The looming threat of a UAW (United Auto Workers) strike has finally become a reality. According to General Motors, UAW workers at the company’s Kansas plant went on strike Monday morning. The strike was initiated at 9 am. Monday morning when 1,800 hourly workers walked out from the GM plant in Fairfax, Kansas the ongoing negotiations between GM management and the UAW Local 31 failed and in lieu of this, the UAW instigated a strike. GM and UAW had been in a disagreement regarding plant level rules that required modifications following a four-year national contract which was approved in 2007. UAW had informed the GM management about the strike deadline on Sunday

The news of the strike spread like wildfire and immediately showed its impact on GM’s shares, with a fall of 3.02%. In addition to the Kansas plant, the Lansing Delta Township Plant in Michigan that manufactures crossover vehicles like the Buick Enclave, is already suffering the effects of a strike from UAW. However, the 2008 Malibu production will still continue at Orion Plant in Michigan which also assembles the Pontiac G6. UAW workers at the Orion Plant have already reached a local contract agreement with GM.

General Motors spokesperson Dan Flores said, “We are disappointed that UAW Local 31 has taken the strike action at Fairfax. From a GM perspective, we are going to remain focused on reaching an agreement as soon as we can and hope this is a very short disruption." On the issue of 2008 Malibu production, Dan Flores said, that GM would be fishing out options in respect to the production of its 2008 Malibu. However, he added that the resolution for the current crisis at the Kansas plant was of paramount importance.

At other plants as well, GM is under intense negotiations with the UAW officials and the talks have been extended indefinitely. These plants are:

1. A transmission facility in Warren, Michigan.

2. A stamping plant near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

3. A stamping plant in Mansfield, Ohio

The ongoing strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings has rendered about 30 GM plants idle or partly idle. The strike at American Axle has been in effect from the last two months and has hampered production of GM’s full-sized pickup trucks and SUVs.

From a market perspective, the strike at Kansas and other plants has been showing its impact on GM’s market variables as well. On the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange), GM saw a fall of 3.02% or 70 cents. GM’s shares now rest at $22.50 a share.

Jaguar Land Rover CEO, Geoff Polites passed away this Sunday in his home country Australia, he was 60 years old. He was considered to be the driving force behind the ongoing Tata-Jaguar Land Rover negotiations. Mr. Polites had been battling serious illness for the last two years. The location of his death and other details haven’t yet been released.

Geoff Polites was credited with leading the team that succeeded in bringing the British luxury auto brands Jaguar and Land Rover to their famed glory. Ford has announced that the road to the sale process paved by Geoff Polites will be followed and the deal is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2008.

According to Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally, “Geoff ensured that Jaguar Land Rover was not distracted and continued to focus on the fundamentals of the business during the recent sale process, despite at the time also fighting his own personal health battle"

Until a new CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is appointed, Jaguar Land Rover’s current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will take over the responsibilities as the acting CEO.

Geoff Polites was the vice president for marketing, sales and service for Ford, Europe before assuming the role of CEO, Jaguar Land Rover in 2005. He had a glorious 40 years career in the automotive industry.

Born in Melbourne, Geoff Polites joined Ford, Australia in 1970 as the product planner. After a brief training period, he rejoined Ford, Australia n 1975 as marketing research manager.

Lewis Booth (Executive VP of Ford’s European Units), said “His passion for the car business was legend, but the resolve he showed since taking over as CEO of Jaguar Land Rover was something very special.”

General Motors (GM) which is the largest auto maker in the United States, on Wednesday announced its intentions to realign its North American management. A former Nissan North America sales chief has been hired to look after one of the four new retail channels. These four main brand channels are Chevrolet, Saturn, Buick-Pontiac-GMC and GM’s premium brands. The decision to consolidate GM’s eight brands into four brand channels has been taken so as to reduce complexity and to enhance the focus of the management. This will ensure that all four leaders will now be reporting to North American sales chief Mark LaNeve.

According to GM, three premium GM brands namely, Cadillac, Hummer and Saab will be under the leadership of the former Nissan executive Mark McNabb. He has been allocated the position of vice-president (VP) for these brands. However, there hasn’t been any changes made in the management of the other three brand channels.

Mark McNabb will join GM from April 21, 2008 after leaving Nissan and the appointment as the VP of the premium brands will take effect from June 1, 2008 .

Under the new leadership, Ed Peper will become North America vice president for the Chevrolet retail channel. Susan Docherty will be vice president for GM’s Buick-Pontiac-GMC channel and Jill Lajdziak will remain as the acting general manager for GM’s Saturn division and will also be handling the sales channels. All these channel heads will be directly reporting to North American sales chief Mark LaNeve

According to a top GM Executive, while considering a myriad of options in a bid to help American Axle break out of the UAW strike deadlock, the GM management’s decision to provide an aid of $200 million was the best option of all.

