Contract negotiations between Chrysler and the United Auto Workers Union kicked off on Monday, as the industry fights to stay competitive with foreign automakers. Fellow "Big Three" companies General Motors and Ford will also begin negotiations with the UAW later this week. Will the parties involved be able to reconcile their demands and reach a suitable agreement before contracts expire in mid-September? Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The Detroit Bureau, has been following the negotiations.

Ford has been open about its plans to phase out the massively popular Crown Victoria line in 2011, but is inviting stiff competition from both Chrysler and General Motors, who are unveiling vehicles aimed squarely at police fleets. Will Ford be able to keep the 75 percent market-share of the police cruiser market, that the Crown Victoria managed?

Detroit got a dose of good news, yesterday. For the first time in the 24 year history of the JD Power and Associates Initial Quality Study American car makers beat out imports. Porsche still topped the list, but Ford was in the top five up there, along with luxury brands. That is the only time a mainstream American brand has been in that group. 

Volvo is becoming a Chinese car company. Ford announced that it sold the Swedish car brand that it bought 11 years ago. Chinese conglomerate, Zhejiang Geely, is paying a third of what Ford originally paid for Volvo. Keith Bradsher, New York Times Hong Kong bureau chief, explains more about the buyer, the price and the future of Volvo.

UPDATE: On air (although not in the printed article), Bradsher said that Saab assets had been sold to Chinese car manufacturers and the rest of the company was being shut down. In fact, GM originally agreed to sell old Saab tooling to Beijing Automotive, but after starting to shut down Saab's ongoing operations, GM reversed itself and sold the company to Dutch car maker Spyker earlier this year.

February wasn’t a bad month for everyone in the auto industry. In the midst of recalls and Congressional hearings, Toyota’s sales dropped 9 percent, while Ford's sales were up a whopping 43 percent in the same month, which makes Ford the country’s top-selling automaker. We continue our conversation about the state of the auto industry and the health of some of its major players. 

We spoke with Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company, about the state of things for Ford (the only one of the "Big Three" not to take bailout money), carmakers in general, CEOs, and the nation.

After one of the worst years for the auto industry, automakers may begin to hiring workers and offering more overtime, a possible sign of economic recovery. 

We're following the news about Ford having made nearly $1 billion in its third quarter: the first profitable quarter from North American sales since the first quarter of 2005. Ford now says it now expects to be "solidly profitable" by 2011. Joining us is Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The Detroit Bureau, an online magazine covering the American auto industry.

Ford announced this morning that it made nearly $1 billion in the third quarter, making it Ford's first quarter in the black in North America since 2005. Ford now says it now expects to be "solidly profitable" by 2011. For more, we talk with The New York Times' automotive reporter, Nick Bunkley.

The number two automaker in the United States is enjoying a surge in sales, thanks to the federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" program. On Thursday, Ford announced it would be boosting production on both the Ford Focus and the Escape to keep up with demand. The company’s chief sales analyst, George Pipas, talks with us about Ford’s prospects. ... (click through for the full transcript)

A U.S. judge has ruled that a class action lawsuit can move ahead against several large companies accused of helping South Africa's apartheid-era government in violation of international human rights law. The case has been going on since 2002 and was initially filed against 50 corporations and involved ten lawsuits claiming more than $400 billion in damages. While the cases have been consolidated to only two lawsuits against five companies, the corporations are a who's who of American companies: the computer giant IBM, Ford and General Motors are among the U.S. companies facing demands for damages from thousands of apartheid's victims. The BBC's Lucy Bailey has more.

Last year the CEOs of the Big Three of the American car industry went to Congress seeking financial assistance. When it became clear that Congress was only offering short-term loans with a lot of strings attached, GM and Chrysler had no choice, but to accept the deal. Ford, however, walked away without taking the loan. Since then, as GM and Chrysler struggle to survive in the economy, Ford has been going it alone. But that doesn't mean Ford is in an entirely happy place. To survive they've had to sell off brands such as Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and are talking about putting Volvo up on the auction block. We've asked our listeners to send in their questions as The Takeaway talks to Ford CEO Alan Mulally.

TRANSCRIPT:

JOHN HOCKENBERRY: Living on the edge. Edge is so ‘90s, but Ford's new product line is rolling out as the automaker is enjoying something of a dream moment. In the midst of a life or death crisis for General Motors and Chrysler and a near nationalization of those companies, Ford has been quietly going it alone. So far it has said it doesn't need Federal bailout money. But that doesn't mean Ford is absolutely in a happy place financially. Last year, Ford made its biggest ever annual loss, despite the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover. Now, it’s in talks to sell off its Swedish subsidiary, Volvo. Joining us now is Alan Mulally. He’s CEO of the Ford Motor Company. He joins me now from Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Mister Mulally, thanks so much for being with us.

ALAN MULALLY: You’re welcome. Good morning to you, John.

JOHN HOCKENBERRY: My first question to you is that a lot has been made of the fact that Ford’s dodging the bullet here is not so much a matter of management, as it is a matter of timing. In the fact that you had a reversal of fortunes about two and a half years ago and arranged a credit line that has really been beneficial right now. Is it a more a matter of timing or more a matter of management savvy that’s really gotten you to this point?

Continue reading the transcript...