehicles waiting to be transported by rail in North America at the moment. In a normal year, it would be about 69,000. The complications have been industry-wide. Toyota, General Motors, Honda and Ford all reported experiencing some delays, and Chrysler recently had hundreds of minivans sitting on the Detroit waterfront waiting to be shipped out.
The problem is twofold for automakers. First, the fracking boom in the Bakken oil field in the Plains and Canada is monopolizing many locomotives. Second, the long, harsh winter is still causing major delays in freight train travel. The bad weather forced trains to slow down and carry less weight, which caused a backup of goods to transport. The auto companies resorted to moving some vehicles by truck, which was a less efficient but necessary option.

Stellantis and Foxconn will announce a strategic partnership on Tuesday

MILAN — Automaker Stellantis and iPhone assembler Foxconn said on Monday they would announce a strategic partnership on Tuesday. Last year, then-Fiat Chrysler, now part of Stellantis, said it planned to set up a joint venture with Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn's parent company, to build electric cars and develop internet-connected vehicles in China. Fiat Chrysler merged with France's Peugeot maker PSA at the beginning of the year to create Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest carmaker, and relaunching in China is one of its main goals. The two companies will hold a conference call on Tuesday to present the partnership, with Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares and Foxconn Chairman Young Liu among others, the groups said in a joint statement. In January Taiwan's Foxconn and China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group said they were joining hands to provide contract manufacturing for automakers. They have said they were in talks to provide contract manufacturing services to electric vehicle maker Faraday Future, while Foxconn will also help building electric sport-utility vehicles in 2022 for Chinese startup Byton. And last week, Fisker Automotive signed with Foxconn to build an electric car at a factory in the United States. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid powertrain feature walkthrough | Autoblog

Court ruling to delay Fiat's Chrysler buyout?

We've already reported on the attempts of Fiat to purchase the remaining 41.5-percent stake in Chrysler, currently owned by the United Auto Workers' VEBA healthcare trust. And while the issues still aren't resolved, Fiat has received both a bit of good news and a bit of bad news from a Delaware judge.
The good news is that the court ruled in favor on two key arguments of Fiat's, relating to what is a fair price for the Chrysler shares. The rulings essentially slash half a billion dollars off the price of the 54,000 shares owned by VEBA, according to a report from Reuters.
The bad news is that this makes the UAW an even more difficult opponent in negotiations. Its VEBA fund is meant to cover ever escalating retiree healthcare costs, so naturally, the UAW wants to get as much money as possible. Losing a big chunk of cash isn't likely to make the union more cooperative.