UAW’s newest President, Bob King, recently reiterated the ban on foreign vehicles in UAW parking lots. King’s comments were in response to a reporter who got kicked out of a UAW parking lot for driving a Toyota Camry. King’s reasoning is that “Foreign automakers accept U.S taxpayer’s dollars in incentives to build assembly plants in the United States, jeopardizing the future of middle-class workers in the domestic auto industry.”

Although I will be one of the first to preach the importance of protecting the domestic industries, I completely disagree with UAW’s policy. Unions came about for good reasons, such as improving working conditions, creating the 8 hour work day and 5 day work week, fair wages, etc. But, this policy goes opposite of what the UAW is “supposed” to stand for – pro-American. This is actually, quite un-American. Competition leads to better innovation and better products, not bullying.

So is this what UAW leadership is paid to accomplish – create stupid policies? I thought it was to stand up for their workers. Maybe it would be more beneficial to work on helping make the domestic companies more efficient and cost effective. Or, how about working on changing our trade policies with other nations and make it fair to sell our products overseas.

Oh, by the way, I’ve been reading article after article about this story, along with people’s comments, and I’ve noticed something interesting – many people state that this worsens their perception of the UAW (as if it’s not bad enough), and worsens their perception of UAW built cars. So how about that, people won’t buy domestic cars because of this! Thanks Bob.

Source: The Detroit News

The 2011 Ford Explorer will be a game changer in the SUV world, not only because of its impressive design and powertrain features, but because of the technology it has.  Things like a Terrain Management System, Trailer Sway Control or even just the Blind Spot Indicator System make this one of the most high tech, and safest, SUV’s on the road.

In the midst of revealing the new 2011 Ford Explorer, Alan Mulally stopped by to talk Ford with Jim Cramer. Jim asks Alan about all of the happenings at Ford, what Ford has been doing to get out of the economic hole and what it’s doing to continue the upward momentum. What a great interview – take a look at the video.

Ford revealed the new 2011 Explorer yesterday throughout the US – from Venice Beach in Los Angeles, to Detroit (D-town!), and to New York City!

The new Explorer looks awesome – inside you’ll find a beautifully crafted and supple interior and outside you’ll find an exciting and sporty exterior. The vehicle comes with features galore, including an optional 4-cylinder, 2.0 liter, Ecoboost engine which will offer a 30% fuel economy improvement over the outgoing model’s V6. It even has an exclusive Terrain Management system which allows you to easily dial-in which type of terrain you’re traversing.

Ford setup a website for the new Explorer, and you can price yours out here.

I built mine in black, with a black grill, sweet! I outfitted mine with 20″ chrome rims, crossbars for my skis, and dual headrests LCD screens with all of the connection goodies so that I can hook up my PC and play Starcraft 2 while being chauffeured through the Rocky Mountains. Yes!

The Detroit Free Press recently conducted a study of what kind of returns the US government can expect from saving Chrysler, General Motors, and GMAC (now known as Ally financial). The analysis concluded that of the $84 billion paid out to the companies, US taxpayers might get back $74 billion. Currently, $18.3 billion has been paid back, which includes interest, debt, and dividends. The likelihood of the repayment has been increased due to the rebounding car sales, in addition to the companies’ increased profits.

Currently, the US government owns approximately 60.8 percent of General Motors, which is valued at approximately $51 billion as of Monday – this makes the government’s stake worth $26.3 billion. Add the $7 billion that has been paid back and the $2.1 billion that the government owns in preferred shares, the total investment in GM is $35.5 billion, equaling a loss of $14.6 billion.

The government’s investment in Chrysler is significantly smaller compared to GM, valued at $12.8 billion. Of that, $2.5 billion has been paid back and the government owns $7.14 billion of Chrysler debt. With the company expected to be worth $13.6 billion a year from now, the government’s 9.9 percent stake in Chrysler, all of the above numbers, and some complicated math, the total loss could equal $2.4 billion.

I say that’s a pretty decent return on investment – saving millions of jobs and helping preserve the country’s manufacturing base – dare I say that the government actually made a good decision?? I’m not one to promote such intervention, but this seems like a worthwhile endeavor.

Check out the analysis by the Detroit Free Press.

The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is quite an amazing vehicle.  It can fly across the desert at speeds above 90 mph better than most cars can handle the smooth pavement of a freeway.  The fluid inside the Fox Shox dampers costs more than a set of regular shocks on a baseline F-150.  The truck debuted with the 5.4L V8 but is now available with a new 6.2L V8.  The new engine features 411 horsepower and 434 pound feet of torque, improvements of 90 or so on both numbers over the output of the old 5.4.  What if you need more power though?   Well, Hennessey has the answer, which you can see in the video above!

Awesome job Ford! Ford has gone from being 23rd in 2004 to 8th last year, and to 5th place this year in the J.D. Power IQS, beating out everyone except for Porsche, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus. Lincoln has also shown significant improvement, going from 26th last year to 8th this year. Ford has been showing significant continuous improvement year-over-year, which has been outpacing the rest of the auto industry.

The J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Initial Quality Study consists of responses from owners of 82,000 2010 model year vehicles after three months in service. The study measures problems per 100 vehicles with data recorded on vehicles registered during the November-February time frame.

News at USA Today.