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DETROIT: When Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Automobile Workers union, appears this week at congressional hearings to help make the case for the Detroit automakers getting emergency U.S. government aid, he wants lawmakers to know what he believes is at stake. "It wouldn't be just one company failing here," Gettelfinger said in an interview. "It would be all three going down." He might as well add the UAW. The union's membership at General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler has been nearly halved to 139,000 workers in the past three years, and it continues to shrink with every new plant...

WASHINGTON: As top Detroit auto executives prepared to make their most intense plea for aid to Congress on Tuesday, General Motors also pleaded Monday for a billion-euro credit guarantee from the German government to help its Opel subsidiary. The request, greeted with some skepticism in Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel promised a reply by Christmas - demonstrated how what had been building as a Washington drama involving efforts to save the venerable Detroit auto industry was fast becoming a story about how the international industry might be transformed by the spreading financial crisis. Governments around the world, from Tokyo to...

A card-check law would give union bosses an unfair advantage in organizing the workplaceTHE ISSUE: A card-check law would give union bosses an unfair advantage in turning workplaces into union shops. Probably no group celebrated the election of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama as president more than organized labor. For decades, labor unions have watched membership rolls dwindle. In 1983, union members made up 20.1 percent of employed wage and salary workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Today, the union membership rate is down to about 12 percent. In Alabama, union membership is even lower, about 9.5 percent. The...

- - Says Taxpayers Demand Real Reforms & Accountability From Washington WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following statement regarding today’s announcement by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid that he will seek Senate passage next week of a $25 billion bailout for the U.S. auto industry. Senator Reid’s support for this latest government bailout comes on the heels of yesterday’s announcement from the Treasury Department that the federal government has a record deficit of $237.2 billion for the first month of the fiscal year. This represents the highest monthly imbalance on record....

JERUSALEM – The enactment of a "single payer" socialist health care system; passing laws to make joining a labor union easier; raising the minimum wage and increasing labor union support – all these are just some of the policies the Community Party USA has mapped out as crucial for Obama to push through during his term of office. Just days after the party's official newspaper lauded the role of labor unions in Obama's election victory, another article in the Communist Party's Political Affairs magazine by leading party member and Rutgers University history professor Norman Markowitz outlined the kind of "change"...

Chapter 11 would better preserve the valuable parts of the company than an ad hoc bailout. General Motors is a once-great company caught in a web of relationships designed for another era. It should not be fed while still caught, because that will leave it trapped until we get tired of feeding it. Then it will die. The only possibility of saving it is to take the risk of cutting it free. In other words, GM should be allowed to go bankrupt. AP Consider the costs of tackling GM's problems with some kind of bailout plan. After 42 years...

The failure of one or more of Detroit’s Big Three automakers would put a huge initial dent in American manufacturing, but in time foreign car companies would pick up the slack by stepping up production in their plants here, many industry experts and economists say. Whether Washington should let that play out — risking hundreds of thousands of jobs — is a central question Congress will weigh this week as it hears testimony from Detroit leaders who are pushing for immediate federal intervention, before the next administration takes over in January. “Barack Obama has made it clear he understands the...

DETROIT -- The president of the United Auto Workers union said the dire financial troubles of the three U.S. auto makers is the result this year's spike in gasoline prices and the meltdown on Wall Street, not missteps by management or high labor costs. "This industry is in a crisis situation not of its own making," Ron Gettelfinger said in an interview Saturday afternoon with The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Gettelfinger also urged Congress to provide financial help to prevent General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler LLC from sliding into bankruptcy protection. Bankruptcy is "the worst possible route...

One of the best reasons why Detroit automakers should not receive a bailout can be found in a General Motors "Jobs Bank" program that, bizarrely, pays employees not to work. A beneficiary of that program was someone named Jerry Mellon, who worked for GM until his division merged with another in 2000 and he was no longer needed. Except for a brief period in 2001, Mellon received his full salary for not working, which reached $64,500 a year by 2006. Include benefits, and the annual cost to GM exceeds $100,000. To earn his pay, Mellon was given the formidable task...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan said Sunday he would not object to firing executives of U.S. automakers that get proposed federal bailout money. The Democrat said in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" program that senior management at General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) and Chrysler Corp. should consider resigning their posts if it means their respective firms can get federal assistance. Congressional lawmakers are considering $25 billion in emergency loans for the struggling car makers. The Senate reportedly will take up a bailout proposal Monday. "If it was the difference...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top Republican senators said Sunday they will oppose a Democratic plan to bail out Detroit automakers, calling the U.S. industry a ''dinosaur'' whose ''day of reckoning'' is coming. Their opposition raises serious doubts about whether the plan will pass in this week's postelection session. Democratic leaders want to use $25 billion of the $700 billion financial industry bailout to help General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and Jon Kyl of Arizona said it would be a mistake to use any of the Wall Street rescue money to prop up...

