2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Touring L on 2040-cars

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Detroit Three autoworkers could get huge bonuses

For a long time, being a line worker for one of the Detroit Three has meant living with an uncertain future. With the health of American automakers on the rise, though, things are also starting to look up for the men and women building the cars. The latest sign that things aren't bad? Big profit-sharing checks.
According to The Detroit News, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler could end up paying over $800 million to 130,000 workers as part of a profit-sharing plan. According to The News, the economic impact of these profits in Michigan alone could exceed $400 million, besting the NFL's Super Bowl, MLB's All-Star Game and the NHL's Winter Classic for their economic impact.
This is the third straight year the Detroit Three have issued profit-sharing checks to UAW employees, and for many workers, the checks are as close as they'll get to a raise, due to the most recent contract between the union and the manufacturers. On average, employees at GM and Ford receive $1 for every $1 million in North American (not just the US) pre-tax profits. Chrysler, meanwhile, gets a similar deal, although the Auburn Hills-based company calculates profit sharing using 85 percent of the brand's global profits.

2017 Chrysler Pacifica is perfect for town and country

The Pacifica has returned. In a surprising move, Chrysler revived the name of its old three-row CUV for the long-serving Town & Country's replacement. That's a bold strategy. Let's see if it pays off. Chrysler's new minivan offers a tremendous improvement on its predecessor in terms of interior and exterior design, available technology, and powertrain. Design inspiration is most clearly drawn from the brand's 200 sedan, both inside and out. Gone are the egg-crate grille, blocky headlights, and vertical taillights of the old van, all of which have been replaced with slim, stylish units. Doubtlessly destined for high-end trims, Chrysler will also offer a 200-style, two-tone interior with over 35 inches of screen real estate. 8.4 inches are reserved for the central UConnect display, while drivers have their own seven-inch display in the instrument cluster. As for the kiddies, they're the big winners, with a pair of ten-inch touchscreen displays in the back. Underhood, the big news is reserved for the new plug-in-hybrid powertrain. You can read all about that here. For right now, we'll focus on the familiar 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and its accompanying nine-speed automatic transmission. There is 287 horsepower, 262 pound-feet of torque, and what will likely be a healthy improvement in fuel economy over the old Town & Country. You can read much more on the all-new Pacifica from our original post last night. We've also got a fresh gallery of live images from its big debut here at Detroit's Cobo Center, available up top.

Sergio: Two-tier wage structure eliminated in FCA deal with UAW [w/video]

The two-tiered wage structure that governs the way domestic car companies pay their unionized employees – and rankles many of them in the process – could soon be a thing of the past. In a tentative deal seen as a bellwether for other ongoing negotiations, the United Auto Works and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract that would disband the two-tier structure, in which some workers earn higher hourly wages for performing the same job, over time. Officials who announced the tentative agreement late Tuesday in Detroit were short on details of its contents and union members still must ratify it. But FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said the two-tiered structure will disband by the end of the contract. "The team has crafted together a very thoughtful process, where the issue will go away, go away over time," he said. Further details weren't divulged. Union negotiations with Ford and General Motors are ongoing, so hammering together a deal that sheds the two-tier structure with Chrysler first could set a precedent followed by the other members of Detroit's Big Three automakers. Other key issues that emerged in negotiations with FCA included escalating health-care costs and rewarding workers for the health of the auto industry. But dealing with the two-tier structure, born as GM and Chrysler circled bankruptcy during the Great Recession, was something the UAW wanted to confront. "The UAW has a philosophy about the economic balance of this country and the inequality, and our mission is to bridge the gap in this country," UAW president Dennis Williams said. "It's gotten out of whack. ... We don't want to share anything, and I truly believe that corporations that have that set of mind have lost their way." The UAW's executive board was expected to review the tentative agreement this morning before a union membership vote is scheduled. For Marchionne, who skipped the Frankfurt Motor Show to shepherd the negotiations during their final hours, the tentative agreement means he can shift his concern back toward pushing an FCA merger with General Motors or another company and touting the idea of industry consolidation in general. "The other side of this is capital usage in this business, which is something that remains unsolved," he said. "It makes the labor side sort of pale in comparison, given the magnitude of the potential synergies and benefits we'd be deriving from an intelligent approach.