Trade News

DETROIT — The UAW paid out more than $80 million to workers who went on strike against General Motors for 40 days last fall, according to the union's annual report filed Tuesday.

UAW members received weekly checks of $250 to $275 after the first week of the strike. The payments amounted to more than 10 percent of the roughly $800 million that was in the union's strike fund before the walkout.

In addition to benefit costs, the UAW paid $23,626 to print strike signs at the end of September, according to its filing with the Department of Labor. The union paid $18,550 for more signs Oct. 17, and it paid a printing company nearly $62,000 for "strike materials" in early December.

The UAW also dealt with strikes against Mack Truck and Aramark, a custodial company that services multiple GM sites.

GM has said the strike cost it more than $3 billion.

The walkout occurred toward the end of a year in which UAW membership grew by more than 3,000 people,…

With the CT4, Cadillac is overhauling its car lineup again and says it's committed to the luxury sport sedan market, even as the rest of General Motors continues to shift away from sedans.

The CT4 faces an uphill battle to stand out against European competitors, but Cadillac is banking on a lower starting price point and a rear-wheel-drive option to give the sport sedan an edge.

"Cadillac has not abandoned providing world-class cars," said Ken Kornas, product manager for the CT4 and CT5. "You hear a lot of discussion and talk about the shift in the marketplace to crossovers and SUVs. But we know to be a full-line global manufacturer ... it's important for us as Cadillac to play in these spaces. The CT4, and really the CT5, which is also launching this year, reflects Cadillac's commitment as well as our realignment of our sedan portfolio."

The 2020 CT4 Luxury base trim with rwd starts at $33,990, including shipping, making it a ke…

Kia's sees its next-generation midsize sedan as such an upgrade — from the interior and exterior styling to the high-output engine and newly available all-wheel drive — that the Korean automaker is changing the name. The fifth iteration of the sedan will drop the Optima badge in favor of the K5.

The name isn't out of left field. Kia has long used the K5 moniker for the sedan in Korea, where the redesigned model has been on sale since December. And Kia's large flagship sedan is called the K9 in its home market and the K900 in the U.S. — to avoid any canine association.

Kia presented the 2021 K5 in a virtual event Tuesday.

"The K5 celebrates this bold, new chapter in Kia's history with an equally bold name to emphasize the midsize sedan's revolutionary design, all-new safety and performance-enhanced N3 platform, turbocharged engines, available all-wheel drive and high-impact technology," Kia said.

The K5, which goes on…

Several automakers — such as Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — collaborated to launch an online tool that identifies recalled Takata airbag modules and inflators.

The free site, launched on Monday, also provides information regarding free pickup and disposal options.

The industry's new tool has parts information for 19 auto brands. Aftermarket industry workers can search parts by "whatever information is known," such as the serial number or supplier part number.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the auto lobbying group representing most major automakers, said it supports the tool as a customer safety measure. The long-term plan for the tool is expansion to cover additional nonsaleable parts, an group spokesperson said.

FCA also said it "strongly supports" the tool, adding that "parts recyclers are in a unique position to help protect" customers.

"In addition to replacing defective airbags, a key objecti…

The UAW local in Arlington, Texas, has asked General Motors. to temporarily close its large-SUV plant in the city for the safety of its workers as cases of COVID-19 rise rapidly in the state.

“Due to the most recent data on the COVID-19 outbreak, the Bargaining Committee has asked General Motors to shut down Arlington Assembly until the curve is flattened for the benefit and well-being of our members,” UAW Local 276 said on its website. “Every day we are setting new records in the number of people who are testing positive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

Confirmed cases in Texas have been rising by more than 5,000 a day in recent weeks, and the Lone Star State reported 4,288 new cases yesterday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Cases in Tarrant County, where the plant is located, increased by 393.

There could be a standoff over closing the GM plant. The union is worried about worker safety, but shutting down Arlington would be a…

LONDON -- Bentley has spent big to upgrade its top-selling model, the Bentayga SUV, in a bid to hold off new competition such as the Aston Martin DBX.