That beeping sound you hear this week is the semi-truck being backed up to the Federal Treasury in Washington. After being filled with taxpayer billions, it's on its way to Detroit. A heaping bailout for the Big Three automakers - currently losing millions every day theyproduce cars no one wants to buy - feels like it's being gift-wrapped for the holidays.But the beeping sound you should be hearing is the heart monitor of the Big Three, slowing downto flatline. General Motors, Chrysler and Ford are such horrific financial wrecks that not even the Jaws of Life - and certainly not...

Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said Saturday that workers will not make any more concessions and that getting the automakers back on their feet means figuring out a way to turn around the slumping economy. "The focus has to be on the economy as a whole as opposed to a UAW contract," Gettelfinger told reporters on a conference call, noting the labor costs now make up 8 percent to 10 percent of the cost of a vehicle. "We have made dramatic, dramatic changes and the UAW was applauded for that," he...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger says workers will not make any more concessions and that getting the automakers back on their feet means figuring out a way to turn around the slumping economy.

Labor unions are poised to go after Hispanic workers in states like Arizona and sectors such as services and health care if new union rules are put in place by the Barack Obama administration and Democratic Congress next year. Unions and pro-union Democrats want Congress and Obama to pass card-check legislation. The plan would allow unions to organize in workplaces if they get a majority of workers to sign cards supporting unionization. It would scrap 73-year-old unionization laws that require secret ballots for workers to decide whether they want their work forces represented by a trade union. Card-check legislation is...

I find one of the more amusing although important questions is how will President-elect Barack Obama govern? As a moderate and centrist, or as an extremist, radical and liberal? I can answer such questions with another question: When your whole career and resume shows you are a leftist, an extremist, a radical, a liberal, and a 96 percent pure party line Democrat, are you are likely to be just that no matter what you say in the campaign? Mr. Obama ran far-left to win the primaries and then veered quickly to the center to win the general election. And now...

An architect of the original bailout bill said today Democrats lack the votes to pass bill giving auto companies a piece of the $700 billion bailout pie next week. Sen. Chris Dodd to ABC News: "I want to help them if we can, but I'm not going to give anyone a blank check, so we're going to try and do something if we can next week. I don't think the votes are there. Candidly, I don't think we have the votes to get that done. With no big change between now and next Wednesday, I'm skeptical." Even after January, Democrats...

Union Voters Overwhelmingly Want to Protect Right to Cast Vote in Private The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) today released a comprehensive analysis of data of union household attitudes from six statewide polls. The combined findings from the key states of Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New Mexico suggest that President-elect Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress may have trouble convincing voters from union households that support for the mis-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is a pro-worker position. Notably, the surveys found widespread opposition among union household voters (69%) to the EFCA, which would replace a federally...

TPM reports that American labor leaders are coming to Washington to meet and spell out their priorities for the incoming Obama administration: According to a senior AFL-CIO official, the labor leaders -- who could include AFL-CIO head John Sweeney, AFSCME chief Gerald McEntee, and others -- will be putting the finishing touches on plans for a national campaign, including possible TV ads, to press members of Congress for quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, one of labor's major agenda items. The measure, which would give workers the right to join a union as soon as a majority of...

Rick Wagoner's future as chief executive of General Motors Corp. may hinge in large part on what kind of bailout the ailing auto maker gets from the U.S. government. Momentum is building in Washington to provide financial help for the auto industry and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, plans to push for legislation next week to give "emergency assistance" to auto makers in a lame-duck session of Congress. Three big financial institutions that got federal bailouts -- including insurer American International Group Inc. and home-lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- had to replace their top executives...

So the Big Three are asking for a government handout... You should write your representatives and ask them this question: Why are the Big Three going broke and asking for taxpayer money while Toyota USA is expanding?Ford, GM and Chrysler have become as sclerotic as the liberal states that host them. Like the failed state of Michigan, the Big Three promised goodies to the masses and now they have the gall to ask the American taxpayer to fund their generosity. Note to nanny-state liberals (in government and on corporate boards): It's not generosity when you do it with other people's...

