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Autoblog Podcast #366

Episode #366 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Jeff Ross and George Kennedy of Boldride.com talk about the 2015 Lincoln Navigator, Volkswagen's US market woes, and the drama at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #366:
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VW will need to recall 323,700 diesel vehicles in India

Volkswagen Group's diesel emissions scandal continues to spread, and now the automaker must recall 323,700 diesel vehicles in India because of too much pollution, according to Bloomberg. The campaign covers models from several of the group's brands including VW, Audi, and Skoda. The Automotive Research Association of India first discovered the emissions irregularities after conducting its own real world and lab tests, and the Indian government then commanded VW to explain what was happening. The country's regulators will allow the automaker to set the recall schedule for the repairs, according to a government official who spoke to Bloomberg, and the campaign will likely happen in phases. Among the affected vehicles, there will be about 100,000 from the VW brand including the Jetta, Passat, and some variants of the Polo. VW already has repairs for some of the affected diesel engines in Europe, and the company can allegedly fix the emissions problem with new software and small hardware changes. The situation is harder in the US where regulators still need to approve any proposed solutions, and VW also must now recall its 3.0-liter V6 TDI in California to eliminate other problematic code. The German automaker faces investigations from regulators all over the world into its emissions evasions, and they could be quite costly. One estimate already suggests the minimum price of the potential repairs, fines, and other expenses at about $24.5 billion. Officials in Brazil have already fined the company $13 million for pollution issues with the diesel Amarok pickup and requested a recall to fix them.

Volkswagen officially grants access to UAW in Tennessee

An audit at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, TN has revealed that at least 45 percent of the facility's workers support unionization, leading the German company to grant access rights to the United Auto Workers. This is a tremendous step in the UAW's long-running and at times contentious pursuit of the workforce at Chattanooga. With this latest move, "local leadership is ready to move forward with additional conversations with the company," the union said in a statement obtained by The Detroit News. "As a starting point, UAW Local 42 will take advantage of the company's offer to establish bi-weekly meetings with Volkswagen Human Resources and the Volkswagen Chattanooga Executive Committee." The News reports that UAW Secretary-Treasurer Gary Casteel, shown above speaking at the Chattanooga plant last summer, claimed these meetings "will remind Human Resources and the Chattanooga Executive Committee of the mutually agreed-upon commitments that were made by Volkswagen and the UAW last spring in Germany. Among those commitments: Volkswagen will recognize the UAW as the representative of our members. We believe Volkswagen made this commitment in good faith and we believe the company will honor this commitment." It's important to note that despite Casteel's remarks, this is not a collective-bargaining agreement, Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at University of California, Berkeley, told The News. "But it is a step in the direction of recognition, which ultimately could lead to collective bargaining. This is not the end point," Shaiken said. "We don't know what's next. We're in unchartered territory."