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UAW urging Chrysler to sell shares to investors

The United Auto Workers union is pushing Chrysler to sell 16.6 percent of its stock to investors in an attempt to establish the value of the shares. The UAW is currently locked in a lawsuit with Chrysler parent company Fiat over how much the Italian automaker should pay to buy shares from the trust fund. Last year, Fiat told the trust it intended to exercise its right to purchase 3.3 percent of the union's shares at issue. But the union contended the 54,154 shares were worth closer to $381 million instead of the $155 million Fiat offered.
Currently, the UAW owns 41.5 percent of Chrysler while Fiat holds 58.5 percent of the company. Currently, it's unclear whether the UAW could force Chrysler to put the shares on the open market. Doing so would be the first step toward a much-anticipated initial public offering. Chrysler has said it will comply with its shareholders agreement, and Fiat has echoed that tune. According to The Detroit Free Press, the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust has declined to comment on the situation.

Weekly Recap: Lincoln Continental serves up the style, Cadillac CT6 delivers the substance in New York

Lincoln and Cadillac grabbed the spotlight this week at the New York Auto Show in a dramatic fashion that evoked the brands' glory days. America's two luxury carmakers went toe-to-toe with their glittering reveals and plans for ambitious expansion. Both were selling their technology, style and the promise of a better future. Cadillac vs. Lincoln. At the Javits Center, 2015 seemed a lot like 1956. Neither company was interested in drawing comparisons with the other, which is fair, and accurate. They're in vastly different places in terms of sales and the pace of their turnarounds, but they hope to reach the same eventual destination at the pinnacle of the luxury-car world. Lincoln used the element of surprise to great effect with the Continental concept. A production version is still at least a year away, and the company was vague on details. Officially, we don't even know if it is front- or rear-wheel drive, though speculation abounds. Who cares? The seats can be adjusted 30 ways! The Continental also showed off a bold chrome grille that will be the new face of Lincoln. The blue bomber also rolled on blinged-out 21-inch polished aluminum wheels, used a 3.0-liter EcoBoost engine and had huge LED head lights with "laser-assisted" high beams. All of this resulted in almost blinding attention. The concept drew rave reviews, stirred controversy with Bentley designers who argued Lincoln ripped them off, and most importantly, pointed a way forward for the newly determined brand that hopes to compete with Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Cadillac and Lexus. View 32 Photos Meanwhile, Cadillac showed the CT6, a finished product that will top its range and is loaded with the best and latest technologies General Motors has at its disposal. With production starting late this year, Cadillac had more specifics at the ready. Engines? Cadillac has a couple V6s and a turbo four for sure. It's working on a hybrid, and has considered a V-Series variant. It's based on a new rear-wheel-drive, aluminum-intensive chassis called Omega, features an advanced collision-mitigation system with automatic braking and has a cabin that's laden with "leathers, exotic woods and carbon fiber." It will be assembled at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck factory and goes on sale next year. At this point, Cadillac is more than willing to talk about every except for the price. The devil was not in the details for Cadillac, as evidenced by the CT6. But it wasn't for Lincoln either.

Chrysler 100, midsize CUV and plug-in hybrid minivan launch bid to go mainstream

The news just keeps on rolling from Auburn Hills today, as Fiat Chrysler continues to detail its five-year growth plan. This time round, we're talking about Chrysler. The troubled American brand has been limited in the past few years to the lamentable Sebring/200, the Town & Country and the 300, although that's likely to change in the coming years.
"The Chrysler brand is not luxury - it's not premium. Chrysler is the mainstream American brand," brand CEO Al Gardner said during today's presentation.
Gardner set a sales target of 800,000 units by 2018, which marks an increase of 350,000 units compared to its 2013 sales results. That's a pretty big ask for a brand that's struggled to define itself over the past decade.