Democratic Congressional leaders said Tuesday that they were ready to push emergency legislation to aid the imperiled auto industry when lawmakers return to Washington next week, setting the stage for one last showdown with President Bush. “Next week, during the lame-duck session of Congress, we are determined to pass legislation that will save the jobs of millions of workers whose livelihoods are on the line,” the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said in a statement. His call for the session, the first since the election, came shortly after the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said Congress and the administration “must...

Remember when Democrats lamented the growing budget deficit and spoke of the burden our children and grandchildren would face if we didn't put our fiscal house in order? That was when Republicans ran the federal government and Democrats opposed tax cuts. Now that Democrats are about to be in charge, concern about the deficit has disappeared and spending plans proliferate, even though the national debt passed $10 trillion in September and we added another $500 billion last month. The latest, but by no means the last supplicant at the public trough, is the auto industry, which wants a bailout to...

OTTAWA–Faced with a darkening economic outlook, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the premiers are pledging to speed up infrastructure spending, look at easing rules for retirement savings and consider ways to boost Ontario's hard-hit automotive sector. With an eye on the massive rescue package offered by the U.S. government for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, Harper yesterday dangled the possibility of a government bailout package to help the auto industry, but fell short of promising concrete action. And in a major development for Toronto and other urban centres, Harper and the premiers emerged from a meeting about the economy agreeing...

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will push legislation next week to help the ailing auto industry. "I am confident Congress can consider emergency assistance legislation next week during a lame-duck session, and I hope the Bush Administration would support it," the California Democrat said in a statement. Rep. Pelosi said she tapped House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) to craft legislation that would give the industry "limited" assistance under the recently enacted Troubled Asset Relief Program. "In order to prevent the failure of one or more of the major American automobile manufacturers, which would have...

The Democratic leaders in Congress, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, have declined to call a lame-duck session for next week, as they had hoped, without assurance that Bush would support a stimulus package.

Nissan has just announced a new version of its entry level Versa sedan today, along with an MSRP that will make that car the lowest priced in the country—$9990 before destination and handling ($10,685 after). The new base model Versa replaces the standard 1.8-liter four with a 1.6-liter unit, an engine that produces 107 horsepower and can deliver 34 miles per gallon on the highway (26 city) when paired with the standard five-speed manual transmission. The optional four-speed automatic delivers a slightly lower 26/33 mpg rating. As you might expect, Nissan has decontented the Versa somewhat to be able to...

Nissan Ad Has Arabs Calling for Boycott Last Edited: Thursday, 07 Aug 2008, 2:50 AM EDT Created: Thursday, 07 Aug 2008, 2:50 AM EDT Nissan Tiida Commercial Nissan Ad The Arab world is fighting mad about a new commercial being aired in Israel by Nissan. In the commercial, Nissan brags about how fuel efficient their new car the Tiida is by showing how mad it is making Arab Shieks, who start to attack the car and complain about how Nissan is costing them millions of dollars. The ad is supposed to be funny, but it plays on old Arab stereotypes....

Nissan Motor Co. unveiled a new prototype electric vehicle Wednesday with batteries twice as powerful as conventional technology, aiming to take a lead in zero-emission cars. Japan's third-largest automaker said the front-wheel drive, boxy-shaped car has a newly developed 80 kilowatt motor with advanced lithium-ion batteries installed under the vehicle's floor to avoid taking up space. The laminated batteries, jointly developed with electronics giant NEC Corp., pack twice the electric power of conventional nickel-metal hydride batteries currently used in hybrid and electric cars, it said. Nissan aims to start selling an electric car in the United States and Japan in...

Last update - 12:21 06/08/2008 Israeli TV ad poking fun at oil sheikhs draws Saudi ire By Haaretz Staff and Channel 10 Saudi Arabia's MBC TV began its Sunday night news edition not with Syrian President Bashar Assad's trip to Iran, nor with Palestinian infighting in Gaza - but with an outraged report on an Israeli TV commercial. The advertisement shows wealthy Arab oil barons enraged that a Nissan car is so fuel efficient.

