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Volkswagen NMC production guise caught in China

Chinese car site Autohome has what are said to be the first pictures of the Volkswagen New Midsize Coupe concept in production form. VW's NMC was just introduced at the Beijing Motor Show, while background chatter indicated it would go on sale in China, Autohome says that production version will be built at the Shanghai-Volkswagen plant in Ningbo, and the retail guise could be introduced at the Guangzhou Motor Show in November and go on sale that same month.
Assuming this is the production car, its main lines have made the jump from the concept but with less fine detailing, a silver hue and with conventional VW wheels it's lost a little bit of oomph. Still, a few checkmarks on the option sheet can fix most of that, the shape remains handsome and the 2.0-liter turbo underhood keeps performance peppy and mileage frugal enough. You can head to Autohome for a couple more photos of a sedan we'd be happy to make room for over here.

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.

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
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