The British ultraluxury automaker has redesigned the SUV to give it a higher market position, farther away from rivals, CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a news release Tuesday.

With the exception of the doors, all of the SUV’s exterior panels have been redesigned, with the most dramatic changes coming at the rear.

The current model’s conventional tailgate has been replaced with one that stretches around the side of the vehicle. The change eliminates the shut lines seen from the rear and also allows the adoption of elliptical lights similar to those on Bentley’s Continental GT coupe and convertible.

“The level of investment in this car is significant,” Bentayga product line director Chris Cole told Automotive News Europe at a pre-reveal of the SUV in March.

“With new entrants such as the Roll…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will begin accepting $100 refundable deposits for the 2021 Bronco immediately after revealing the SUV on July 13.

The deposit essentially puts customers in line for the vehicle, allowing them to configure it and choose a dealership. Ford will convert those deposits into completed orders at a later date, when the customer confirms final pricing and specs.

The process is similar to what Ford offered with the Mustang Mach-E, although customers had to shell out $500 to earn a spot in line for the electric crossover, which hits showrooms later this year. The deposit trend was popularized by Tesla, which last year began accepting $100 refundable deposits for its Cybertruck. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company received more than 250,000 deposits.

The news of the refundable deposit first appeared on Bronco fan forums yesterday, and a Ford spokesman confirmed the plan to Automotive News.

Ford will…

The 2021 Audi Q5 crossover and its derivatives this fall will add extra power to the base engine, improved infotainment and driver-assist systems and exterior styling changes.

Audi's update of its top-selling U.S. model adds a 12-volt mild-hybrid system to its 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four engine, boosting output by 13 hp over the outgoing model to deliver 261 hp and 273 pound-feet of torque. A plug-in hybrid version boosts output to 362 hp and 369 pound-feet of torque. Both are mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission. The more powerful SQ5 keeps its existing V-6 engine and eight-speed transmission.

Inside the cabin, Audi improved the infotainment offerings to Volkswagen Group's more robust MIB 3 system, and it added new styling touches including walnut inlays and contrasting stitching in the leather seats. The German premium brand also made its Integrated Toll Module — which allows automatic toll payments from the driver's accoun…

Ford Motor Co. said Monday it would pause advertising on all social media platforms in the United States for the next 30 days, joining a growing list of companies that have stopped spending on Facebook Inc. in support of a campaign that called out the company for not doing enough to stop hate speech on its platform.

The automaker said it would re-evaluate its presence on all social media platforms and added that hate speech, violence and racial injustice in content on social media "needs to be eradicated." A spokesman said Ford is evaluating such spending in other regions.

Last week Honda Motor Co.’s U.S. automobile division said it would withhold its advertising on Facebook and Instagram for the month of July.

The Geneva auto show will not be held in 2021, the organizers have announced.

The reasons for the cancellation were lack of interest from automakers as well as the uncertain situation over the control of the coronavirus, the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) Foundation said in a statement on Monday.

The Geneva event is Europe’s only major international auto show to be held annually. This year's event was due to take place in March but was canceled just days before opening as the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic became clear.

"A majority of GIMS exhibitors who took part in a survey stated that they would probably not participate in a 2021 edition and that they would prefer to have a GIMS in 2022," the foundation said in the statement.

A 2022 show was not confirmed.

Holding the show next year without automaker support might kill it off for good, GIMS Director General Sandro Mesquita told Automotive News Europe in an interview in M…

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may be removed by the president for any reason, reversing the agency's foundational pillar that it should operate independent of presidential or congressional intervention.

The court in a 5-4 ruling said the current structure of the federal watchdog is "unconstitutional" without oversight from the executive branch. Previously, the CFPB director could only be removed by the president for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."

Spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the bureau was granted broad jurisdiction to pursue and penalize businesses in the consumer financial product industry for practices it considered abusive, unfair or deceptive after passage of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Automotive finance experts have long insisted the bureau's reach was too broad under a single director. Celia Win…