Autoblog

The 10-day strike between American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. and the United Auto Workers union is now threatening to idle or partially shut down 13 more GM plants as early as Monday. Although talks are underway again, even a resolution over the weekend may mean closures as it takes time to deliver inventory and ramp up production. As of now, seven assembly plants at GM have already been idled after the AA workers walked off their jobs on February 26th.

American Axle supplies components to many different automakers, meaning the strike is being felt industry-wide. The strike is hitting GM particularly hard, however, as it does represent some 80% of the supplier's business. GM idled four truck plants within days. By yesterday, five GM plants, and seven suppliers were down. Chrysler may also have to idle plants in Delaware and Mexico by mid-next week if both sides don't come to an agreement.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. Reportedly, both sides already agree on the principles of a concession, leaving just the issue of hourly wages on the table. And, as most negotiation experts point out, money differences are often the easiest to solve.

[Source: Detroit News, Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty]

A piece of automotive history will soon fade into the record books as the longest-running vehicle assembly plant in American history, the Jeep Parkway in Toledo, OH, prepares to close up shop this week.

What started as the Willys-Overland factory in 1910 helped Willys become the second-largest car company in the US through World War I, and for a stretch in the 1920s the company was led by Walter P. Chrysler. The factory helped the US flex its industrial might and built vehicles and ordinance for the military in World War II, and in 1945, the first civilian Jeep CJ rolled off the line. Presumably, no one expected the sport-utility vehicle craze that would follow nearly five decades later. Throughout the post-war years, the company went through the hands of Kaiser, AMC, and Renault, with history coming full circle when the Chrysler Corporation acquired it in 1987.

The Cherokee SUV was added in the mid-80s and helped keep the plant alive (not to mention its role in popularizing mid-size SUVs), but the replacement of that model by the Liberty - produced at the nearby and significantly more modern Toledo North factory - made the demise of the plant somewhat unavoidable.

Once occupying over 4 million square feet, somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 million vehicles have rolled out of the factory over the years. GM's Jansville, WI facility will need to run another decade to match the Toledo facility's 96 years of existence.

[Source: Toledo Blade]