Another indication of the complexity of the globalized auto industry came Monday with the news that Volkswagen is considering moving Passat production for the North American market to its facility in Mexico.
Ford Motor Co. isn't as optimistic as it was a few months ago. In a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company announced on Tuesday that it was lowering its worldwide market share prediction for 2006, saying it is likely market share will decline for the year. Previously Ford had forecast improved market share for the year.
Apparently ignoring the terms of its UAW contract, Delphi has posted this ad for hourly workers at its Athens, Alabama steering systems plant:
Volkswagen chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder is between a rock and a hard place. Saying "there is no alternative" to cutting jobs and costs at its loss-making German plants, Pischetsrieder is also battling a board divided between shareholder representatives and the labor leaders who hold half the seats.
In fact, the UAW's response came as swiftly as a scorned party's rebuttal after a presidential State of the Union address. Likewise, the response proved equally predictable: They're peeved, and they're not going to go quietly into the unemployment lines:
