A VIOLENT 77-DAY STRIKE brought by SsangYong factory workers has drawn to a close today, after the manufacturer agreed to halve the number of layoffs in an upcoming company restructuring.

The factory, which had been turned into a virtual warzone as workers barricaded themselves inside and clashed with South Korean police, is expected to return to [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

AN ONGOING INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE at Ssangyong’s Pyeongtaek production facility in South Korea may affect local supply of the brand’s cars in Australia.

The workers’ strike, which has been going for over 35 days now, was sparked by the sacking of 2646 Ssangyong workers ordered by the company’s majority stakeholder, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.

Workers have occupied [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Today will be the last day for Holden’s assembly line workers to work an afternoon shift, with the automaker going ahead with plans to halve output at its vehicle assembly plant in Elizabeth, South Australia.

Production will be cut from 620 to 310 cars per day and the majority of Holden’s 3150 workers put onto a [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Embattled US manufacturer General Motors is expected to announce the temporary closure of a number of its North American plants tomorrow, a measure which will enable the automaker to cut costs and focus on clearing its ever-growing inventory of unsold vehicles.

The number and location of the plants to be closed has yet to be announced, [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

The falling demand for vehicles worldwide has claimed another scalp, with Lamborghini announcing a temporary shut down. Production will come to halt for two weeks between February and March, with 300 of the companies 1000 workers affected.

In an attempt to keep workers employed, Lamborghini has introduced working-time reductions to allow a more flexible approach to [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Aston Martin isn’t the only British prestige automaker that’s set to slow down production. Bentley has announced that it will be scaling back output of its Crewe factory over the coming months, with “continued low demand”  cited as the primary cause behind the slowdown.

The Continental line will be paused for seven weeks, while the Arnage [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

In another body-blow for the American auto industry, General Motors has announced that the new factory intended to build small-capacity powerplants for the upcoming Chevy Cruze and the 2011 Volt hybrid has been put on the backburner indefinitely.

The plant was earmarked to build the Cruze and Volt’s 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder motor, however cash-strapped [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

As inventories of unsold vehicles build up everywhere and new car sales decline month-on-month, Toyota Motor Corporation has reportedly decided to halve the output of its Japanese factories over the coming months.

The Asahi Shimbun reports that factory stoppages will occur over an 11-day period sometime between February and the end of March, while the Kyodo [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Times are tough, and when the accountants start breaking out the red ink something’s gotta give. Volvo, like pretty much every other car manufacturer, has been feeling the economic squeeze lately, and has just announced that it’ll be shedding a total of 4616 employees by the end of this month as part of an effort to [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

More bad news for the US auto industry. A US division of gearbox manufacturer Getrag has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after Chrysler launched legal proceedings against it over an unfinished transmission plant in Indiana

Chrysler’s lawsuit alleges that Getrag Transmission Manufacturing violated a contract after it failed to secure around $300m US in debt [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More