Bentley Pushes Back Ambitious All-Electric Goals

Driver getting into his Bently

British luxury carmaker Bentley Motors is pushing back its plans to have an all-electric vehicle (EV) offering by 2030, following other top vehicle manufacturers, according to CNBC.

Bentley had originally planned to transition all of its vehicle sales to EVs by 2030 but announced that it would be looking to delay that change by a couple of years, continuing to offer hybrids through that time, CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a media briefing following the company’s fourth quarter results, according to CNBC. General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Honda have all backed off of previously made EV goals in the past year as low demand and high costs have stifled the commodity’s profitability compared to traditional vehicles.

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Study: Most Partial Automation Driving Systems Need Work

Nissan Car

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says automakers should incorporate new rating programs into their partial driving automation systems to reduce traffic deaths.

The new IIHS ratings aim to encourage safeguards that can help reduce intentional misuse and prolonged attention lapses.

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Ford Lost Billions on EVs in 2023

Ford EVs

Ford lost billions of dollars on its electric vehicle (EV) product lines last year, according to corporate documents.

The company lost $4.7 billion on EVs in 2023, a greater loss than the $4.5 billion the company expected it would lose in 2023 at mid-year, according to a summary of the company’s annual earnings. The company pointed to “an extremely competitive pricing environment” as a key reason for the losses.

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Lawmakers: Probe Supply Chain of Michigan EV Plant

Ford EVs

A letter urges an investigation into suppliers of a Ford electric vehicle plant in Marshall, Michigan.

Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, signed the letter.

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Ford Slashes Production of EV Truck Biden Drove to Promote Green Agenda

EV Ford

Ford is cutting back production of its F-150 Lightning electric vehicle (EV), a model that President Joe Biden took for a test drive to market his administration’s EV agenda.

Ford made the official announcement that it will be reducing its F-150 Lightning output in 2024 amid slower-than-projected growth in EV demand. Biden test drove a F-150 Lightning in Michigan in May 2021 to promote his administration’s EV agenda, which aims for EVs to make up 50% of all new auto sales by 2030.

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Michigan’s Spending Spree Is ‘Unsustainable,’ Economist Says

Gretchen Whitmer

Since the pandemic began, Michigan has embarked on an “unsustainable” spending spree, says James Hohman, the Director of Fiscal Policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy,

“Michigan lawmakers will spend every dollar that they receive in revenue and state taxes have increased faster than residents’ ability to pay since the pandemic began,” Hohman said in a statement. “This is fundamentally unsustainable and lawmakers should practice restraint. Spending less would protect taxpayers, stabilize the budget and ensure that lawmakers have flexibility to meet unexpected needs.”

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Major Automaker Says Union Deal Will Add Nearly a Thousand Dollars to Car Costs

Ford Motor Co. announced on Thursday that labor costs following a recent major union deal will cost the company around $900 per vehicle by 2028.

Ford, along with other major U.S. automakers General Motors and Stellantis, faced a six-week-long strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) starting in September, with all three companies recently voting to approve new contracts through 2028. The company expects the new labor agreement to cost an extra $8.8 billion over the course of the contract due to wage increases of around 25%, accelerated wage progression and cost-of-living adjustments as stipulated in the contract, according to a press release from the company.

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UAW Ratifies Contract with General Motors

The United Auto Workers union members narrowly voted to ratify its contract with General Motors.

GM’s ratification tracker shows workers approving the contract on a 54.7% vote with nearly 36,000 votes in support, an unofficial number. The vote will end one-third of the auto strike that’s lasted about six weeks.

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Commentary: The Existential Crisis of the Big Three Automakers

The “Big Three” — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis — have had a tough go of things lately. The recently concluded strikes by their employees were perhaps the most visible indication that all is not roses in U.S. Autoland, but there is a larger problem. That problem is summarized by the following headline from the Wall Street Journal: “Automakers Have Big Hopes for EVs; Buyers Aren’t Cooperating.”

The financial results of weak EV sales have been devastating for the Big Three. Ford reported a third-quarter operating loss of $1.3 billion in its EV division. Since it sold 20,962 EVs in the third quarter, the per-unit loss on each of those vehicles is an eye-popping $62,016. Ouch!

