Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars addresses the media before the automaker unveils the new C-Class car during a preview night for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.Carlos Osorio Retirement means harvesting the fruits of lifelong labor, trying out new things, and not giving a damn what others think. For Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche, who stepped down on Wednesday, that spells out as a three-letter word: BMW. In a clip distributed on BMW’s Twitter feed, a camera follows a Zetsche lookalike – complete with signature walrus mustache and rimless spectacles – around on his last day at work. There’s Zetsche handing in his work badge at the front desk, bidding farewell to employees in the lobby with a few selfies, before being whisked back home by a chauffeured black Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan. After the car drops him off and leaves, Zetsche sneaks into the double garage, only to emerge at the wheel of a flaming-orange open-top BMW i8 sports car to roar off his compound. The caption: Free at Last. The clip ends with a note of gratitude, saying “Thank you, Dieter Zetsche, for so many years of inspiring competition,” followed by the BMW emblem and the carmaker’s slogan: Sheer Driving Pleasure. The lighthearted display of humor on the part of Daimler’s fiercest rival highlights how the two carmakers have embraced a more cooperative approach of late, culminating in a joint car-sharing business and a pledge to work on autonomous cars. Both companies, like much of the industry, are bound together by the same challenges: the emergence of self-driving and electric rivals, new competitors like Tesla, a simmering trade war with the U.S. and changing consumer tastes on owning cars in favor of sharing them. Zetsche is stepped down at the company’s annual general meeting May 23, and will be succeeded by Ola
Origin: For Daimler CEO Zetsche, retirement means embracing a forbidden love for BMWs
retirement
GM outlines retirement packages for workers at closing Oshawa plant
An assembly line worker at the General Motors Assembly plant in Oshawa works on a car on Friday, December 16, 2011.Chris Young / The Canadian Press Workers who are losing their jobs at GM’s plant in Oshawa, Ontario could receive retirement packages that reach as high as $150,000, along with a $10,000 voucher against the purchase of a new car. The plant’s closure will send some 2,600 assembly line workers out the door when the Chevrolet Impala, Cadillac XTS and last-generation full-size pickup trucks end production later this year. GM recently announced it is investing $170 million into the plant to stamp new and aftermarket parts, and to turn a portion of the plant into a test track for autonomous vehicles. The move is expected to save 300 hourly jobs, which could grow to 500 jobs in three years. Unifor Local 222, which represents the workers, outlined the retirement packages. About 1,300 employees will qualify to receive them. The top package of $150,000 is for skilled trades. For other employees with 30 years of credited service, or who are of retirement age, the package will be $130,000. Both packages would include a vehicle voucher. Workers with ten years of service, but who are younger than 50, can accept a $130,000 package and voucher. Those of the appropriate age can instead opt for a three-year layoff and then receive early retirement benefits when they turn 50 years old. The packages for those with less than ten years of service range from $40,000 for those with at least four years, to a payment of $10,000 for those who worked for less than a year. GM also operates two other facilities in Ontario: a powertrain plant in St. Catharines, and a parts centre in Woodstock. Some Oshawa workers with more than five years of experience will be eligible for a $10,000 allowance to relocate to those facilities, and in turn, senior workers at those plants will be offered a $40,000 retirement incentive to open new positions on a one-job-for-one-job
Origin: GM outlines retirement packages for workers at closing Oshawa plant
BMW confirms the retirement of its 3 Series GT fastback
The hatch on the 3 Series GT is larger than before, giving the car more versatility.Handout It’s official. The current-model BMW 3 Series GT fastback will be the last. BMW’s big cheese Harald Krüger confirmed the group would be cutting production of the 3 Series GT during a recent Q1 financial results presentation. “There will be no successor,” said Krüger, driving a nail into the Gran Turismo’s hatch-backed coffin. It’s not shocking to those paying attention, as BMW had previously hinted at the model’s demise, citing the shift in the public’s preference from the low-slung rides of sedans and wagons to the more upright experience of SUVs. The reign of the 3 Series Gran Turismo was not a long one. The hatchback take on the F30-gen 3 Series launched in 2013 and was refreshed in 2016. BMW claims there was still enough customer demand to keep them coming, but the move is part of a greater plan. In fact, it’s just a piece of the US$13.4-billion savings puzzle BMW hopes to solve by the end of 2022. The brand will also be halving the number of powertrain options offered within each model line, replacing prototype processes with digital simulations and implementing other efficiencies.
Origin: BMW confirms the retirement of its 3 Series GT fastback
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