Category: Newswire

BMW to cut work hours, pay of highly-qualified employees

BERLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) — German carmaker BMW is planning to reduce the salaries of its highly qualified employees by 10,000-14,000 euros each year, the German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported on Friday.
BMW is also seeking to reduce the working time of its skilled workforce from 40 to 35 hours a week, a measure that would save around 100 million euros, WirtschaftsWoche said.
In the past, the German carmaker let employees with sought-after qualifications work 40 hours instead of 35 hours a week to avoid having to train new people and to be able to deploy proven specialists for longer time.
“I will ensure that highly qualified workers can continue to work 40 hours,” Manfred Schoch, head of the workers' council, told WirtschaftsWoche.
The reduction of working time would affect around one-third of the company's 17,000 employees.
According to WirtschaftsWoche, BMW was negotiating with the workers' council on a package of several measures to save 12 billion euros ..

AMS takeover of Osram fails

… technology . “We intend to leverage our position as OSRAM’s largest shareholder in a dialogue with OSRAM as we continue to pursue the full acquisition of the company, securing a solid future for OSRAM” AMS…

-Fighting GM puts a financial squeeze on striking union workers

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Oct 3 (Reuters) – While striking workers at General Motors Co's U.S. auto plants continue walking picket lines for a third week to demand better pay and benefits, the financial pressure has mounted for union members like Frank Lee.
Analysts estimate that GM could lose $1 billion from the labor dispute that began on Sept. 16 and is now the longest nationwide strike at the automaker since 1970. For GM, which had $24 billion in cash and marketable securities as of June 30, that cost is likely manageable.
But it's a different story for some strikers.
Frank Lee, a United Auto Workers union member at GM's Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is fending off bill collectors.
“Until yesterday, I was negative in my bank account,” said Lee. “I called the bank to try and stop an insurance payment from coming out. I failed to do that; it was too late”.
Adding to the difficulty of his situation, union regulations prohibit Lee from seeking outside em..

The Volvo Group Passes the Milestone of One Million Connected Customer Assets for Increased Sustainability, Uptime and Safety

“The connected solutions bring increased vehicle and construction equipment uptime for our customers, better safety for drivers, operators and other road users – and of course – less emissions of carbon dioxide. The first million connected assets is only the start, we are committed to remain a leader in this field,” says Martin Lundstedt, President… Continue reading The Volvo Group Passes the Milestone of One Million Connected Customer Assets for Increased Sustainability, Uptime and Safety

Dana and Valeo Collaborate to Supply Complete 48-Volt Electric Vehicle Systems

MAUMEE, Ohio, Oct. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN) and Valeo today announced a global collaboration to develop and supply 48-volt electric-vehicle systems for new-mobility applications, including low-speed electric and hybrid e-AWD vehicles. The first system is scheduled to launch in early 2020 with a major European automaker on series-produced cars.   The joint… Continue reading Dana and Valeo Collaborate to Supply Complete 48-Volt Electric Vehicle Systems

Changan ford to launch 18 new models in 3 years

CHONGQING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) — Changan Ford Automobile Co. Ltd., a joint venture between China's Changan Automobile and American automaker Ford, plans to launch 18 new automobile models by the end of 2021, including 5 new energy vehicles in the Chinese market.
Since its establishment in Chongqing in 2001, Changan Ford has produced more than 6.5 million vehicles with an output value of more than 800 billion yuan (112 billion U.S. dollars), and its annual sales were once close to 1 million vehicles. Changan Ford, however, ended the trend of continuous growth in 2017, with annual sales of 819,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 14 percent. Sales in 2018 were only 378,000 units, down 54.4 precent from a year earlier.
Experts said the sales downturn of Changan Ford is partly due to a lack of new models from 2016 to 2018.
To tackle the downturn, Ford Motor said it will accelerate the localization of new models of Ford and Ford luxury brand Lincoln. The first Lincoln SUV model will be..