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‘Very Precarious’: Automakers May Have Missed the Mark with Union Deal, Experts Say

The United Auto Workers (UAW) concluded contract negotiations with the Big Three automakers over the last week, creating a deal that raises labor costs when the automakers are already struggling against competitors, according to experts who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — reached three separate tentative deals starting on Wednesday that ended a six-week-long partial strike at the companies from the UAW after workers’ contracts expired on Sept. 14. Due to the increased labor costs from higher wages and benefits, the Big Three are put at a disadvantage compared to non-unionized workforces both domestically and abroad at a time when the companies try to shift to the production of electric vehicles (EV), according to experts who spoke to the DCNF.

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UAW Expands Strike Against GM Hours After Reaching Deal with Rival Stellantis and Ford

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Saturday expanded its strike against General Motors (GM) after it reached an agreement with its competitors on Wednesday and Saturday, the union confirmed in an X post.

The UAW and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) reached a deal similar to the four-year agreement reached on Wednesday between Ford and the UAW, which provides a 25 percent pay increase and cost of living adjustments, as well as the ability to strike over plant closures. It was expected that GM would also make a deal with the union after Stellantis on Saturday, but instead employees at a Tennessee GM factory received orders to expand the company’s strike, the local union posted on X.

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Report: Ford, United Auto Workers Reach Tentative Deal to End Strike

The United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Company have reached a tentative deal to end the ongoing strike, pending approval from union leaders. The ongoing strike has thus far lasted nearly six weeks. Exact terms of the agreement remain unclear, though the final deal could be announced as early as Wednesday evening, CNBC reported, citing sources familiar with the talks.

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Auto Workers Union Just Shut Down Ford’s Biggest and Most Profitable Plant

The United Auto Workers (UAW) unexpectedly walked off the job Wednesday evening at the largest Ford plant in an escalation of its strike against major automakers.

Around 8,700 UAW members walked off the job at 6:30 p.m. ET at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville yesterday in a previously unannounced move, completely shutting down the plant, according to an announcement from the UAW. The new strike location comes as UAW workers are already striking at 43 other plants at the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — across the U.S. in a strike that started after contract negotiations failed to reach a deal before their Sept. 14 deadline.

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More Americans Back UAW Strikers than Automakers: Poll

More Americans support the United Auto Workers (UAW) over the major auto companies as their strike for higher wages and more benefits nears its fifth week, according to the Associated Press.

The UAW is currently engaging in a partial strike against the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — and have expanded to 44 different plants across the country since its Sept. 15 start, most recently resulting in workers at Ford’s biggest and most profitable plant walking out of the job on Wednesday. Around 36% of Americans sympathize with the striking UAW workers, while only 9% support the automakers in the dispute, with the rest of the 53% of Americans not swayed either way, according to a recent poll from the AP’s NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

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UAW Strike Costs Billions in Losses with No End in Sight

The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike has caused billions in economic damage and could further harm supply chains and local economies as the union and automakers fail to reach a deal.

The UAW has been undergoing a partial strike against the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — which most recently expanded to a total of 43 locations after negotiations failed to reach a contract by the Sept. 14 deadline, already causing $3.95 billion in economic losses as of Tuesday, according to the Anderson Economic Group. The strike could be devastating to the Big Three’s market position, and stoppages could have greater effects downstream as supply chains are unable to move and local economies suffer, according to experts who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Automakers Lay Off More Workers as Strike Takes Its Toll

Major automakers have laid off even more employees as union workers continue to strike at several manufacturing plants amid contract negotiations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Ford and General Motors laid off an additional 500 workers this week, bringing the total number of workers that have lost their jobs at the companies to a combined 6,000 following a strike from the United Auto Workers (UAW), according to the WSJ. UAW is currently striking against Ford, GM and Stellantis at 43 manufacturing plants using a targeted strike strategy, with many workers remaining on the job as contract negotiations continue.

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UAW Reaches ‘Tentative Agreement’ with Mack Trucks in Three States

The United Auto Worker’s Union has reached a “tentative agreement” on a new five-year agreement with the Volvo-Group-owned Mack Trucks in three states.  The union posted on social media that nearly 4,000 UAW members at Mack Trucks in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida (UAW Region 8 & Region 9) have a tentative agreement.

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Michigan Gives Ford Site Another $65 Million a Day After Pausing Construction

A day after Ford Motor Co. said it would pause construction on its $3.5 billion Marshall electric vehicle battery plant subsidized by $1.7 billion, the state of Michigan allocated the site another $65 million.

