The Inquisitr » chrysler

General Motors Dealerships Closing: 1,100 Locations Affected

JR — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:35:17 +0000

General Motors has announced it is closing 1,100 of its U.S. dealerships. The move comes as the company sits on the brink of bankruptcy. GM is expected to ultimately close more than 2,300 dealerships by the end of 2010.

GM Dealership Closures

The specific General Motors dealerships closing list has yet to be revealed. GM says it will be holding discussions in the coming weeks to make its final decisions. The process, according to published reports, is beginning today.

The GM dealerships in question reportedly have 120,000 unsold vehicles valued at $2.5 billion. All of the GM dealership closures are expected to occur by next October.

General Motors announced it was cutting 47,000 jobs this past February. In April, the company discussed further cuts, including the elimination of the Pontiac brand.

Chrysler, meanwhile, revealed this week that it was shutting down a quarter of its American dealerships. A full list of Chrysler dealerships closing can be found here.

Chrysler Dealerships Closing: The Complete List

JR — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:24:24 +0000

Chrysler is planning close a quarter of its American dealerships, the company has announced. The Chrysler dealerships closing announcement comes as part of the auto-manufacturer’s bankruptcy filing. In a motion filed Thursday, Chrysler indicated it would shut down nearly 800 U.S. dealerships by June 9 of this year.

Chrysler says just over half of its dealers make up 90 percent of its sales, which is why it wants to eliminate the more poorly performing locations. Some of those dealerships have already indicated they will fight the proposal.

The Chrysler dealerships set to close account for 14 percent of the company’s total U.S. sales, representatives say.

Chrysler Dealerships Closing List

The following is a complete list of the Chrysler dealerships closing. You can also find an interactive state-by-state breakdown here.

Ford and Unions negotiate a pay cut…to $55/ hour

Duncan Riley — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:38:22 +0000

The criticism from the right blaming autoworkers for the demise of the American auto industry hasn’t always been fair. It isn’t the fault of workers that the big three have produced products people don’t want; management fairly takes a big share of the blame. But then you read these stories you can see partially where the right was coming from.

Reuters reports:

Ford Motor Co expects operating savings of $500 million per year from an agreement with the United Auto Workers that will push hourly wage rates into the “ballpark” of foreign-based rivals, the company said on Wednesday.

The agreement trims average wages and benefits for UAW hourly workers to about $55 per hour this year, while the U.S. operations of foreign-based automakers — or what executives call “transplants” — pay workers on average $48 to $49 per hour, Ford said.

That’s right, $55 per hour. If they work a 36 hour week or longer, that’s $100,000 USD a year, and that’s the reduced pay.

Now I’m all for people getting paid what they deserve, and many of these assembly line jobs could involve a fair bit of technical knowledge. But in a market that in part has been killed by cheap Asian imports, and where many Americans struggle to find jobs, let alone get $10/ hour, workers at Ford have their pay cut to $55/ hour. And a non-American owned company pays workers in the United States $48-$49 per year.

Ford didn’t take a handout from the US Government, but presuming their pay rates are similar to workers at GM and Chrysler, you can safely say that this is part what the auto industry bailout is paying for. Your taxpayer money at work indeed

Autonet Mobile: Rolling Wi-Fi Coming Soon To More Cars

JR — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:58:10 +0000

Autonet Mobile is preparing to announce a new series of deals that’ll bring its rolling Wi-Fi to a whole new line of cars.

Autonet Mobile’s Model

Autonet Mobile launched its first major distribution deal just a few months ago. Chrysler started offering its routers built-in to new Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles last September. The automaker charges $449 for the dealer-installed device, then $29 a month for the Autonet Mobile Wi-Fi service.

The system runs over a 3G network and distributes the signal over a 100 foot range around the vehicle. Autonet Mobile had been developing the technology for three years prior to the Chrysler launch and had sold a smaller number of units through independent dealerships and car shops. The system had also been distributed through select Avis rental vehicles.

Autonet Mobile’s Future

Autonet Mobile now says it has about 3,000 monthly customers, which provided a revenue of $1 million in 2008 — a strong jump from its 2007’s total of only $150,000. Now, the company’s leaders have indicated they are “on the verge” of revealing distribution agreements with another automaker. So far, Autonet Mobile will only reveal it is “one of the ‘Big Three.’”

Autonet Mobile execs have also said they are seeking a fresh round of funding to help fuel the growing demand for the company’s product.