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UAW chooses FCA as lead bargaining company

The United Auto Workers has chosen Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as its lead bargaining company as it seeks to finalize new contracts with the 140,000 or so workers represented by the union. That doesn't mean the UAW won't continue to talk with Ford and General Motors. "All three companies have been working with UAW bargaining teams toward a collective bargaining agreement and continue to do so," UAW President Dennis Williams said in a statement. It does mean, however, that any deal the UAW strikes with FCA will form the basis of bargaining talks with the other two American automakers. Contracts between the UAW and the Detroit Three automakers are set to expire tonight at midnight. If no deal is made, both parties may vote to extend the previous contract. Industry analysts polled by The Detroit News suggest that a deal with FCA might be the most difficult to reach, since it is the smallest and least profitable of the three US car companies, and because of its high percentage of second-tier workers. There's a super short statement on the matter from the UAW, and there's an equally concise confirmation from FCA. Feel free to read them below. Detroit – The UAW this afternoon announced that FCA US LLC will be the lead target in Big Three auto talks. "All three companies are working hard toward a collective bargaining agreement. At this time, the UAW has selected FCA US LLC to be the lead bargaining company," said Dennis Williams, President of the UAW. "All three companies have been working with UAW bargaining teams toward a collective bargaining agreement and continue to do so." -------- Statement regarding the Status of Contract Talks between FCA US LLC and the UAW FCA US LLC confirms that it has been selected as the company to set pattern on a collective bargaining agreement with the UAW. As negotiations are ongoing, the Company can offer no further comment at this time.

SRT Viper plant idled over slow sales [UPDATE]

The SRT Viper is taking an extended production break later this spring while the factory copes with low demand and gears up for the 2015 model year. Chrysler will idle the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant from April 14 to June 23, and 91 employees there will be laid off during that time. Sales have been slow so far this year, with just 91 Vipers sold in the first two months of 2014 (591 were sold all last year), according to The Detroit News. According to Chrysler, this is all part of the plan for the Viper. The automaker says that the Connor Avenue factory was meant to fluctuate in this way because it only builds one vehicle, and the sports coupe was never meant to be a mass-production vehicle. The company claims that idling the plant will allow it to manage showroom inventories. "Customer and dealer demand for the SRT Viper continues at expected levels," said Chrysler spokesperson Dianna Gutierrez to The Detroit News. SRT hasn't revealed what changes are planned for the 2015 model. This isn't the first time we've heard of the Viper's weak demand. As of October 2013, SRT had hoped to build around 2,000 examples, but only about 1,000 had been made. At that point, officials then revealed production would likely be scaled back. We've contacted the Chrysler for further information, and we'll update this post if and when we hear back. UPDATE: Chrysler has passed along this official statement regarding the plant idling: Chrysler Group confirms that its Conner Avenue Assembly Plant will be down, beginning the week of April 14. Production will resume the week of June 23. Ninety-one UAW-represented employees will be laid off during this time. The SRT Viper is a hand-crafted American exotic car that is designed for a specific consumer that values performance, style and exclusivity. It has never been intended to be a mass-production vehicle as less than 29,000 vehicles have been produced in the past 20 years. The ability to increase and decrease production at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant allows the company to continue to meet our customers' desire to keep these special cars exclusive. We will be able to take advantage of this transition to manage dealer inventories.

Why Chrysler made the Pacifica Hybrid

There were a number of important details missing from Chrysler's debut of the Pacifica Hybrid yesterday. Pricing and availability, for example. We still don't know those specifics – Chrysler just says it will all be announced closer to launch – but we spent some time with Kevin Mets, the chief engineer for the Pacifica Hybrid, to learn more about the powertrain and why Chrysler decided to offer this vehicle at this time. "This could be a primary electric vehicle for someone." We started with the big question: why build a plug-in minivan at all? "It brings the ability that if you want an electric vehicle, a hybrid, you don't have to compromise size to get there," Mets said. "For instance just a few minutes ago I was talking to someone from Canada and they were saying in the US it's two vehicles per household is kind of the norm. In Canada it's not that way, it's more like a vehicle or even less than a vehicle. There's a lot of people that want an electrical vehicle in Canada but they can't make it their primary vehicle. This is a vehicle that could be a primary electric vehicle for someone in Canada, or anybody else for that matter, who wants a plug-in vehicle, an electric vehicle that doesn't have to compromise in size." So, was the development of the Pacifica PHEV influenced more by customers saying they wanted a plug-in hybrid minivan or was it driven more by green vehicle regulations? "That's a tough one to answer," Mets said. "Certainly you have to meet all the requirements. There's a little bit of everything there. You also can pick what vehicles you want to do it on. You pick which vehicle is the best opportunity and this is the one we chose. It's a little bit of both." As for when the Pacifica Hybrid will reach dealerships, all we know is, "late 2016." But Mets said that the minivan will at some point be available in all 50 states. Initial availability might be limited to places like California, but, "The idea is to sell it nationwide," he said. Chrysler decided on the "Pacifica Hybrid" name instead of the more-accurate "Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid" for simplicity. Anyone who might care that the minivan plugs in will find out that it, indeed, has a plug, the reasoning goes, but when Chrysler talks to the average mass market shopper, "hybrid" tells them everything they need to know. Under the hood (and the floorboards, where the batteries are) there are a lot of new bits.