The Michigan Strategic Fund approved a $65 million Strategic Site Readiness Program Grant to the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance for land acquisition, site studies and water and wastewater upgrades.

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Ford Pauses Michigan EV Battery Plant, Union Says Decision Is ‘Barely-Veiled Threat’ to Cut Jobs

Ford is pausing work on its $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant over concerns that the automobile manufacturer will be unable to operate the planned Michigan factory competitively in a decision that the United Auto Workers union says is a “barely-veiled threat” to cut jobs amid a strike against the company.

Officials have not made a final decision on whether the plant, which is set to be located in southern Michigan near the town of Marshall, will become operational, Ford spokesperson T.R. Reid said, CNN reported Monday.

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Auto Union Threatens Even More Strikes If a Deal Isn’t Reached by End of Week

More auto workers are set to go on strike against top auto manufacturers if a deal is not met by Friday at noon, according to an announcement from the union Monday night.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) are currently engaging in a targeted strike at just three plants in negotiations with the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — avoiding a total strike of all 146,000 unionized workers after the parties failed to reach a deal for new contracts on Sept. 14. Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, announced that more members at different plants would join the strike if the union and automakers did not make serious progress on new contracts by Friday at noon, according to a video posted by the union.

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Michigan Auto Worker: Want to Be Able to Afford the Vehicles We Build

United Auto Workers striking along Michigan Avenue outside the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne since midnight want to be able to afford the vehicles they assemble.

The UAW went on strike against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors at select factories around midnight. Brandon Bell, who’s worked at the Ford plant for three years, said workers need boosted pay and benefits. 

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Autoworkers Strike Imperils ‘Union Joe’ Biden’s 2024 Election Prospects

President Joe Biden may face headwinds in his 2024 reelection bid following his inability to prevent workers at the three biggest American auto manufacturers from striking, according to Politico.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) announced a strike Thursday night against the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — saying that members would not be showing up to three plants on Friday, but stopping short of calling for all 146,000 unionized autoworkers to cease operations. Some have begun to place blame on the president for failing to help in negotiations, souring the president’s desired image of being “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen,” according to Politico.

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United Auto Workers Plans Strikes at Detroit Big Three Vehicle Manufacturers

The United Automobile Workers union is preparing to strike at Detroit’s Big Three vehicle manufacturers as contract negotiations remain strained ahead of the deadline just before midnight Thursday.

Union President Shawn Fain said Wednesday that General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, formerly known as Chrysler, increased initial wage offers while rejecting some other demands, The Associated Press reported.

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Biden Admin Gives Ford, Foreign Company Whopping $9 Billion Loan for EV Plants

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday announced a conditional loan of up to $9.2 billion to a joint electric vehicle venture between Ford and Korean battery maker SK On.

When combined with state subsidies offered to the joint venture, known as BlueOval SK, the record-breaking loan means that taxpayers will be financing nearly the entire $11.4 billion investment by Ford and SK, according to Blomberg. The loan is the latest in a series of increasingly large offers from the DOE’s Loan Program Office (LPO), which had its lending authority surge to $400 billion — more than 10 times the $33 billion it has issued since 2009 —following the passage of President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.

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‘Sustainable’ Electric Cars Are Getting Junked Over Minor Damage

Insurers are being forced to write off many electric vehicles with only minor damage to battery packs, sending the batteries to scrap yards and hindering the climate benefits of going electric, Reuters reported.

Battery packs typically represent roughly half the cost of an electric vehicle, sometimes costing tens of thousands of dollars, often making it more economical for insurers to consider a car as totalled than replace a battery pack, according to Reuters. While many carmakers, including Ford and GM, told Reuters that their battery packs were repairable, many are unwilling to share key data with third-party insurers to help assess damage.

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Ford Lobbies Biden Admin to Ease Ban on Chinese Electric Vehicle Parts

Ford is urging the Treasury Department to ease restrictions placed on electric car parts sourced from China and other “entities of concern” to ensure more of its vehicles can qualify for the consumer tax credits included in the Democrats’ massive climate spending bill, Reuters reported Friday.

The Democrats’ $430 billion climate package, which President Joe Biden signed into law in August, prevents the $7,500 consumer tax credits from applying to new electric vehicles (EVs) if their battery materials were produced or assembled by a “foreign entity of concern” such as China. Ford is claiming that the restrictions, which were aimed at taking EV supply chains out of Chinese hands, are too strict and will not allow enough consumers to reap the benefits of the tax credit, according to Reuters.

