Last Updated: March 02. 2010 4:37PM

Ford sales jump 43% as Big 3 gains; Toyota slips, starts ad blitz

Robert Snell and Alisa Priddle / The Detroit News

Ford Motor Co. outsold General Motors Co. in February, picking off customers from recall-plagued Toyota Motor Corp. It was the first time in 40 years that Ford sales surpassed GM -- except for a blip in 1998, when GM was on strike.

All of the Detroit Three automakers posted sales gains in February over a year ago. Toyota's sales slid 8.7 percent from a year ago and the automaker launched what it calls an "unprecedented" marketing and incentive campaign for March that will be reflected in new ads that start running today.

Toyota will offer zero percent financing for five years or an attractive lease rate on 80 percent of the vehicles it sells, including all the core vehicles in the lineup. And returning Toyota customers will receive two years of free maintenance for their new vehicle. the deals end April 5.

TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday that its campaign to replace oil hoses that could potentially leak and damage the engine would reach 1.6 million cars globally.

Toyota had said on Monday that it would replace a hose in some 933,800 vehicles in the United States due to the risk of a potential leak and engine failure.

It is not considered a safety issue and the vehicles are not being recalled, Toyota said.

The 1.6 million figure includes 76,000 car owners in Canada, 45,000 owners in Japan, an additional 315,000 owners in the United States and 230,000 owners in a total of 90 other countries including Europe, a Toyota spokeswoman in Tokyo said.

She declined to provide a cost estimate for the campaign.

Safety issues have already forced Toyota, the world's top automaker, to recall more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide.

Greetings Members and Retirees,

 As you well know this June the UAW will convene its 35^th Constitutional Convention in Detroit, MI.  This convention is when the International Executive Board Members are nominated and elected.  Also and just as important this convention is when resolution are accepted to change or modify the UAW International Constitution.  If you are interested in submitting a resolution please fill out the form on the backside of this letter making sure the article and section that you wish to modify is included along with the new language you would like to see.

All resolutions must be delivered to Local 245 to the attention of the Bylaws and Resolutions Committee in time for the March 21, 2010 General Membership Meeting. All Constitutional resolutions will be brought to the floor of the March 21 General Membership meeting for discussion and vote. You can download and print resolution forms on the Local 245 Document page by following this link: Constitution Resolution Form

Those resolutions submitted and approved by membership will then be immediately sent to the International for consideration at the Constitutional Convention. As always if there are any questions call the Local at 313-561-7500.  Thank you! 

Keith Brown

President

UAW Local 245

The IUE-CWA Local 808 has requested President Trumka’s participation in a rally outside the Whirlpool plant in Evansville, Indiana. The plant is closing and production is being moved to Mexico.

The Facts

On August 28, 2009 Whirlpool announced the closure of its Evansville, Indiana refrigerator plant. The layoffs begin in March 2010 and will be completed by this summer. There are 900 union production workers and 200-300 salaried employees. 

Evansville has produced refrigerators since 1956.  Approximately 800 production workers make top-mount refrigerators and another 80 make icemakers. The refrigerator production will go to Whirlpool’s Monterrey, Mexico, plant and the icemakers to Amana, Iowa (IAM facility). The company will invest $110 million in the closure of Evansville and expansion in Mexico. Approximately half that total, $55million, will be used to build a new plant in Whirlpool’s existing Monterrey manufacturing complex, which has been in operation since 1996 and employs 8,000 workers. The addition of the Evansville production will add a new building and another 1,100 workers to the Mexico plant. 

Last Updated: February 12. 2010 7:32PM

Robert Snell / The Detroit News

Orlando, Fla. -- General Motor's top 25 senior executives, whose pay packages are being reviewed by the Treasury Department, are "way, way, way" underpaid, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said today.

His comments came as Treasury officials review the 2010 pay for GM executives, whose salaries must be approved by the agency's pay czar, Ken Feinberg. That's because GM is among companies that have received billions in federal money under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The executives' compensation is expected to include GM stock, which might start being sold to the public late this year. If the stock appreciates, top executives could be in for a windfall.

But right now, salaries are lagging the market for top executives, Lutz said in an interview with The Detroit News on the sidelines of the National Automobile Dealers Association annual convention, which begins in earnest Saturday.