According to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s prepared remarks, Fiat-Chrysler will invest $400 million in its Kokomo facility and hinted that an announcement will be made on Friday from Toyota in Princeton.
Ford needs to make the investment in new products in an effort to increase market share and prepare for a shift to new propulsion and autonomous vehicle technologies.
The ratification means the United Auto Workers union has settled with all three Detroit automakers. Fiat Chrysler has a workforce of 8,156 in Indiana at four plants in Kokomo and one plant in Tipton.
CEO Carlos Tavares, who used to run Nissan in the Americas and knows the U.S. market well, will not shy away from trimming unprofitable models and brands.
The deal is expected to give the merged firm enough scale to confront big shifts in the auto industry, including the race to develop electric cars and driverless technologies. And with 2,640 dealers across the U.S., Fiat Chrysler would have a ready distribution network for Peugeot’s lines of city-friendly cars, family sedans and SUVs.
The agreement likely will mirror the pact approved last week by General Motors workers after a 40-day strike.
General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota and many others in the auto industry are backing the Trump administration in a lawsuit over whether California has the right to set its own greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards.
The deal, which includes modest improvements in pay for new employees and promises that the company will bring full-time temporary workers on permanently, passed this week after being voted on by GM’s 47,000 workers.
Some workers question why union leaders agreed to let General Motors close three factories, wondering if corruption inside the UAW influenced the decision to side with the company.
Details on the four-year pact were posted Thursday on the UAW website as factory level union officials met to decide if they’ll approve the deal. Workers went on strike Sept. 16, crippling the company’s U.S. production and costing it an estimated $2 billion.
The deal was hammered out after months of bargaining but won’t bring an immediate end to the strike by 49,000 hourly workers. They will likely stay on the picket lines for at least two more days as two union committees vote on the deal, after which the members will have to approve.
The appearance of two key executives is a strong sign that bargainers are closing in on a contract agreement that would end the strike, which began on Sept. 16.
With the strike by factory workers against General Motors in its 29th day, there are signs that negotiators may be moving toward an agreement.
Nearly four weeks into the United Auto Workers’ strike against General Motors, employees are starting to feel the pinch of going without their regular paychecks.
Both sides are hoping the strike doesn’t last much longer, but while bargaining continues, the top union negotiator says they’re far apart on major issues including wages, job security, health care and a path for temporary workers to become full-time.
The strike against General Motors by the United Auto Workers is playing out amid a corruption scandal inside the UAW that has caused distrust of the union leadership among many rank-and-file members.
Negotiators for General Motors and the United Auto Workers took a break from bargaining around 9 p.m. Monday but headed back at to the tables on Tuesday as a strike by more than 49,000 employees extended into a second day.
A strike by over 49,000 United Auto workers against General Motors could have been averted had the company made its latest offer sooner, the union’s top negotiator said in a letter to the company.
The move announced Tuesday means that GM will be the focus of bargaining, and any deal with the company will set the pattern for Ford and Fiat Chrysler. It also means that if the union decides to go on strike, it will be against GM.
The 2019 J.D. Power Tech Experience Index study found that frustrated drivers may avoid the systems in future vehicle purchases. That’s a problem for automakers who want to prepare people for fully automated vehicles.
