Detroit Auto Show: Demonstrations inside and out

The contrast was striking: Featured at GM's news conference was a group of about 600 rowdy GM employees bused in to participate in a "rally," chanting "100 more years!" and waving signs -- "Game Changer," "Charged Up" and "Here to Stay." The message was clearly "save our jobs." At the same moment, across the street from Cobo Center in downtown Detroit, about 50 autoworkers, union members and sympathizers stood in the knife-cold wind to demand the same thing. Only less politely.

"What's disgusting?!" howled a man with a loudspeaker. "UNION BUSTING!!" "What's outrageous?!" "SWEATSHOP WAGES!!"

The recent Washington three-ring circus over government-backed loans for the auto industry turned a harsh light on the United Auto Workers' compensation. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), among others, argued that the government shouldn't bail out the carmakers unless they can extract concessions from the UAW to bring members' compensation in line with non-unionized autoworkers in the South.

It's an argument that -- to say the least -- leaves autoworkers cold.

"Non-union workers who make less than us are taught to resent us," said Dianne Feeley, a retired UAW Local 235 member at American Axle. "We are not enemies; we want the same things they want."

According to Feeley, the industry's problems aren't its labor costs. Rather, she said, they come from overcapacity, bad product choices and the broken economy.

Kirsten Gibbs, on temporary furlough from Chrysler's Warren stamping plant, where she works as a welder, was marching with her father, Joe. He's a retired UAW member who also worked at Chrysler, in the Jefferson North Plant in Detroit.

"What frustrates me is that they're comparing us to the Southern worker. But our cost of living is higher," said the younger Gibbs. She said public perceptions of how much autoworkers make are greatly exaggerated. "It's ridiculous that people think we're all walking around with money falling out of our pockets."

-- Dan Neil

Photo: UAW protesters picket Sunday outside the North American International Auto Show outside Cobo Center in Detroit. Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times.

Tax break for car buyers?

Uncle Sam wants you — to buy a car.

Or at least Barbara Mikulski does. In the latest prescription from Washington on how to revive the U.S. auto industry, the Democratic senator from Maryland  is expected to unveil a proposal today that would provide a tax break on car purchases until the end of next year.

The proposal would provide a federal income-tax deduction for interest payments on car loans and sales and excise taxes on new-car sales. According to the National Automobile Dealers Assn., a typical family would save about $1,500 on a $25,000 minivan.

The dealers association, which says about 700 dealerships will close this year as car sales fall to a 25-year low, says the incentives are necessary to get folks into showrooms and, by extension, help boost the flailing U.S. economy.

“Now is the time for Congress and the White House to implement a stimulus package that is focused on Main Street,” said Annette Sykora, chairwoman of the dealers group.

Not surprisingly, the proposal is a hit with  automakers.

“We are supportive of any incentive that gets the consumer into the showroom, because one of the most pressing elements automakers now face is consumer confidence and consumers struggling to get credit,” said Wade Newton, spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Whether such an incentive will actually provide the sales boost the industry needs is another question, however.

Prius politics

One place where buying a fuel-efficient car might not get you extra mileage is on the campaign trail.

The United Auto Workers is accusing Republican John McCain of "flip-flopping" on the question of who bought his daughter Meghan’s Toyota Prius.

According to a New York Times article cited by the UAW, McCain told a crowd at College of Charleston last fall that he bought the car. In an interview with a Michigan TV station this week, however, he said his daughter "bought it, I believe, herself."

Why should it matter? Well, the Prius hybrid gets the best gas mileage of any car sold in the U.S. by a major automaker. It’s also made in Japan, where the UAW’s membership ranks are pretty thin. (It doesn’t help that the UAW has had almost zero luck over the years signing up workers at Toyota’s assembly plants in the U.S.)

Although Toyota and other Japanese automakers are feeling the sting of the current economic slowdown, they’re faring better than their American competitors — especially among buyers in search of gas savings.

"At a time when manufacturers are struggling under the failed Bush-McCain economic policies of the last eight years, American workers and manufacturers need a president who will be straight with what he says and consistent in his support," the UAW said in a news release.

The UAW supports McCain’s Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, who has been a strong advocate of federal aid to Detroit, which the union also backs. McCain also has said that he favors federal action to help U.S. automakers.

Attempts to get a comment from the McCain camp were unsuccessful. McCain, by the way, drives a made-in-America Cadillac CTS sedan.

—Martin Zimmerman

Top five redneck baby-daddy cars

Look, he’s only 18. You can hardly blame Levi Johnston for loving to party, shooting guns, playing hockey and, well, other activities. “I’m a ... redneck,” the teen who impregnated Bristol Palin wrote on his MySpace page. “You ... with me and I’ll kick your ...”

Well, at the risk of incurring the wrath of this obviously formidable young man, not to mention his mother-in-law-to-be Sarah Palin, I question his redneck credentials. Specifically, what about this picture of him standing in front of a blue Ford Fusion? A Fusion? Come on, that’s something a “community organizer” might drive.

