1987 Volkswagen Vanagon Campmobile Van Camper 3-door 2.1l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #366 LIVE!

We're set to record Autoblog Podcast #366 tonight, and you can check out the topics below, drop us your questions and comments via our Q&A module, and don't forget to subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so. To take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #366
2015 Lincoln Navigator

VW Chattanooga plant very close to UAW representation

After months of fighting from both sides, it looks like the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, TN, might unionize under the United Auto Workers after all. According to a letter acquired by The Associated Press, VW and the UAW reportedly struck a deal last spring where the union agreed to stop its challenge of the organization vote with the National Labor Relations Board to help clear the way for the CrossBlue to be produced in Tennessee. In exchange, the automaker would recognize the UAW at the plant. Leaders of the Local 42 at the facility reportedly signed the letter.
It seems that such an agreement would clear the way for the factory to unionize after months of dispute. According to The Detroit News, under Tennessee law, workers aren't required to join the organization. Although, that might not be a problem. As of a few months ago, Local 42 already claimed to have signed around 700 of the plant's roughly 1,500 workers.
Controversy has constantly swirled around the possible unionization at the Chattanooga plant. The UAW held its official decision in February and lost 712 to 626. However, there were allegations of intense political pressure to make sure the ballot failed. A later report also found that VW was offered $300 million in incentives well before the vote to make sure things progressed to the "satisfaction of the State of Tennessee," but the deal was later retracted. In July, the UAW opened Local 42 on the campus in hopes of signing up a majority of the workforce by volunteering to be a part of it.

US-spec 2015 Volkswagen Golf and GTI to finally debut in New York

The seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf is hardly new to us. In fact, we've already driven it. And elsewhere in the world, the new Golf is already winning awards. Even so, we still have yet to see the US-spec version of the car, though that won't be the case much longer. As part of the New York Auto Show festivities later this month, Volkswagen will finally show off the 2015 Golf models destined for our shores.
Three different versions of the Golf will debut under the lights of New York City's Javits Center: the turbocharged TSI, oil-sipping TDI and hotter GTI. The first model in that list uses Volkswagen's new 1.8-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, replacing the outgoing 2.5-liter naturally aspirated inline five-cylinder. The latter two models use familiar engines: the 2.0-liter TDI diesel and 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, respectively.
Even though the new Golf officially debuts later this month, it won't go on sale in the US until the first quarter of 2014. We'll be waiting patiently.