Mercedes E-class 2007 - Car and girls

Màn trình diễn đầu tiên của Nissan Tiida nhập khẩu tại Việt Nam. Ảnh: Hoàng Hà.

Người đẹp cạnh Lifan 520 tại triển lãm Autotech diễn ra vào tháng 6/2006. Ảnh: T.P.Automobiles, Car Pictures, Car review, Car component, car and girl

Dưới tấm khăn phủ là Honda Civic, người mẫu này khiến khách hàng càng tò mò về chiếc ôtô đầu tiên của Honda Việt Nam. Ảnh: T.P.

Civic chính thức ra mắt tại đại lý ôtô Honda Tây Hồ. Ảnh: T.P.

Dù đã quá quen thuộc ở Việt Nam, nhưng Mazda6 vẫn đông khách tới xem tại triển lãm ôtô Việt Nam tháng 10/2006. Ảnh: T.N.

Vẫn là Honda Civic, nhưng ở góc độ khác. Ảnh: T.P.

Gian hàng của Lifan tại Autotech 2006. Ảnh: Hoàng Hà.

Người đẹp của Toyota. Ảnh: Trọng Nghiệp.

``This agreement helps us close the fundamental competitive gaps that exist in our business,'' Wagoner said.

The deal includes GM's top priority in the negotiations _ shifting most of its $51 billion in unfunded retiree health care obligation to a UAW-run trust. GM would pay about 70 per cent of that obligation, or $36 billion, into the trust, called a voluntary employees beneficiary association, the person briefed on the talks said.

The union would invest the money and take over the health care responsibility for about 340,000 GM pensioners and spouses.

``I'm pleased to say that we have a VEBA in place that will secure the benefits of our retirees,'' Gettelfinger told an early-morning news conference.

He said he's confident of ratification in voting which could start this weekend.

The UAW may decide Thursday whether to begin talks next with Ford or Chrysler.

GM made no specific commitments to build cars and trucks at U.S. factories, but generally agreed that with the reduced costs from the new contract, investment in the plants would work, the source said.

The pact also includes a lower wage structure for newly hired workers in certain non-manufacturing jobs, the person said, adding that in order to make way for new hires, GM would offer early retirement and buyout packages to veteran workers.

Gettelfinger said the strike broke a logjam in the talks.

``I think the strike probably helped our side more than theirs,'' he said.

Industry analysts had predicted a short strike, saying the two sides had too much to lose from a prolonged work stoppage.

Geneva 2007 Car component, car and girl

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``We're proud of this tentative agreement and we look forward to getting into the field and discussing it with our membership,''' said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. ``There's no question this was one of the most complex and difficult bargaining sessions in the history of the GM-UAW relationship,'' said GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner. ``The national agreement paves the way for GM to significantly improve its manufacturing competitiveness, providing the basis for maintaining and strengthening its core manufacturing base in the United States.'' The union went on strike at 11 a.m. EDT Monday when talks broke down, halting GM production and causing shutdowns and layoffs at parts factories. It was the first nationwide strike against GM during auto contract negotiations since 1970. The UAW last struck GM in 1998, when a 54-day strike at two plants stopped production across the country. The company went into the negotiations seeking to cut or erase what it said is about a $25-an-hour labour cost disparity with its Japanese competitors.

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GM and the UAW confirmed that the deal creates a GM-funded, UAW-run trust to administer retiree health care. The two sides gave no details, but a person briefed on the contract said wages would stay the same for the length of the four-year deal, though there would be annual bonuses and lump-sum payments. The contract would also enable GM to pay some newly hired workers at lower rates, the person said on condition of anonymity.

The union said the agreement with the nation's largest automaker was reached shortly after 3 a.m. The UAW called off the strike about an hour later and said plants would resume operation with Wednesday's second shift at about 80 GM facilities across America.

At GM Canada, work was to resume with the afternoon shift at two car lines in Oshawa, Ont., which had closed Tuesday, laying off 5,600 people, because of a lack of U.S.-made components.

The U.S. contract must be reviewed by local UAW presidents and will then be subject to a vote of GM's 74,000 rank-and-file union members. The agreement is expected to set a pattern for contracts at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.

Ford - Car Pictures, Car review

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GM, as well as Ford and Chrysler, are trying to cut what they say is about a US$25 per hour labour cost gap with their Japanese competitors. Industry analysts say the costs must be reduced for the U.S. companies to survive. GM has about $51 billion in unfunded retiree health care liabilities, and analysts have said it wants to pay the union about 65 per cent of the cost to form the trust. The union has hired an outside consultant to study GM's proposal, the people said. GM spokesman Tom Wickham and UAW spokesman Roger Kerson declined to comment on the talks Thursday. The union's contract with GM has been extended hour by hour since Friday. With both sides far apart on economic issues, the talks likely will take several more days to complete, one of the people briefed on the talks said. If the VEBA goes through with all three automakers, the UAW would become one of the nation's largest consumers of health care. At all three companies, the UAW would be responsible for health benefits for roughly 540,000 retirees and spouses.

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Both people who had been briefed on the talks said that all economic issues including pay, work rules, job security promises and health care contributions, are contingent on whether a VEBA is agreed to, so the negotiations have been slowed.

The UAW is seeking to trade taking on the trust for pledges from GM that it will build new vehicles in U.S. factories, the people said.

Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache said in a note to investors Thursday that the union has agreed to the concept of a VEBA, but so far doesn't like the company's terms.

``The UAW knows that GM cannot sign a contract that excludes a VEBA deal at this point, and that they cannot accept the consequences of an uncompetitive cost structure either,'' Lache wrote. ``Without a VEBA deal, GM has threatened to begin a much more aggressive downsizing of its U.S. manufacturing base.''

Lache wrote that GM knows it is risking a strike.

``It is our belief that the most likely outcome is that GM and the UAW will reach a compromise and pursue a VEBA solution after a few days of drama,'' he wrote.

Since the company and union are billions of dollars apart on how much GM would pay into the trust, Gettelfinger wanted to talk about other issues, one of the people said.

Now under discussion is a second offer from GM that doesn't include the trust but has larger cost cuts, including up to a $5 drop in hourly wages, increased health care contributions, fewer guarantees of new work at U.S. factories, reduced vacation time and other items