The Auto World

Nearly 1,000 UAW workers have walked off the job at American Axle’s Three Rivers plant. Union members say wages never recovered from deep cuts accepted during 2008. The strike could affect production of GM’s heavy-duty Silverado and Sierra pickups. Nearly two decades after accepting massive pay cuts to help save their plant during the Great Recession, about 1,000 union workers at a major GM supplier have decided they’ve waited long enough. Members of United Auto Workers Local 2093 walked off the job at midnight on June 1 after contract negotiations with American Axle & Manufacturing , now operating as Dauch Corporation at the Three Rivers facility, failed to produce a new agreement before the deadline. The union announced the strike under the slogan “No Contract, No Axles,” a fitting message given the plant’s role in producing axles used in heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. ...

Prodrive boss admits Subaru’s gold wheels were a factory mistake. Speedline accidentally shipped gold wheels instead of charcoal gray. A victory at Monte Carlo forced Subaru to keep the accidental color combo. Some color combinations belong to one car and one car only. Subaru’s blue paint with gold wheels is one of them, a livery burned into the memory of a generation through the brand’s rally exploits. What few people realize is that it stuck around not purely through clever marketing, but partly because of a factory mix-up. Prodrive chairman David Richards played a pivotal role in transforming Subaru into a motorsports legend. The partnership between the British engineering firm and the Japanese automaker ran for 20 WRC seasons and delivered 46 wins, three straight manufacturers’ titles in 1995, 1996, and 1997, and three drivers’ crowns in 1995, 2001, and 2003. More: A Subaru So Rare Someone Mistook It For ...