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Chrysler fires protest organizer at MI assembly plant

Chrysler has reportedly fired a Warren Stamping Plant worker for what the company is calling a violation of its code of conduct. Alex Wassell (left), a 20-year veteran with the automaker, was suspended without pay after he was quoted in an article in The Detroit News. The 63-year-old welder repairman helped organize a demonstration against a new work schedule and was protesting outside the Michigan plant on February 28 when he was interviewed. Chrysler then fired Wassell when the paper published his comments. Wassell, has since filed a grievance and says that he's looking for an amicable settlement between his union and his former employer.
Meanwhile, multiple civil liberties groups have spoken out against Chrysler's decision to dismiss Wassell. Both the National Lawyer's Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union have released statements on the situation, with the ACLU saying "Employees have a right to air their grievances, even if that means a public demonstration or a comments to the media."
According to The Detroit News, Chrysler spokesperson Jodi Tinson said that Wassell was fired for "engaging in activity constituting or appearing to constitute a conflict with the interest of the company."

Chrysler expecting up to 200,000 9-speed transmissions for 3 models this year

Striving for improved fuel economy, we already knew that Chrysler will begin using a nine-speed automatic transmission in some of its new products this year, but what we haven't known is that volume at which this gearbox will be used. According to Bloomberg, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has been quoted as saying that the automaker expects to sell close to 200,000 units equipped with this new transmission in 2013. Those gear-rich trannies will be spread out across three models, consisting of the redesigned Chrysler 200, the still-unnamed Jeep Liberty replacement and the Dodge Dart.
This transmission should play a pivotal role in making Chrysler vehicles more competitive in their respective segments. Just for comparison, one of the Dart's key competitors, the Toyota Corolla, still uses a four-speed automatic, and a previous report indicates that the next-generation 200 could get up to 38 miles per gallon on the highway, which is better than most non-hybrid midsize sedans on the market. Marchionne says that the new Jeep model is expected during the second quarter of this year, but there is no word as to when the new 200 or nine-speed Dart will debut, but clearly Dodge would like to have the transmission in its compact yesterday. As for that volume figure, it definitely doesn't seem out of reach since the Dart, Liberty and 200 combined for a total of more than 225,000 units in 2012.
How many more gears can we expect in future cars? Probably not many more, since the CEO of transmission-builder ZF, Stefan Sommer, previously stated that nine speeds was the "natural limit" for transmissions.

GM, Chrysler bailouts saved 2.6 million jobs

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) has been studying the effects of the General Motors and Chrysler bailouts in 2009. Now that the US Treasury has officially sold off the rest of its stake in GM (and Chrysler has already paid back its loan), CAR has released its study on the effects of the bailout with this concluding note: "CAR is confident that in the years ahead, this peacetime intervention in the private sector by the US government will be seen as one of the most successful in US economic history."
Big words, for sure, but there's plenty of evidence to back up the claim. Bailing out GM alone saved 1.2-million jobs. If both GM and Chrysler hadn't been bailed out, US employment would have been reduced by 2.631-million jobs in 2009 and another 1.519-million jobs in 2010, according to the study. If both automakers were allowed to fail, personal income in the US would have decreased by $173.5 billion in 2009 and $110.9 billion in 2010. Instead, the study found that $284.4 billion of personal income was saved by the bailouts.