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UAW ratifies FCA contract

The second time was apparently the charm for the proposed contract between the United Auto Workers and FCA US as 77 percent of union members have ratified the four-year deal, it was announced Thursday. "This agreement represents an investment in our US workforce and recognizes its contributions to the company's growth over the past six years." the automaker said in a statement. Now, the UAW must move forward on new arrangements with Ford and General Motors. After members rejected the original offer, UAW president Dennis Williams (pictured above, right) was positive about the new deal's acceptance. "The resolve of our membership and the dedication of our negotiating team has produced an agreement that affords UAW members a strong wage package and job security while still allowing the company to competitively produce high quality vehicles for our customers," he said in a statement. In contrast to the last offer, the new contract largely eliminates the two-tier wage system, and it's now it's possible to attain the same $29 per hour pay over eight years of employment. According to the Detroit Free Press, the deal also no longer limits FCA US from hiring entry-level workers. The original plan for a healthcare co-op across the Detroit automakers is also axed from the latest arrangement. While the strategy was supposed to lower costs, the potential changes weren't explained well to union members, and they rejected it. UAW FCA MEMBERS RATIFY NEW CONTRACT Featured / Negotiations / October 22, 2015 DETROIT – The members have voted to ratify a new four-year collective bargaining agreement with FCA by a 77% majority. The results of the voting are as follows: • Production workers – 77% • Skilled Trades – 72% • Salaried Bargaining Unit – 87% President Williams stated, "The recent bargaining process that took place on behalf of our members at FCA is a testament to the UAW's democratic values and commitment to our members. The resolve of our membership and the dedication of our negotiating team has produced an agreement that affords UAW members a strong wage package and job security while still allowing the company to competitively produce high quality vehicles for our customers." "UAW members at FCA have obtained a strong agreement that provides substantial wage gains, fairness in the workplace, and job security.

France tries to dodge blame for blowing up FCA-Renault merger deal

PARIS — France sought to fend off a hail of criticism on Thursday after it was blamed for scuppering a $35 billion-plus merger between carmakers Fiat-Chrysler and Renault only 10 days after it was officially announced. Shares in Italian-American FCA and France's Renault fell sharply in early trading after FCA pulled out of talks, saying "the political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully." French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said the government, which has a 15% stake in Renault, had engaged constructively, but had not been prepared to back a deal without the endorsement of Renault's current alliance partner Nissan. Nissan had said it would abstain at a Renault board meeting to vote on the merger proposal. However, a source close to FCA played down the significance of Nissan's stance in the discussions, believing French President Emmanuel Macron was looking for a way out of the deal after coming under pressure at home. Context The FCA-Renault talks were conducted against the backdrop of a French public outcry over 1,044 layoffs at a General Electric factory. The U.S. company had promised to safeguard jobs there when it acquired France's Alstom in 2015. The collapse of the deal, which would have created the world's third-biggest carmaker behind Japan's Toyota and Germany's Volkswagen, revives questions about how both FCA and Renault will meet the challenges of costly investments in electric and self-driving cars on their own. The merger had aimed to achieve 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in annual synergies, with FCA gaining access to Renault's and Nissan's superior electric drive technology and the French firm getting a share of FCA's lucrative Jeep and Ram brands. FCA has long been looking for a merger partner, and some analysts say its search for a deal is becoming more urgent as it is ill-prepared for tougher new regulations on emissions. It previously held unsuccessful talks with Peugeot maker PSA Group, in which the French state also owns a stake. French budget minister Gerald Darmanin said the door should not be closed on the possibility of a deal with Renault, adding Paris would be happy to re-examine any new proposal from FCA. "Talks could resume at some time in the future," he told FranceInfo radio.

New Fiat 500 Abarth confirmed, reveal coming in November

Though it's been absent from America for a few years, the Fiat 500 continues on overseas. But the line has been strangely split. The main 500 is a recently redesigned car from the ground up, and is electric only. Meanwhile, the 500 Abarth has survived, but it's still mostly the same car introduced more than a decade ago. And the obvious question has been, will there be a new one? The answer is yes. And we're going to see it soon. The past couple of weeks, Abarth has been sharing teasers about a new product. Two of those teasers were very explicit. On Monday, it announced the product would be a new 500 Abarth, and it would be shown on November 22. And on Tuesday, it showed a glimpse of the car, which is shown at top (original teaser post below). This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Looking closely, we can see that this new Abarth is based on the electric 500. It has the same headlights that are split by the hood about 75% of the way up. It also has the circular turn signals with body color inserts. Combined with the vivid lime green and humming, electrical noises in the background, we have to assume that the new Abarth will be battery powered. Assuming the electric Abarth follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, it should have more aggressive styling, sportier suspension, and likely extra horsepower.  We won't have long to learn more with the reveal just a couple of weeks away. It's also likely going to fuel our desire to have the Fiat 500 return to America, since it offers a lot of style and solid range for not a lot of money. A part of us holds out hope that Fiat will bring it here, since according to the L.A. Auto Show press conference schedule, Fiat has a conference. We genuinely don't know what will be announced, but it sure would be great timing to announce the electric 500 for America and then drop a hot version a week later. Or it could just be a 500X update. We'll find that out even sooner. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Autoblog Short Cut: Fiat 500 Abarth Hot Lap