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Autoblog Minute: New Civic, FCA UAW Agreement, Frankfurt

FCA reaches a tentative agreement with the UAW, Honda reveals the all-new 2016 Civic, and the Frankfurt Motor Show dazzles us again. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on the Weekly Recap edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] FCA reaches a tentative agreement with the UAW, Honda reveals the all-new 2016 Civic, and the Frankfurt Motor Show dazzles us again. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. FCA reached a tentative labor agreement with UAW leadership. The major focus of the new deal reportedly includes: the eventual elimination of the two-tier pay scale [00:00:30] and pooling worker health care. Now that a leadership agreement is in place, the deal will be sent to FCA's rank-and-file. FCA has about 36,000 hourly employees. We got a first look at the interior and exterior of the 10th-generation Civic. Honda expects the new sedan to dominate the C-segment when it hits dealerships later this fall. Civic coupe, five-door hatchback, Si and Type R will all come later. The 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show is in the books and there was a lot of news to get excited about. [00:01:00] Porsche introduced a fully electric concept car in the Mission E. If they make this car, Porsche could give Tesla nightmares. We also saw SUVs from Jaguar and Bentley. There were two beautiful Italian convertibles from Ferrari and Lamborghini. Meanwhile, Mercedes introduced a concept of their own in the IAA - a vehicle that experiments with adaptable aerodynamics. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to check out my full recap this Saturday. Plus we'll have some added insight on General Motors' deal to [00:01:30] avoid federal prosecution. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. UAW/Unions Frankfurt Motor Show Bentley Chrysler Ferrari Honda Jaguar Lamborghini Mercedes-Benz Porsche Rolls-Royce Tesla Convertible SUV Concept Cars Electric Supercars Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video porsche mission e concept

Elon Musk is NOT happy with just 150 Model S sales in China in January

There's been some debate about how Tesla is really doing in China - a cornerstone market for the California company - and whether media stories about troubles there are overblowing the situation. Just last July it was breaking quarterly records with the help of 1,000 sales in China and we called the momentum "gangbusters." Then the news trend went the opposite direction for the rest of the year, with the company's two top managers resigning and a constant rill of speculative articles laying out the various issues Tesla was having there and why it's switching up its disclosures. Well, the issue might be overblown, but there is definitely something brewing in China. Reuters was shown a transcript of an e-mail Elon Musk sent to regional managers at the end of January after they sold 120 cars for the month. Those 120 sales were on the heels of "unexpectedly weak" sales in Q4 last year, when Musk said the China situation would "be in pretty good shape probably in the middle of" 2015. In the missive he said managers could be fired or demoted if they can't show that they're "on a clear path to positive long-term cash flow." He also wrote that that specialized roles and any personnel outside of vehicle production would need to be justified because, "There is no way that we can afford to subsidize a region of any size in the long term without causing serious harm to the company." In 2013, when Tesla was ramping up for sales in China, Musk predicted that market would be about on par with the US by this year; Tesla sold almost 19,000 cars in the US last year, and a 120-unit January won't get China anywhere near those numbers. We're sure there'll be a lot of questions about the e-mail, the Chinese market, and Tesla's projections when the company holds a conference call for analysts after presenting its 2014 results later today. For one in-country assessment of Tesla's troubles, check out this piece on Car News China. We reached out to Tesla about the China email, but were told the company had no comment.

Elon Musk says 'right on' to letter asking for new Model S features

If you want to get Tesla CEO Elon Musk's attention, taking out a full-page ad in his local newspaper will apparently do the trick. That's what two self-proclaimed "very highly satisfied" Model S owners did, asking for a few small changes in the popular EV. In response, Musk Tweeted a picture of the ad and wrote, "Ad taken out in Palo Alto Daily [News] by two Model S owners is right. Many of the suggestions will be implemented soon." The ad also appeared in the Palo Alto Weekly. You can see all of the requests by clicking the image above, but we'll mention some of them here. Improved voice-activated phone dialing, better sensors (like blind-spot monitors), redesigned sun visor, automatically closing charging port door and then the big one: Tesla ads. Tesla isn't talking about when the new features will be available, but if any of those items are unlikely in the near future, it's Tesla advertisements. After all, why pay for media attention when a simple Tweet about other people paying for your ad can get tremendous amounts of attention?