Autoblog

Blame the plunging greenback. Less than a week after BMW announced the expansion of their U.S. Spartanburg plant, we are getting news from Germany that the weak dollar is making it increasingly difficult for the German automaker to keep production on their soil and that layoffs are imminent. Ernst Baumann, BMW's head of personnel, said 5,600 jobs in Germany will be cut by the end of the year. When you add that to the 2,500 positions already eliminated, the total represents about 7.6-percent of BMW's workforce.

While the layoffs are bad news for German factory workers, the flip side of the coin may benefit their American counterparts. With the value of the Euro sitting at more than $1.50 at current exchange rates, European automakers are finding manufacturing on U.S. soil more attractive (read that "cost effective") than ever. BMW manufactured about 155,000 vehicle on U.S. soil last year. By 2012, that number is planned to approach 240,000 cars. BMW sales worldwide reached 198,628 in January and February, up from 191,357 the same period last year. With the new BMW 1 Series and BMW X6 models hitting showrooms in 2008, BMW is forecasting yet another year of increased sales.

[Source: Detroit News]

Toyota has launched a new advertising campaign aimed at educating Americans about the company’s involvement in and importance to the U.S. economy. The billboards highlight such facts as 386,000 jobs have been created in this country by Toyota and the company’s invested $13 billion in the U.S. since it arrived over 35 years ago. The ads have been placed along highways in two dozen markets where Toyota operates factories or has supplier operations.

Reactions to the ads are obviously varied depending on who you ask. The general consumer these days who cares more about “Bang for the Buck” than “Buy American” is comfortable with the Japanese automaker’s increasing presence in the U.S. economy. Members of the UAW and other organized unions, however, whose domestic employers have been losing marketshare to Toyota at a rapid rate are not pleased. The linked NewsDay article points out that the UAW in particular has been weakened by the presence of Toyota’s and other foreign automakers’ nonunion operations.

[Source: NewsDay]

Note - No pics of the actual billboards were available, so we had some fun in Photoshop above.

Ford’s shareholders are to reportedly consider changing the company’s equal employment policy language to exclude any mention of sexual orientation. The move is expected after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the automaker’s bid to keep the matter from its proxy statement. As of right now, the Blue Oval’s policy includes clauses that specifically outline the company’s pledge not to discriminate based upon sexual orientation, but a request by shareholder Robert Hurley has submitted the proposal for consideration.

Ford has apparently been petitioning the government agency to exclude the issue, arguing that its inclusion will hurt the automaker’s chances of wooing potential employees at certain universities (that require sexual orientation to be included in recruiting companies’ policies), also fearing that backlash stemming from such a changeover could hurt sales to GLBT supporters.

The proxy statement goes out this Friday, at which point shareholders will vote on the issue. The result is expected to be made public on May 11 at Ford’s annual meeting.

[Source: Associated Press via Detroit News]

Yesterday, 1,000 Chrysler plant workers who had been idled showed up for shifts at the company’s Belvidere, IL plant where the new Dodge Caliber and upcoming Jeep Compass are made. About 360 workers were current Belvidere employees, while the rest came from Delaware, Alabama, Indiana and Ohio. The extra workers raise the plant’s payroll from 1,650 to 2,650 and double its capacity.

Though some automakers seem to be laying off manual laborers left and right, it’s been refreshing to report on other companies who’ve been bolstering their ranks as of late. In addition to Chrysler, Toyota and Subaru announced that their Indiana plant will be back up to full capacity when Camry production goes online, and Kia has recently revealed that it’s setting up shop in Georgia.

[Source: Chrysler]