auto's and suppliers DPH
Tuesday October 5, 10:32 am Eastern Time
RESEARCH ALERT - Goldman starts 5 automotive cos
NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs said Tuesday it started coverage of four automotive industry companies.
-- World's No. 2 automaker Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news) started on recommended list. Stock up 1-13/16 at 53-1/8.
-- General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news), the No. 1 automaker, started as market outperformer. Stock up 2-5/16 at 66-1/2.
-- Auto parts maker Delphi Automotive Systems Inc. (NYSE:DPH - news) started as market outperformer. Stock up 1/4 at 15-11/16.
-- Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International Inc. started (NYSE:MGA - news) as market outperformer. Stock up 1/4 at 15-11/16.
-- No further details immediately available.
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Tuesday October 5 6:36 PM ET
Suppliers Key In Auto Strike Deadlines
DEARBORN, Mich. (Reuters) - Auto suppliers are at the center of disagreements between unions and automakers, as the United Auto Workers (UAW) set a Friday strike deadline for Ford Motor Co.
(NYSE:F - news) and the Canadian union is threatening DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DAJ - news) with a walkout Tuesday night.
The UAW set a strike deadline for Friday at 1530 EDT in its ongoing contract talks with Ford, company and union officials said Tuesday.
Union sources said the future of Ford's Visteon parts unit, which the world's No. 2 automaker has indicated could be spun off as an independent company, is a sticking point in the negotiations.
''The parties continue to bargain in good faith,'' Ford spokesman Edward Miller said. ''We believe there's no reason why an agreement can't be reached before the deadline. We're optimistic.''
Burnham Securities analyst David Healy said the union's move is not unexpected.''That's probably part of the union's tactic to get management's full attention and it'll work,'' he said. ''I don't think a deadline necessarily means a strike. If there is a strike, it would probably be a short one, a few days.''
He said the main issue surrounding Visteon is likely what happens to the parts unit's 23,500 workers after this next contract is agreed to by both sides. UAW President Stephen Yokich has said former General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news) parts
unit Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. (NYSE:DPH - news), with some exceptions, will operate under GM's next contract as well.
Healy said Ford is probably seeking a deal with the union that is structured similar to GM's and Delphi's, allowing it to spin off
Visteon.
The talks at Ford so far have proceeded at a slow pace and have not entered the round-the-clock stage usually needed before an agreement is reached, the union sources said. Negotiators ended discussions Tuesday without a deal and went home for the evening, Miller said.
The company and the UAW had previously agreed to extend indefinitely a deadline set for midnight, Sept. 14, when the union's 3-year contract with the automaker expired.
Ford is the last of the traditional Detroit automakers in negotiations for a new contract this year. UAW members at DaimlerChrysler ratified a new 4-year contract with the automaker last month and the union has reached a tentative agreement with GM on a similar pact.
Meanwhile, a supplier is also a key issue in contract talks between DaimlerChrysler and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW).
The CAW wants the German-U.S. automaker to force supplier Magna International Inc. (NYSE:MGA - news) to allow a card check at a plant near Windsor, Ont., a move DaimlerChrysler is resisting.
Under a card check, a union only has to get more than half a facility's workers to sign cards asking for union representation to
organize the plant, rather than prevail in a harder-to-win secret-ballot election.
The CAW has set a deadline of 2359 EDT Tuesday and has said it will strike DaimlerChrysler's Canadian plants, which would cut off the world's No. 5 automaker's supply of popular sedans and minivans. |