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Ford May Let Go One-Fourth of Salaried Michigan Employees to Pay for Electric Vehicle Transition

Less than two months after announcing it would apply $134 million of taxpayer dollars for retooling two Michigan plants, news reports this week surfaced that revealed Ford Motor Company would lay off approximately 8,000 salary workers.

According to Bloomburg reporting, the job cuts are part of the automaker’s effort to liberate $3 billion of corporate operational costs from the its internal combustion engine business. The company would then transfer savings garnered from the layoffs to build electric Ford F-150 Lightning and Ranger pickups at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, a new Mustang coupe at Flat Rock Assembly Plant, and a $35 million Ford Customer Service Division packaging facility in Monroe.

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Ford to Invest $2 Billion, Create 3,200 Jobs in Michigan

Ford Motor Company says it will spend $3.7 billion across three Midwestern states to create more than 6,200 new union jobs. 

The United Auto Workers and Ford say they will convert nearly 3,000 temporary UAW-Ford workers to permanent full-time status and provide all hourly employees healthcare benefits on the first day at work.

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Report: Michigan Might Spend $135 Million on Ford Subsidy

The state of Michigan could invest up to $135 million in new auto and electric vehicle (EV) plants for Ford Motor Company.

The news follows Stellantis NV choosing Kokomo, Ind., as the site for a $2.5 billion EV battery manufacturing plant that could employ 1,400 people, passing over locations around the Motor City.

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Ford Reports Devastating Losses Thanks to Electric Vehicle Gamble

Major U.S. automaker Ford blamed its sizable investment in electric vehicle (EV) company Rivian for its dramatic revenue decline in the first quarter of 2022.

Ford reported revenue of $34.5 billion between January and March, a 5% decline relative to the same period in 2021, and a net loss of $3.1 billion, according to the company’s earnings report released Wednesday. The Detroit automaker said its large investment in Rivian accounted for $5.4 billion in losses during the first quarter.

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Commentary: President Biden Sides Against Union Rank-and-File

While rank-and-file union members embraced President Trump, virtually every major union endorsed Joe Biden. A quietly issued Labor Department regulation helps explain this disconnect. President Biden has put union leaders first — even at the expense of union members.

Late last year, the Labor Department rescinded Trump Administration union transparency regulations. These regulations would have required union trust funds — like apprenticeship funds and strike funds — to disclose their receipts and expenditures.

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Commentary: Unions Aligning with America First

After intense negotiations, the United Auto Workers secured a new agreement with Ford, General Motors, and their suppliers that effectively prohibits a vaccine mandate for employees by requiring only “voluntary” disclosure of vaccination status for union members. This hard-won validation for workers points to a larger opportunity for the America First movement and organized labor to acknowledge that they are natural allies.

On critical issues ranging from medical privacy to border security and foreign trade, the emerging populist and nationalist consensus of the New Right creates an obvious home for unionized Americans. The America First cause can, in turn, help revitalize private-sector unions and guarantee a more prosperous society for our country, with a stronger middle class through a better diffusion of economic and political power.

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Commentary: Tennessee Legislature Must Pass Big COVID Test in ‘Special Session’

The red state/blue state dichotomy is not simple.

Nowhere is that more apparent than Tennessee where—despite having one of the most conservative electorates in the country—the leadership has been passive at best in responding to the wishes of their supporters during these days of great crisis.

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Michigan Missing Out on Ford’s Joint $11.4B Electric Vehicle Factories in Tennessee, Kentucky

Despite Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s claim that Michigan is the future of electric vehicles (EVs), Ford Motor Company and battery maker SK Innovation announced plans to build three new plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The new plants, which will host production of electric vehicles and advanced lithium-ion batteries by 2025, will cost roughly $11.4 billion to build and create a projected 11,000 jobs.

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Big Three Automakers Reinstate Mask Mandates for All Workers

America’s largest automobile manufacturers, along with United Auto Workers (UAW), will require all employees to wear masks again starting Wednesday.

The decision was made by a COVID-19 task force comprised of health officials from UAW, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which manufactures Dodge and Chrysler vehicles. All workers, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, have to wear masks at plants, office buildings, and warehouses, UAW announced in a statement Tuesday.

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