Let me help the lad out. Here is a list of my top five redneck baby-daddy cars. Please suggest your own, and we’ll make sure to forward a definitive list to Alaska.

#1 -- Ford Bronco

The Bronco carries an undeniable cultural throw-weight as the truck for the wild and reckless. Note its appearance in movies such as “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Eight-Legged Freaks.” For true believers, the only real Bronco is one pre-1978, after which the Bronco was just a glorified F-series pickup. The hot setup is a 1977 Bronco half-cab in primer gray, with a Ford 302-cubic inch V8 crate motor, a 7-inch Skyjacker lift kit, AGR Rock Ram steering assist, Dana 44 lockers, bead-lock 36-inch Goodrich mudders, a PTO, rifle rack and fender spats. Bro-licious.(PHOTO CREDIT: KINDRED AUTO BODY)

#2 -- 1977 Trans Am SE:

In the land of the sunburned nape, the 1977 Trans Am SE –- black or brown, with Screaming Chicken hood decal, removable glass roof panels, and gold cast alloy wheels –- stands like a semi-literate colossus. Yet another star of “Smokey and the Bandit" –- and arguably its most emotive performer –- the T/A is a cultural icon of the '70s, like CB radios, “Free Bird” and blooming fever blisters. These were stupendously lousy cars, to be sure, but they were fun and fast and loud. And they looked like a fist in search of a mouth to punch.(PHOTO CREDIT: PHIL SKINNER/KBB)

#3 -- 2002 Dale Earnhardt Signature Edition Monte Carlo

The model year is key here: 2002 was the year after Dale Earnhardt, the Intimidator, died on the fabled high-banks of Daytona. Owning one of these cars says that you loved Dale so much you went out and memorialized him with a 48-month car loan. The magic number 3 appears all over this car, and it’s done up in the GM Goodwrench livery, just like ole Ironhead’s race car. For true rednecks, Earnhardt remains the quintessential NASCAR champion. Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne? Blow-dried weenies.(PHOTO CREDIT: DALE EARNHARDT CHEVROLET)

#4 -- Anything with duct tape

 
What do you call duct tape in North Carolina? Chrome. Duct tape is the sum and substance of what you might call redneck engineering. It can do wondrous things. It can keep your pants up. It can be used to make a nice tie for those formal occasions, or a tourniquet, when those occasions turn ugly. You can use it to tape your cellphone to your ear for high-tech hands-free phoning. But the highest calling of duct tape is to bind the wounds of a busted-up hoopty. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, if you’ve got more than one roll of duct tape on your car, you might be a redneck. And yes, upholstery counts.(PHOTO CREDIT: EBAUMSWORLD.COM)

#5 -- Ford Mustang

Well, of course, the Ford Mustang, but which one? You can’t have the fifth-generation Mustang, the current body design, because those are cool and they have some residual value. It can’t be an '60s-era Mustang either, because they too are cool and valuable collector's items. You don’t want people thinking you’re an elitist, do you? What will really wow them down at the hunting lodge is a third-gen, Fox-platform Mustang, with a big, thirsty 5.0-liter. Extra points for a convertible with a gun rack welded up out of square-section tubing. Double bonus if you can drive your ATV onto the rear luggage rack.(PHOTO CREDIT: FORD MOTOR CO.)

-- Dan Neil

(Photo of Levi Johnson with Bristol Palin by EPA/SHAWN THEW)

On the road to the White House

Now that the presidential fight card is set, we at Up to Speed decided to check out the candidates' transportation choices.

The tale of the tape:

Barack Obama (D): Drove a Chrysler 300 with a V-8 engine (18 mpg) until last summer, when he switched to a Ford Escape hybrid (30 mpg) after getting bad press about driving a gas guzzler.

John McCain (R): Cadillac CTS sedan (19 mpg). Reportedly, his first car was a 1958 Corvette (no mpg rating — it predated the rating system — but probably not too great).

Joe Biden (D): Although his main vehicle of choice is the Amtrak Acela from D.C. to Delaware, he is known to drive a 1967 Corvette (again, no mpg rating).

Sarah Palin (R): As governor, she drives a Chevrolet Suburban (16 mpg) owned by the state of Alaska. In July, she was involved in a multi-vehicle accident on the way to work. The SUV sustained several thousand dollars in damage. She also has been known to drive her husband's snowmobiles.

These are going to be a hard-fought couple of months. But there's clearly one thing both tickets can agree upon: If you want to run for high elected office in the U.S. of A., you'd better drive an American car. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) drives a Toyota Prius, so we know why McCain passed him over.

Then again, with Secret Service escorts, none of the candidates will be doing any driving anytime soon.

—Ken Bensinger

Photo: Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughter Piper with Sen. John McCain and his wife, Cindy.

Credit: Stephan Savoia / Associated Press