Nissan accelerator pedal pushes back to save fuel For drivers who like to step on the gas but don't want a higher fuel bill, Nissan Motor on Monday unveiled an accelerator pedal that pushes back to help motorists get more mileage. Nissan's "Eco Pedal" system is the latest salvo in the fight between automakers to woo customers with technology that reduces fuel consumption. The pedal automatically pushes back on the foot when the system detects too much pressure on the accelerator, informing the driver that he or she is using more fuel than required, Nissan said. An eco-driving indicator fitted...

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AFP) - The global auto industry is heading down an unsustainable path and needs new technology to cope with record fuel costs, Nissan-Renault chairman Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday. "The doubling of oil prices to 130 to 140 dollars per barrel means that one billion dollars is being transferred every day to the oil producing countries," Ghosn told reporters as he dedicated Nissan America's new headquarters. < > There is a large, untapped market for electric vehicles, Ghosn said, noting that a recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology predicted that there would be 10 million electric vehicles...

JERUSALEM — Israel, tiny and bereft of oil, has decided to embrace the electric car. On Monday, the Israeli government will announce its support for a broad effort to promote the use of electric cars, embracing a joint venture between an American-Israeli entrepreneur and Renault and its partner, Nissan Motor Company.

Today at the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan unveiled their Pivo 2 concept car, an electric vehicle that can drive sideways and forward, equipped with 90-degree turning wheels, a full 360-degree turning cabin, and by-wire technologies for braking and steering. There is also a built-in “Robotic Agent” with GPS navigation on the instrument panel that gievs instructions in English as well as Japanese. No word yet on whether or not this thing will ever hit the road - but wouldn’t that be cool?

TOKYO (AP) - Nissan's ball-shaped electric vehicle can squeeze into tight spots without backing up because its wheels turn 90 degrees and the cabin part of the car can rotate in a complete circle. The Pivo 2, being shown at the Tokyo auto show later this month, is a three-seat ecological commuter car that's fully working but too expensive to go on commercial sale yet, according to Nissan Motor Co. officials. In a demonstration Friday, the concept car rolled up next to a tiny parking space, turned its wheels at an angle, then scooted into the space without the back-and-forth...

Test-drive a Nissan, win a lead-laced mug Fri Sep 7, 2007 4:24PM EDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Chinese merchandise took a fresh knock Friday when car maker Nissan said it was recalling tens of thousands of mugs it gave away in Japan because the paint contains excessive lead. It said it took the action after a hapless car-shopper fell ill after drinking from one of the mugs and complained. Nissan Motor said the cups, which it was giving to anyone who test-drove one of its cars in Japan during a sales initiative that started on August 16, had a lead content...

The iPhone has been perhaps the most hyped tech gadget of 2007, and a 17 year-old from New Jersey recently achieved fame by being the first to "unlock" the Apple device. George Hotz, who many are referring to as the new "DVD John," rigged the $599 iPhone to operate on any network with any SIM card. For his epic hack, Hotz was given a free Nissan 350Z and three 8 GB iPhones. All he had to do was hand over the compromised handset to Terry Daidone, owner of phone refurbisher and aftermarket parts maker CertiCell. Not bad for a kid...

TOKYO -- Nissan is having a "performance crisis." That's what the Japanese automaker's president, Carlos Ghosn, said on Friday after Nissan slashed its annual forecast and reported a 22 percent slump in earnings from October through December. "We have today a performance crisis and we need to fix it as soon as possible," president and chief executive Ghosn told reporters in Tokyo in a conference call from Paris. "We don't take this lightly ... it's really an interrogation for us, about our management ways."

Wednesday October 25, 2006 By TOM KRISHER AP Business Writer DETROIT (AP) -- From July to September, GM, Ford and Chrysler racked up losses as large as the entire annual gross domestic product of Africa's Malawi. That's $7.5 billion. Despite the massive losses, company officials and some industry analysts say the Big Three can do little more than wait for drastic cost cuts to kick in and new products to take hold before they can staunch the bleeding. All three reported third-quarter losses this week, with General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group joining the misery Wednesday. A $1.5...

PARIS, Oct 5, 2006 (AFP) - Shares of French automaker Renault gained ground here Thursday as investors reacted favorably to a breakdown in alliance talks with General Motors, which raised possibilities of a tie-up with Ford instead. Renault shares in early trading were up 1.85 percent at 90.90 euros on an overall market that was stronger by 0.74 percent. Discussions between the French-Japanese group Renault-Nissan and GM were called off on Wednesday in the face of disagreements on how the benefits of an alliance to the three groups would be distributed. "The breakdown in these negotiations appears as a setback...

