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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.

Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

Former Treasury boss unaware auto task force fired GM's Wagoner

We dig a good political tell-all every once in a while (how else will we get our political fix while waiting for House of Cards' third season?). Today, we get just that from former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's new book, "Stress Test," which details, among other parts of the 2009 financial catastrophe, the structured bankruptcy that allowed Chrysler and General Motors to emerge as competitive players in the auto industry.
In the book, which is nicely recapped by The Detroit News, Geithner discusses the firing of GM CEO Rick Wagoner while explaining how much trust he had in the auto industry task force that executed the move without his knowledge.
Auto Czar Steve Rattner "didn't even consult me before he fired General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner; if anything, that move increased my confidence in Team Auto," Geithner wrote.