AD #2696 – New Sign UAW Strike in Final Stages, Buick’s China EV Gets More Range, Taycan with Smaller Battery Released

This is Autoline Daily reporting on all aspects of the global automotive industry.

NEW SIGN UAW STRIKE IN FINAL STAGES
The UAW strike at General Motors may be inching towards some kind of resolution. The UAW called 200 local leaders to go to Detroit, which may be a sign the bargaining is in its final stages.

GM WANTS LOWER HEALTH CARE COSTS
One of the stumbling blocks in the negotiations involves health care costs. UAW members only have a 3% co-pay for their medical costs, versus 20% or higher for just about everyone else in the U.S. GM spends nearly a billion dollars a year on health care costs for its hourly workers, but complains that does not result in healthier workers. GM wanted a higher co-pay so workers would be encouraged to adopt preventative healthcare measures and healthier lifestyles.

INVESTORS OK WITH UAW STRIKE
Meanwhile, Wall Street analyst Adam Jonas from Morgan Stanley, says investors are comfortable with the strike as long as GM keeps a lid on long-term labor costs and maintains manufacturing flexibility. He also sees upside potential for GM once the strike is over. That caught our attention. It’s unusual to see Wall Street encouraging an automaker to hang tough on a strike.

We have got a great Autoline After Hours coming up this Thursday, when Bob Lutz will be our guest. Never at a loss for words, and always ready with an opinion on anything automotive, this is going to be a show you will not want to miss.

TOYOTA REVEALS MINI SPORTS CAR
Let’s move over to Japan for a moment. If you’re a fan of the Toyota MR2, sit up and take a look at this, the Copen GR SPORT. The Copen is a kei car manufactured by Toyota’s subsidiary Daihatsu and the GR SPORT is a tuned version of the Copen developed by GAZOO Racing. Under the hood is a turbocharged 660cc engine, which can be mated to a 5-speed manual or 7-speed CVT. Special attention was also paid to the underbody with the addition of a front engine brace and by changing the design of the center brace. The Copen GR Sport is the first in a series of “GR” cars that will be tuned by GAZOO Racing.

BUICK’S CHINA EV GETS MORE RANGE
Now over to China. The Buick Velite 5 is a rebadged and restyled version of the Chevy Volt that’s sold in China. In April, Buick expanded the Velite lineup with an all-electric version, called the Velite 6 MAV, which also has more of a station wagon look to it. And now Buick has increased the model’s range with a larger battery pack. The new 52.5 kWh battery returns a 401 kilometer or roughly 250 mile driving range, based on the older NEDC test cycle. That’s 100 more kilometers than the smaller pack version and it’s on sale now.

SALES CONTINUE TO FALL IN CHINA
Speaking of China, new car sales fell again last month, the 15th consecutive month sales have dropped. They were down more than 5% in September compared to a year ago. To make matters worse, new energy vehicles, which include hybrids, electrics and hydrogen cars, plunged 34% last month. It’s the third month in a row, sales of those types of vehicles have fallen.

SALES IN INDIA PLUMMET
As bad as the car market looks in China, in India it looks even worse. According to Wards Intelligence, light vehicle sales plummeted nearly 24% in September and for the year sales are down 15%. All over the world, car sales are slowing and automakers and suppliers are starting to batten down the hatches.

PORSCHE RELEASES TAYCAN WITH SMALLER BATTERY
There’s good news and bad news in EV land. First the good news. Porsche made it official. It’s coming out with a less expensive version of the Taycan with a smaller battery called the Taycan 4S. It comes standard with a 79.2 kWh battery which delivers up to 522 horsepower, but Porsche didn’t release any range estimates. Buyers can also choose the 93.4 kWh battery found in the Turbo S and Turbo versions. The 4S moves from 0 to 60 MPH in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 155 MPH. It goes on sale next spring with a starting price of about $104,000 in the U.S. The 4S with the larger battery costs over $110,000.

FARADAY FUTURE CEO GIVES UP STAKE IN COMPANY
Now to the bad news. Faraday Future’s founder and CEO, Jia Yueting, filed for bankruptcy in the United States. He will turn over his stake in the company to help repay his personal debts which are around $2 billion. Faraday Future says Yueting’s bankruptcy won’t affect its business operations.

HARLEY HALTS LIVEWIRE PRODUCTION
Last week, we reported that Harley-Davidson is having a hard time attracting younger buyers with its new all-electric bike, the LiveWire. And now the company halted production and deliveries of the motorcycle. It found a glitch in final quality inspections, which prompted more testing and analysis. Harley did not share when production will resume.

FRONT FASCIA GIVES AWAY BARN FIND
We think we have the answer to last week’s Barn Find, that beat up Corvair found on a hiking trail. Many of you had guesses of between 1960 and 1965, but it seems the consensus is, that this is a 1960 model because it’s the only year that concave front fascia was offered. Thanks to viewer Matthew Gamcsik for sending in the photos and you can do the same by reaching out to us at viewermail@autoline.tv

That’s it for today. Thanks for watching