2014 Ford F150 Xlt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ford hiring 2,200 salaried US workers this year

With its influx of popular new products made in the US, Ford Motor Company has announced that it intends to hire 2,200 new salaried workers domestically this year. This is the biggest increase of salaried workers for Ford in the last 10 years, and it is all a part of Ford's contract commitment to the United Auto Workers union to bring 12,000 new jobs to the US by 2015.
There were no specifics as to where in the US these job openings will be, but Ford did reiterate that it will be spending $773 million on equipment upgrades and capacity expansion at six plants located in southeast Michigan; as a whole, Ford is investing a total of $6.2 billion to its US assembly plants over the next couple years. According to recently appointed president of the Americas Joe Hinrichs, the new jobs will be focused on areas such as engineering, manufacturing and computer software. Ford will post its job openings online at careers.ford.com, and it will also use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to recruit new workers, including military veterans.
Scroll down for more about Ford's planned job growth as well as how to go about applying for said openings.

Detroit automakers gain market share simultaneously for first time in 20 years

While monthly sales figures might be an easy way of tracking the progression of the auto industry and individual automakers, looking at market share might be more indicative of how each company is actually standing up against its competitors. For the Detroit Three automakers, they have collectively lost almost 30 percent of the market over the last 20 years, but now, for the first time since 1993, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have each posted market share gains at the same time.
According to Automotive News, Ford's share increased the most by 0.7 percent, GM was up 0.5 percent and Chrysler rose marginally by 0.2 percent, giving the Detroit automakers a total market share of 45.6 percent. As for the Japan's Big Three, the article reports that Toyota is up by 0.7 percent, Nissan is down the same amount and Honda has seen "little change."

Weekly Recap: Volkswagen moves forward under Muller

Most stunning was the speed of it all. On the morning of September 18, Volkswagen AG stood atop the automotive world. It was profitable and sold more cars than Toyota and General Motors, its two main rivals for global supremacy. By nightfall, the company would be embroiled in scandal. Revelations the German auto giant cheated on diesel emissions testing in the United States reverberated from Washington to Wolfsburg, Germany. What started out as a problem with 482,000 VWs and Audis in the US exploded into an international scandal. Millions of vehicles have the rigged software, meaning VW broke environmental rules as its cars spewed pollutants all over the world. The fallout began immediately. Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn – one of the most respected and capable executives in the business – apologized on Sunday and Tuesday. On Wednesday he resigned. As the week progressed, the company's stock took a beating and credit agencies threatened to drop their ratings. VW dealers and owners said they felt betrayed. The automaker hired a law firm that defended BP after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The EPA is already extending its testing procedures to look for "defeat devices" like the ones used by Volkswagen. On Friday the company announced a major restructuring. Matthias Muller, Porsche's chief for the last five years, took over as CEO of Volkswagen and is charged with picking up the pieces of a shattered company facing regulatory action and lawsuits. With GM, Toyota, and Takata scandals still fresh, Volkswagen will likely experience unprecedented levels of scrutiny. Additionally, VW's markets in the United States, Canada, and Mexico will be combined into a North American region under the leadership of former Skoda boss Winfried Vahland, though US chief executive Michael Horn will stay on. The company is also realigning its brands by specialty and streamlining its board. Firings, government action, restructurings, and international outrage – things that usually build up over months or years – all occurred in about a week. With dizzying speed, Volkswagen's future has changed dramatically. It all happened, it's still happening, so fast. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 Buick Cascada to start at $33,990 Buick hasn't made a convertible in 25 years. That's a whole person who can drink plus a kindergartner. So it's been awhile. Enter the 2016 Buick Cascada. It has top-shelf Opel engineering, slinky design, and it's reasonably priced.