Go Paintless

As contract negotiations near, Ford CEO Alan Mulally is meeting weekly with UAW president Ron Gettelfinger. Mulally said "painful negotiations" will be needed from the UAW, and Ford must become competitive in wages, benefits, work rules, flexible manufacturing and plant capacity to compete against foreign rivals.

Despite all the hype, small cars still represent a small portion of the U. S. car market. The segment dominated by Japanese compacts and subcompacts will see few new entries for the new model year. As gasoline prices moderate, so has consumer interest in these vehicles.

ExxonMobil gave $16 million to 43 ideological groups between 1998 and 2005 to mislead the public about global warming, says the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Its tactics were based on those used by tobacco companies, spreading uncertainty by misrepresenting peer-reviewed scientific studies or emphasizing only selected facts, according to UCS strategy and policy director, Alden Meyer.