2014 Volkswagen Passat Tdi Sel Premium on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 will be the biggest year ever for cars at CES

Like the SEMA Show, major automakers are paying increasing attention to the CES, with 2015 expected to be one of the most auto focused yet. Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, Hyundai, Mazda, Audi, BMW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will all be in attendance when CES 2015 kicks off next week, taking up a record-breaking 165,000 square feet of space at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "We've come a long way from a single car on a carpet," Ford's Alan Hall told Bloomberg. Unlike SEMA, or a more traditional auto show, like the upcoming festivities in Detroit, CES doesn't necessarily focus on entire cars or the way they perform, but on the way our technology will interact with vehicles, and in how those vehicles will deliver information to drivers. "CES has become a major launch point for a lot of the big automakers," IHS tech analyst Mark Boyadjis told Bloomberg. "CES is a way for them to get on a global stage for technology." As for what kind of wares automakers will trot out in Las Vegas, we already know that BMW will show off an autonomous i3 electric car that can navigate its way through a multistory car park and can be hailed via a smartwatch app. According to Bloomberg, Hyundai will show off its own smartwatch app for the Genesis sedan, while Audi and Mercedes-Benz will show off autonomous vehicles next week. Automakers won't be the only companies looking to capitalize on CES. Tech firms, like chipmaker Nvidia, are becoming increasingly involved in the automotive game and will be in town showing their wares off to OEMs. "Two years ago, our booth would have been filled with PCs and people playing video games," Danny Shapiro, Nvidia's senior director for automotive business, told Bloomberg. "This year we made a strategic decision to shift the focus of the booth on automotive and de-prioritize some of the other things." Needless to say, you can expect to see a lot of news out of Las Vegas come next week. Stay tuned. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Julie Jacobson / AP CES Audi BMW Chrysler Fiat Ford GM Hyundai Mazda Toyota Volkswagen Technology CES 2015

Anti-UAW VW workers move to form own union

The struggle over unionization at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, TN, continues to get more complicated. There's now a second union fighting to organize at the plant; although this one is staunchly against the actions of the United Auto Workers. At the same time, the UAW is still signing up voluntary members to its recently created Local 42 at the facility and is reportedly near having a majority of the hourly employees on its side.
The new, anti-UAW union campaign is being spearheaded by employee Mike Burton, according to Reuters, and he calls his group the American Council of Employees. He claims to already have 108 signatures in support of his organization. Burton believes that the UAW is harmful to businesses, and his goal is to force another vote to determine a preferred union among workers.
The UAW was initially defeated (712 to 626) when it attempted a union vote at the Tennessee plant in February. However, UAW secretary-treasurer Gary Casteel told Reuters that Local 42 has already signed up over 700 members. If it can reach a majority of the roughly 1,500 employees, the group hopes VW might consider recognizing it as the factory's union.

Former chairman Piech opposing his nieces' VW board nominations

Someone needs to option the rights to the Ferdinand Piech story for an HBO series, because it perfectly mixes the corporate intrigue of Mad Men with the family drama of The Sopranos. Plus there are some cool cars. In the latest episode, Piech isn't happy with Volkswagen's appointment of two of his nieces – Julia Kuhn-Piech and Dr. Louise Kiesling – to replace he and his wife on the automaker's supervisory board. The recently ousted chairman could try to stop them. According to German publication Bild, Piech thinks his two relatives lack the necessary automotive experience to serve on the board. Therefore, he suggests one-time Ford Premier Automotive Group boss Wolfgang Reitzle and former Siemens manager Brigitte Ederer to take the seats. However, a VW spokesperson told Automotive News Europe that there were no objections to the women's appointment, except for this story from Germany. Piech's nieces are already officially appointed to the VW supervisory board, and it's approved by the Braunschweig Local Court in Germany. His only real option to challenge them would be to file a lawsuit, according to Automotive News Europe. While the new appointees don't have their uncle's decades of history in the auto industry, they do have business experience. Dr. Kiesling has a degree in vehicle design from the Royal College of Art in London and is the managing director of an Austrian textile maker. Kuhn-Piech works in real estate sits on the supervisory board of German truck maker Man.