#GeneralMotors

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has decided to broaden its strike on Friday. This week’s targets include Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant, responsible for the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, and General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township Assembly, responsible for the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. 

Stellantis managed to dodge the bullet this time around, with union leadership citing progress made in contract negotiations. It seems the union liked what the automaker had to say regarding the right to strike over plant closures and cost-of-living adjustments. Ford managed to achieve something similar last week. But with the UAW hoping to pit the companies against each other by subjecting them all to strikes, it was inevitable that Blue Oval would be back under union scrutiny. 

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) is expected to reject three applications for new Formula 1 teams with the Cadillac-backed Andretti Global being the only exception.

Contract negotiations between Detroit automakers and the UAW resumed over the weekend with union leadership signaling that little progress had been made. Despite Stellantis having matched the 20-percent raises offered by GM and Ford over the weekend, UAW President Shawn Fain has said the overall agreements remain unsatisfactory.

As mentioned in our earlier coverage, the union is seeking a 40 percent raise across the board through 2027 — resulting in roughly $25 an hour (around $52,000 per year) for starting employees. Some of the benefits, many of which had been rolled back as concessions during the 2008 financial crisis, are also sticking points. Fain wants workers to see those benefits restored, claiming the industry can easily afford them.

In its current guise since 2016, the ninth-gen Chevrolet Malibu is no spring chicken; the rumor is an all-new model will arrive in 2025. And after three days and some 700 miles behind the wheel of a 2023 example, your author has a few observations and a strong overall opinion on the very last domestic midsize sedan in production. Let’s hop in and journey east, through the Appalachian Plateau.

Last week, Stellantis slid the United Auto Workers (UAW) a contract proposal that would raise hourly workers' pay by 14.5 percent over the next four years. The deal is roughly on par with the 15 percent initially offered by Ford and 16 percent from General Motors. It likewise said it would provide workers $10,500 in inflation-related bonuses while GM offered $11,000 at GM and Ford said it could swing $12,000. Though Stellantis doesn’t appear to be offering any contract ratification bonuses, whereas others manufacturers said they’d be happy to throw in another $5,500.

Automakers are going electric, which means that all the companies that rely on them will have to adapt. Car rental companies have long pledged to make the transition alongside their auto industry partners, and Hertz recently announced that it would be adding the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Silverado EV. 

Honda and Acura leaned on General Motors’ Ultium technology to accelerate electric vehicle development, so it’s unsurprising to see the Japanese automakers following their American counterpart’s lead in some areas. GM announced that its new EVs would move to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), and American Honda Motor Company’s CEO recently confirmed that the Japanese automaker would follow suit.

Self-driving vehicles have become a contentious issue in San Francisco. The city currently serves as a public testing ground for over 500 autonomous cars being fielded by Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise. But local residents have been losing patience with the vehicles, with numerous reports that they’ve been misbehaving in traffic. 

While public complaints seemed to be endangering the companies’ ability to expand operations, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted 3-to-1 on Thursday to do just that. This opens the door to allow Waymo to begin charging for autonomous taxi services, something Cruise was already doing there, and accelerate their respective AV programs within California. 

General Motors recently announced plans to enable bi-directional charging in its new EVs starting in 2026, but the automaker snuck a hint into the end of that announcement that is worth unpacking. GM released a video with its announcement to highlight the feature, and at the end, text appears that says the tech will be available with “New Ultium-Based Coupes.”

General Motors has an exciting few years ahead of it, as the automaker plans several new EVs before the end of the decade. Starting in 2026, GM’s electric vehicles will offer a clever bi-directional charging function that allows them to act as backup home generators or emergency EV chargers for other drivers.

The General is set to launch several new electric vehicles this year, including the Blazer EV. When the model was first announced, it was indicated there would be an entry-level trim called the 1LT checking in at around $45,000. Fresh information tells us that’s no longer the case, at least for now.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will soon release its proposal to increase Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) requirements and General Motors has signaled its concerns regarding how much more money it will cost the automotive industry. GM is estimating that the new rules could result in manufacturers paying $100-300 billion in emission fines between 2027 and 2031.

However, the Biden administration has reportedly said it’s highly dependent on which plan is implemented — suggesting industry penalties would vary heavily between companies and average out to be far lower than GM has claimed.

Today, General Motors unveiled the beginnings of a new consumer education campaign surrounding advanced driving systems. Titled “Hands Free, Eyes On,” the movement is an effort to ensure consumers and drivers know exactly what their vehicles are and will someday be capable of.

The eventual goal is, of course, zero crashes, so along with implementing advanced driving technologies such as hands-free driving, GM is educating the public about what all of the various active-safety features, from lane-keeping assistance to adaptive cruise control all the way to hands-off driving. The campaign will live on GM.com, as well as a number of social media channels, and will evolve over time as technologies find their way into dealerships.

Tesla’s Supercharger network seems to have taken over the world, with several major automakers recently announcing a shift to the standard in the coming years. However, that hasn’t stopped many others from banding together to form their own charging network, including some who signed on with Tesla.

With General Motors plowing full-speed ahead toward electrification, there are bound to be a few vehicles that don’t make the transition. Chevy’s long-running EVs, the Bolt and Bolt EUV, were two names not expected to make the jump, but the automaker recently announced a new Bolt variant.