US auto sales surge in September at Ford, Fiat Chrysler, GM

It was not clear whether the UAW will now pursue contract talks with GM and Ford. But the raises don’t bring an end to a two-tier wage structure that pays workers hired before 2007 more money.

Surging sales aren’t helping the relationship.

The automaker said that its sales were flat last month, in its first sales report since the emissions scandal that has engulfed the company was revealed two weeks ago.

Fiat Chrysler said in a statement that it was “disappointed that UAW members voted not to ratify the tentative agreement”.

UAW President Dennis Williams and its vice president for Fiat Chrysler, Norwood Jewell, told local union leaders during a meeting in Detroit Thursday evening that negotiators would convene Friday and approach the automaker, people familiar with the discussions said. The union did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on whether negotiators had convened or approached the company on Friday. They also say the bathrooms are bad, and claim that Ford has been unwilling to consider their complaints.

Mr Williams said the union will seek further talks with FCA after the failure of the tentative deal struck on September 15. It referenced its “near-death experience” in 2009, and committed to never letting those days repeat. Fiat Chrysler has separately indicated it will move production of certain cars to Mexico.

On Thursday the leaders were inside the World Class Manufacturing Academy in Warren are now dealing with the embarrassment of this contract not getting support from frustrated workers.

The outlook for long-term auto sales remains positive, based on improving macroeconomic factors, residual pent-up demand, attractive deals and vehicle launches.

Detroit is only one of the auto industry’s hot pockets.

UAW Local 249, representing workers at Fords Claycomo, Mo., plant, posted social-media images showing the Sunday shift was canceled.

The Claycomo plant produces the F-150 Truck and the Ford Transit commercial utility van.

The bankruptcies and deep restructuring of last decade allow domestic auto makers to run a much more disciplined strategy even as the industry is on pace to reach its highest volume since 2000.

The workers voted against the agreement over uncertainty about where future products will be made. Sales also got a boost from the calendar, with the entire Labor Day weekend falling in September for the first time since 2012.

On Thursday, LaNeve told reporters “we’re confident we’re going to be able to negotiate a fair competitive agreement”. GM triggered another boom in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks with its “Keep America Rolling” campaign; in 2005 it extended employee discounts for the entire market, again prompting volumes to near-record levels. Those losses ultimately sent Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy in 2009, and both required a federal bailout. Although he sees the market peaking in the midterm, he said Detroit is better prepared to deal with volume declines.