Troy Clark (President, GM North America) in a statement said, “There were a number of us involved in it and in the discussions, and collectively we evaluated several options. There were several levels of engagement and we thought that this would be the right thing to do and the right time to do it. We thought it was in our best interests and the best interest of all parties to do something positive and helpful in trying to encourage the parties to reach a resolution.”

The strike at American Axle plants had partially or completely idled 31 GM production and assembly plants across the United States. At first GM had stated that it would not be a party to the negotiations between American Axle and UAW, but later it decided to offer the $200 million aid to American Axle. The strike which had entered its 10^th week with over 3,650 workers as willing participants, had the GM top brass deeply worried and thus General Motors decided to change their stance on the situation. This financial help has been provided in an effort to enable American Axle to carry out its buydown offers and buy-outs for the returning workers.

According to Mr. Clarke, the UAW strike at American Axle had cost GM $800 million in loses in the very first month. Although GM has no legal obligations or any responsibilities towards American Axle workers, still the management deemed the aid offered to the strike riddled company as both practical and ethical.

Adding to his previous statement Troy Clarke added, “Did we have a high truck inventory? Yes, that’s a true statement. Did it bleed off some of that inventory that we may have had to bleed off otherwise? I think that’s a fair statement, too. But I don’t think it’s the kind of thing where we were on the sideline. Wow, I hope the strike lasts another two weeks because it gets me down to my inventory number.”

On the issue of the UAW strike at various General Motor plants, Troy Clarke stated, “Labor issues are complex and very tough to talk about these kinds of things in the press,” he said. “I do know one thing: The strike will eventually end.”

Ford Motors have announced that the Ford Focus Coupe will be redesigned for 2009 model year. The redesigning is specifically targeted towards a more sporty look. Ford has stated that the main changes have been incorporated in the front and the rear of the car. Ford SES which will be the high-end model for the new Ford Coupe will be sporting a new roofline spoiler and standard 17-inch aluminum wheels. The new revamped model of the Ford Coupe will make its grand debut at the next ‘American Idol’ broadcast.

Sam De La Garza (Focus Marketing Manager) said in a statement, “We’ve spent a lot of time talking with small-car customers and Focus enthusiasts. Their overwhelming feedback was that a sportier exterior design could attract even more millennials, or those people born between 1980 and 1995 — 11,000 of whom reach driving age every day in the U.S."

The 2009 Ford Focus SE Coupe will hit the U.S markets in August and its starting price would be $16,615, including shipping. However, the high-end SES model will be a bit more expensive, starting at $18,035, including shipping.

The face-lift for the Ford Coupe includes:

            New Front Grill & Fascia.

Side Vents are gone.

17″ (SVT Style) Sport Wheels.

Power increase to 143 horsepower.

New rear diffuser.

New rear high mounted spoiler.

New rear lights.

Revised front lights

Free flowing exhaust system.

4.2 final drive ratio for automatic transmissions.

New optional electronic stability control (ESC).

Another Toyota executive jumped ships and joined Chrysler LLC. According to Chrysler spokesman Kevin Frazier, Sigmund Huber is now the director of supplier relations for Chrysler with effect from May 1^st 2008. He was formerly the general manager for external and corporate affairs for Toyota Engineering & Manufacturing North America, situated at Erlanger, Kentucky.

Huber had served Toyota for nine years and also held the post of Toyota’s purchasing relations. John Campi, Chrysler executive vice president for procurement is Mr. Huber’s new boss and he would be reporting directly to Mr. Campi. One of the most important jobs of Sigmund Huber would be to set up a ‘global risk management process in Chrysler’s procurement organization’.

The last executive that Chrysler LLC took away from Toyota was Jim Press, who had given 37 years of his career to Toyota. He later moved to Chrysler as its president and vice chairman in September 2007.

Finance giant GMAC has announced a massive $589 million loss for its first quarter financial results for 2008. According to Reuters . The loss has been magnified due to the increasing defaults on mortgage payments and according to GMAC, the crisis might just aggravate in the coming months. The posted loss of $589 million has increased from last year’s loss of $305 million.

According to JP Morgan Analyst Himanshu Patel, “On balance, results were perhaps not as bad as the market’s worst fears." GMAC loss included an $859 million loss at Residential Capital LLC, its mortgage unit’s sixth quarterly loss in a row. GMAC Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Robert Hull stressed on the fact that the majority of the losses turned out from Residential Capital LLC (ResCap). This loss has been accredited to the falling real estate prices in the U.S and global tight mortgage liquidity.

Stepping into damage control mode, ResCap has announced 5,000 job cuts and will follow less risky lending practices. GMAC CEO Alvaro de Molina said in a statement, “There is still more to do to stabilize ResCap and position the overall company for profitable growth.” GMAC was worth $22.7 billion in cash and liquidity in the year ending 2007. Now its assets worth has crawled down to $18.6 billion. As of now ResCap is one of the biggest independent U.S mortgage lenders and the eight largest mortgage lender all over.