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GM Pension Plans

GM cuts employee’s pension plans

auto warrantiesAfter a difficult year, GM is announcing changes in employee’s pension plans. This should come as no surprise, almost all companies that "restructure" cut their employee’s pensions to save money.

Effective Jan. 1, GM will freeze the accrued pension benefits for approximately 40,000 U.S. salaried employees. The change won’t affect retirees.
Salaried employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2001, will move exclusively to a defined contribution plan. Those employees currently have a cash balance plan, which works like a traditional defined benefit plan but allows participants to collect their benefits in a lump sum at retirement instead of in monthly checks. GM said those employees will continue to earn annual interest on the balance in their plans. Those employees also will get a contribution of 4 percent of their annual pay to their 401(k) program.

"These changes will reduce financial risks and future costs for GM, while protecting current retirees’ and employees’ earned pension benefits and providing competitive and fair retirement benefits going forward," Wagoner said in a statement.

Restructuring is a difficult process. The company must decide either to lose a few employees/benefits or lose the company.

Even though I don’t like to admit it, GM may be doing the right thing to save the company.

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Going back to the basics for Ford

Ford reworking advertising and sales strategy

fordFord is in the spotlight this week.

They’re going back to the basics in hopes of selling more vehicles this year. With the car industry in a slump, going back to the basics may not be a bad idea. Ford is calling this new campaign "focus vehicle." Ford will be focusing on eight models of their inventory and will be offering incentives, dealer bonuses, and market muscle to push vehicle sales.

Ford says the idea is to spend promotional money more intelligently, increase showroom traffic and reduce floor plan costs by turning vehicles faster.

In 2005 it took 82 days for Ford vehicles to sell. That’s 17 more days than the average for the automotive industry. That’s what they’re trying to change.

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    Ford and chevy are changing. Take a look at how Chevy plans to change
  • Auto Warranties
    Call 1.800.419.3499 for information on your next car warranty

Steps to Cut Gas Consumption and Refueling Costs

A few common sense steps to saving money at the gas pump

gas

Fluctuating gas prices are now a signature of the oil industry. With all of the fluctuation in gas prices, it would be wise to enhance your vehicle’s mpg in any way. There are a few things you can do to increase your vehicles gas mileage, thereby decreasing what you pay at the pump.

  1. Good vehicle maintenance is always a must.
    Keeping your vehicle in tip-top shape will not only supplement your vehicle’s gas mileage, but it will also keep you safer.

    Just simple measures like keeping your tires properly inflated can make a real difference.

    If you’re not a vehicle wiz, just take your vehicle to your local auto mechanic and tell him or her to give you a tune-up.

  2. Get rid of any excess junk in your vehicle.
    That’s right, clean out your trunk and back seat to make room for all that money you’ll save.

    Some studies suggest the average driver carries around between 50 and 100 pounds of unnecessary weight – not counting the very important spare tire, jack, and emergency road kit – that costs you each time you fill your car, truck, SUV, or (mini)van.

  3. Consolidate your trips.
    Carefully plan your errands so you’re not backtracking yourself too much.

    For example, when you have a doctor’s appointment in another city or another part of your town, try to think ahead to any other business you might need to conduct in that area.

    Also, try and stock up on the necessities. You don’t need to make 15 trips to the grocery store in one week. Think ahead of time; make a list of what you need for the entire week and get it done with one trip.

  4. Carpool
    Finally, if you have kids, you know that it’s difficult to manage all of their schedules especially if you’re acting as chauffer.  You, as a parent, may want to initiate a car pool with other parents so you can split the cost of gas. Likewise, you may want to inform your child about the fuel situation, from a global perspective.

Encourage your children to help you conserve fuel and let them know that in doing so, they help you afford other things they like even better than trips out.

These are just a few common sense ways that you can decrease the amount of fuel you use and increase the amount of money you save.

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Online Auto Advertising

Online auto Advertising is on the rise

carAnyone who watches TV knows that the auto industry has the lockdown on TV advertising. I think every other commercial is a car commercial. Well, get ready, the auto industry is pulling out all the stops and crossing the digital divide and heading to the internet.

The auto industry is the largest advertiser in the entire world. However, only 2.5% of their budget accounts for online advertising from January to December in 2005. But, that’s all about to change.

"The industry’s foot is definitely coming off the brakes and onto the accelerator this year," says Ms. Phillips. "Automotive advertisers are gearing up for an online advertising surge, but it’s going to come at the expense of other media."

The auto industry is not only changing the "how" in advertising but also the "why." The industry is leaning toward behavioral targeting, which is targeting the customer with ads based upon previous internet activity.

"Behavioral targeting, a tool that tracks a visitor’s online behavior and serves up ads based on the pages they’ve viewed or features they’ve interacted with," says Ms. Phillips. "With the funnel effectively dead, behavioral targeting looks like a light on the horizon. Most of the major independent sites offer some form of this technique and several manufacturers are already testing it."

Major automotive corporations are jumping on the bandwagon of having specific ads targeting the web user’s  behavior. So, get ready for some more pop-ups.

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Auto Repair Shops Continue to Fight Dealers

Should you have the right to have your vehicle repaired where you want?

Dealers hope you aren’t concerned enough to complain about their computer overrides, disallowing independent repair shops from repairing vehicles.

Now, two or three times per month, his computerized diagnostic equipment shows unknown codes when hooked up to an auto with a problem.

"The scanner gets codes, but no translation comes up, meaning the information hasn’t been released," Danneman said.

Manufacturers aren’t allowing shops access to some of the information they need to repair today’s  computerized automobiles.  They aren’t allowing independent’s to include the information in diagnostic tools that can be used on many different types of vehicles.

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    Should Dealerships Have The Right To Force You To Use Their Repair Services?

North Carolina Builds Auto Testing Grounds

Burgeoning Auto Testing Industry Comes to Rural NC

The people of Northhampton County, North Carolina have put their minds and money together to build a state-of-the-art automobile testing facility to lure auto makers into testing their newest cars, trucks, and vans in their rural setting.  The center, with a projected cost of $130 million, is really a cinderella story, with a book/movie deal in the works.

Local and state officials are building the $130 million center mostly on spec, with only two companies publicly committed to the project. But they’re confident the center, where automobile and parts manufacturers and motorsports teams will be able to test experimental and alternative-fuel vehicles, could generate 300 jobs directly and thousands of others within the automobile and other industries.

And in the process, they hope the center will keep a generation of Northampton kids living at home instead of leaving for the big city.

"I’d love to come back," said 17-year-old Tim Gubitz, a Northampton East senior who wants to get an electrical engineering degree at North Carolina State University and enter the electric vehicle industry. "It’s an area that’s growing and I’d love to be a part of that growth."

Gubitz is now a student at Northampton East High School, where since 1993 members of the Automotive Team have hollowed out old cars with gasoline engines and replaced them with several 12-volt batteries and an electric motor.

"I think the forces are coming together, that our country is finally starting to see that we’ve got to change our transportation methods," said Harold Miller, a retired Northampton East teacher who jump-started that first car project. "A gas engine is just a dirty thing."

In a part of the state where students often rank near the bottom in test scores, the kids from Northampton East stunned everyone when they won a multistate electric vehicle competition on their first try. It’s a story that recently became the subject of a book and a potential movie deal.

Automakers are having a difficult year this year. Gas prices and environmental concerns are causing a consumer outcry for hybrid vehicles. And, falling sales are forcing the industry to cut thousands of jobs to keep the books balanced. 

The NC training center may be much less expensive for automakers to utilize than having their own similar center, and the rural location will keep prying eyes out. 

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