US car firm General Motors has ended talks with car alliance Renault-Nissan to form a global partnership. GM wanted to receive compensation from Renault and Nissan - which are already partners - as part of the deal, but they were opposed to this. Renault and Nissan said they thought "compensation would be contrary to the spirit of any successful alliance". The three-way alliance was proposed in June by GM shareholder Kirk Kerkorian in an attempt to boost GM's position. Next steps GM justified its demand for payment on the grounds that it would have benefited less from the merger than...

PARIS, Sept 27, 2006 (AFP) - The chief executives of Renault-Nissan and General Motors met in Paris Wednesday and vowed to continue their talks on a three-way deal between the companies despite reports that the negotiations were in trouble. The groups will continue their feasibility study of a tie-up until mid-October as planned, Renault said in a statement after the meeting on the eve of the Paris Motor Show. "The teams are carrying out an objective and deep analysis of the potential synergies between the three companies, in particular how such an alliance could generate value for each company," said...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California filed suit against Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - News), General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - News), Toyota Motor Corp. (Tokyo:7203.T - News) and three other carmakers on Wednesday, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars.

Toyota's Lexus Tops Dependability Study; Ford Land Rover Ranks Last DETROIT (AP) -- Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. won top honors in eight categories of a closely watched vehicle dependability study, more than any other company, while mainstream brands closed in on luxury nameplates, J.D. Power and Associates said Wednesday. Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand, was the top-ranked nameplate for the 12th consecutive year. It was followed by Ford Motor Co.'s Mercury and General Motors Corp.'s Buick and Cadillac. Last-place Land Rover, which is owned by Ford, lagged far behind the second-to-last brand, Saab, which is owned by GM. Land Rover owners...

Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Renault and Nissan, said his companies would only open their alliance to US auto giant General Motors if they think the potential synergies justify the risk. The three companies have embarked on a 90 day review of the potential benefits of expanding the alliance to include the world's largest but struggling automaker. "If we come to a conclusion that the synergies are big enough to justify the efforts, then we can go to the second step" of deciding on a framework for an alliance, Ghosn told reporters here. But the talks will end if...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Japanese carmaker Nissan said Friday it has pulled a raunchy commercial starring "Sex and the City" actress Kim Cattrall from New Zealand television after complaints over its content. Cattrall, who plays sex-obsessed, promiscuous Samantha Jones in the hugely successful U.S. series, appears in the ad purring with excitement about Nissan's new sedan. "Why didn't you tell me it was so big, I just wasn't prepared for it?" she gushes. "The all-new Nissan Tiida makes you feel really, really, really good inside." She tells a salesman: "Ah! That was amazing. Absolutely fabulous! I mean the great body...

General Motors’ board of directors has voted to start exploratory discussions with Nissan and Renault on a potential business alliance — a plan first proposed one week ago by Kirk Kerkorian, GM’s largest shareholder. But would a deal with the automakers help boost GM’s flagging fortunes?

* Ford cuts its own path with bold designs, more standard safety features, straightforward pricing and now the best warranty and roadside assistance packages of any full-line manufacturer. * No-deductible, fully transferable powertrain limited warranty on 2007 Ford and Mercury vehicles is now five years or 60,000 miles - 66 percent better than all Chrysler Group and most GM nameplates. * Lincoln's 2007 powertrain limited warranty is now six years or 70,000 miles - up to 20,000 miles and two years longer than Cadillac's. * Ford to offer complimentary roadside assistance, including towing, fuel and lock-out service for the entire...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors announced Friday that it would hold "exploratory discussions" with Renault and Nissan regarding a potential combination of some sort of the three companies. The statement from GM (Charts) said the decision to start talks was a "recommendation by the company's senior management." But it is clear that the push came from Kirk Kerkorian, the company's largest shareholder, who a week ago wrote to GM to say that Nissan and Renault, which already have joint ownership positions in each other, was interested in buying "a significant minority interest" in GM.

DETROIT - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian could seize control of General Motors Corp. easily with help from automakers Nissan and Renault. ADVERTISEMENT Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. owns 9.9 percent of GM's shares. If Renault SA of France and Nissan Motor Co. of Japan each buy stakes of up to 10 percent, they collectively would be the largest shareholder and could have their way with the icon of American industry, analysts said on Wednesday. With such control, the disgruntled Kerkorian could oust GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and replace him with Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of both Renault and Nissan....