Growth is brisk but slower than expected, causing automakers to question their multibillion-dollar investments in new factories and raising doubts about the effectiveness of federal incentives.
With tentative agreements in place, a six-week strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis could soon come to an end. But the union’s rank-and-file members still need to approve the deals.
President Biden’s support for autoworkers helped them make big wage gains, and labor organizers are looking to bring about similar gains elsewhere as carmakers transition to electric vehicles.
General Motors became the last of the three large U.S. automakers to reach a tentative agreement on a new contract with the United Automobile Workers union.
Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram, and the United Automobile Workers union said they had reached a deal on a new contract similar to the one that the union reached with Ford.
Car manufacturers must now raise labor costs as they confront slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
A tentative agreement gives the United Automobile Workers union members at the carmaker their best terms in decades. But the cost to Ford will be manageable, industry experts said.
The three U.S. automakers say they are already at a disadvantage to nonunion rivals while labor leaders hope that big gains in negotiations will inspire workers in Southern states to unionize.
The executive chairman of Ford Motor counsels patience as his company negotiates with the United Automobile Workers union, which has shut three of his company’s plants.
The United Automobile Workers union refrained from expanding the strikes at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis but said it could do so at any time.