, Aug 1 (Reuters) – The manager of
Volkswagen AG’s (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) new Tennessee plant said neither he
nor anyone else at the facility has been in contact with United
Auto Workers union representatives.

Reports that the German automaker has been in talks about
the UAW representing workers at the plant are “speculation,”
the manager, Don Jackson, said.

, July 29 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co’s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
labor chief said the U.S. automaker hopes to avoid a strike in
its talks for a new labor deal with the United Auto Workers
union, which officially began on Friday.

“The last thing we want to do is incur a strike,” said
Marty Malloy at the kickoff ceremony at a Ford truck assembly
plant in Dearborn, Michigan. “We work great with the UAW.”

, July 27 (Reuters) – General Motors Co
(GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hopes to retain its cost-competitive structure after its
negotiations with the United Auto Workers union, Chief
Executive Dan Akerson said on Wednesday at an event to mark the
start of the talks.

“The world is really quite brutal,” Akerson told plant
workers and journalists at the Detroit-Hamtramck auto plant.

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Daniel Akerson has weighed in strongly on the future of its Opel business, saying the European unit was not for sale.

“We don’t comment on speculation — and there has been a lot of speculation — but I will say this: Opel is not for sale,” Akerson said at a news conference on Wednesday when asked about Opel’s future.

DETROIT, July 27 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief
Executive Daniel Akerson has weighed in strongly on the future
of its Opel business, saying the European unit was not for
sale.

“We don’t comment on speculation — and there has been a
lot of speculation — but I will say this: Opel is not for
sale,” Akerson said at a news conference on Wednesday when
asked about Opel’s future.

By Bernie Woodall

DEARBORN, Mich. (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co’s quarterly profit beat Wall Street expectations, helped by higher prices and improved sales in North America.

Ford, the only U.S. automaker that did not accept a government bailout, has posted a net profit for eight straight quarters. It had racked up net losses of $30 billion from 2006 through 2008 when it cut jobs, sold unprofitable brands and reshaped a lineup laden with large SUVs and pickup trucks.

DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co’s quarterly profit beat Wall Street expectations helped by higher prices and improved sales in North America.

In North America, Ford’s pre-tax profit rose 0.5 percent to $1.91 billion.

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Reuters) – Chrysler Group LLC and the United Auto Workers union expect to reach a deal on a new labor contract without resorting to arbitration, officials for the company and union said on Monday.

In the four years since the two sides last negotiated a labor contract, the Detroit automakers were pushed into crisis by collapsing vehicle demand and the financial convulsion of 2008. Both General Motors Co and Chrysler, now majority-owned by Italy’s Fiat SpA, were bailed out by the Obama administration.

DETROIT, July 13 (Reuters) – The time for the United Auto
Workers to win the hearts and minds of nonunion workers in
southeastern U.S. plants is now in one top union executive’s
opinion.

“If not now, when? We are going to fix it or we continue to
do what we’re doing. You keep kicking the can down the road or
we’re going to fix it,” said Gary Casteel, director of the UAW
region that includes Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama and
Georgia where most of the nonunion auto plants are located.

DETROIT, July 12 (Reuters) – The 750 hourly auto workers
assembling Ford Motor Co’s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) small pickup truck at a
Minnesota plant scheduled to close by year end are hoping for a
miracle in the upcoming labor talks between their union and the
U.S. automaker.

However, the members of United Auto Workers Local 879,
which represents workers at the Ford plant in St. Paul, are not
holding their breath even as they build the Ranger truck.