auto

Senator Chris Dodd Calls for GM CEO's Firing

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Off with His Head! That's what Senator Chris Dodd is now saying.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Richard Wagoner should be replaced as a condition of federal aid and Chrysler LLC may have to merge to survive.

“You’ve got to consider new leadership,” Dodd said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Wagoner, he said, “has to move on.”

Asked if a change in leadership should be a condition of a bailout, Dodd who is helping to write the legislation, said, “I think it is going to have to be part of it.”

“Chrysler, is, I think, basically gone, probably ought to be merged,” Dodd said. Ford Motor Co. is the healthiest domestic automaker, he said.

Below is the Face the Nation video clip with Dodd.

Citigroup Stock Pounded? No Problem, Government to the Rescue!

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Is this unbelievable or what? Millions of jobs on the line and Congress puts the auto industry through hell yet Citigroup stock drops and the Government immediately comes to their rescue.

Citigroup in Talks with Government for Rescue:

One option being considered is taking some of the risky assets held by Citigroup off its balance sheet, a move that would give the company more breathing room and put it in a better position to raise capital. It was unclear, however, exactly how that option might be structured, the people said. Another option would be for the government to make another cash injection into the company.

Mexican Auto Workers cut wages to "compete" with China

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This is pretty astounding. Mexico's auto unions agree to cut wages:

Wage concessions were apparently key to persuading Ford Motor Co. to direct many of the 4,500 new jobs involved in building Fiestas to the Ford plant in Cuautitlan, on the outskirts of Mexico City. Union leaders at the plant told The Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new hires to about half of the current wage of $4.50 per hour.

"We agreed to it," said Ford union leader Juan Jose Sosa Arreola. "We need to be more competitive. That's the truth. That's a reality."