As you read this, there are about 3,000 unionized workers -- down from about 15,000 two years ago -- employed by the Detroit 3 getting paid, despite the fact that they aren't working. While it's nice for America's automakers to have access to a talent-pool of available workers, it's also a major financial drain on an industry that's already reeling from a distinct lack of profits. And with new cutbacks and layoffs being announced almost daily, these "job banks" are increasingly tough to justify, even for the UAW. It's always been a bit of a competitive disadvantage, at least on paper, as non-UAW competitors like Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai do not keep such job banks. To ease Detroit's transition from bloated, money-losing corporations to lean "right-sized" competitors, UAW Prez. Ron Gettelfinger has brought up the job banks and their possible elimination. Will this be a part of the overall plan to become competitive that the Detroit 3 bring to Congress? We'll find out soon enough.
The Jaguar XF-R is almost complete, and the house of the saltant feline looks to retain its suite of exceptionally modest modifications for the hottest version of its hottest seller. Outside, the car gets hood vents and larger intakes for better breathing, and a sliver of a trunk spoiler hovering over quad tailpipes out back. Larger wheels wearing lower profile rubber hanging off of a seriously firm suspension will be on the menu, all the better to harness the signature trait of an R car: the 500-horsepower supercharged V8 up front. We'll see it some time next year, our bet is at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
Not to be confused with the "24 Hours of LeMans" (that zooty French endurance race), the "24 Hours of LeMons" is an event comprised of low-budget $500 race cars (yeah, "lemons"). The so-called "crap-car enduro" has enticed various members of the Autoblog team over the years into covering, and more recently participating, in the event. When asked to join a team for an upcoming race, we knew it was our obligation to go. We now find ourselves booked for the "Thunderhill Arse-Freeze-Apalooza." The event scheduled during last few days of December promises dreadfully cold weather, but plenty of off-beat racing fun. Our six-part weekly series will take you behind the scenes with our new race partners, the "Tinkerbell Rosso" racing team, and their 1996 Crown Victoria "Police Interceptor."
Little guy Porsche is taking huge swings, and not just at the giant that is Volkswagen. Porsche head Wendelin Wiedeking had fierce Teutonic words for General Motors and Ford, and banks. His Rindfleisch – beef, that is – with U.S. automakers is that, through unsound practices, they have thrown absolutely everything into turmoil. In the words of the Guardian, in fact, they have driven "the industry to the brink of ruin."
Those are big and perhaps hyperbolic words. But he then singles out GM for "openly threatening" the U.S. Government with bankruptcy, and predicts a hedge fund will take control of "one of the U.S. car manufacturers." Since Chrysler is already controlled by a hedge fund, that only leaves GM and Ford as the possible subjects of that comment. We can't imagine a hedge fund trying to swallow GM or Ford, especially after Cerberus has taken such a beating with Chrysler that seemingly all they can say is "Must... find... the exit."
Wiedeking is on more Earthly ground when he talks about the little guys, suppliers, who are quietly going under -- even though many of them ran their business correctly -- due to the banks' refusal to lend money while the clash of automotive titans continues. In a quote that people in many different industries can applaud, he says "We need banks to give credit, not just talk about credit ratings but start real actual lending to companies." Amen.
The president of the United Auto Workers union, Ron Gettelfinger, said in a recent CNN interview that U.S. automakers need to tell Congress they will limit corporate pay, bonuses and severance packages in return for more government loans. Gettelfinger also said that the Detroit Three only need the loans to hold them over during these tough times. While the first statement from the union's top player seems like basic common sense, the second seems highly optimistic... especially when one considers the size of the industry and the depth of its issues. While no single event (or loan, for that matter) will likely turn around the downslide, all of those affected by the auto industry's potential demise will be interested in tomorrow's events. That's because Dec. 2 is the day House and Senate leaders told the automakers that they need to submit a "credible restructuring plan" that's convincing enough to get Congress to open its wallet when it reconvenes next week.
You know things have gone awry when BMW now offers three different flavors of non-cars, all of them antithetical to the Bavarian brand's classical claim to fame. The X6 is the latest addition to the range, joining the X3 and X5, and BMW is calling it a Sports Activity Coupe, creating an acronym that's oddly prescient for a vehicle that's essentially a post-bris X5. Beyond the looks that are an acquired taste, we wanted to know if there's BMW goodness baked into the X6, so we swiped the keys to an X6 XDrive 35i for a week with the SAC to find out.
Recent BMW styling has been a study in how much ugly consumers will accept if it's wearing a Roundel. The X6 looks like two different vehicles, each individually cool, yet when merged add up to a pile of automotive offal. The fastback roofline would befit a coupey looking sedan; married as it is to an extra chunky lower body, it recalls the unloved Pontiac Aztek, a comparison we heard more than once during the X6's visit.
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Outrageous minivans are oddities of the train wreck variety. You don't want to, but you just gotta look. And we're suckers for them. Not that long ago we had the ridiculously fast, jet-powered Dodge Caravan, and then there was the show but stock slow Mugen Honda Odyssey.
But what do you think of a Saleen-built Ford Windstar? And, no, it's not a soccer mom special that someone slapped a Saleen windshield header on. This is the real deal. It's got custom-made carbon fiber mirrors, valve covers and steering wheel. The double-nostril hood is custom-made as is the gauge cluster and the fender flares over the Z-rated 18-inch Rikens. Underhood is a Saleen supercharger atop the Ford V6. The eBay auction says more than $100,000 was spent on the monster minivan's production.
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