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January 14-15 • Detroit • autonews.com/worldcongress

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OCTOBER 21, 2013

Price gapriles GMdealersNew pickups must go up against heavilydiscounted rivalsMike Coliasmcolias@crain.com

DETROIT — General Motors’ game planfor the most important vehicle launch sinceits 2009 bankruptcy amounted to producinga knockout next-generation pickup thatwould command top dollar.

Critical acclaim for the redesigned 2014Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra suggeststhat GM nailed the first part of that strategy.But as the new trucks hit the heart of theirlaunch cycle, the pricing part appears to berunning up against cold market realities.

Many Chevy and GMC dealers say sales ofthe 2014 pickups have been disappointingsince the June launch, stymied by stiff pricecompetition from heavily discounted Fordsand Rams.

Silverados are “selling very poorly” atDimmitt Chevrolet in Clearwater, Fla., Gen-eral Manager Sam Pilato says. The dealer-ship, which typically sells 10 to 25 of the full-sized pickups a month, didn’t notch its firstSilverado sale this month until Oct. 16.

W. Carroll Smith, president of MonumentChevrolet in Pasadena, Texas, says his sup-

INSIDE ■ A photo gallery from the conference andaward ceremony | PAGE 27 |

SPECIAL SECTION BEGINS AFTER PAGE 18■ At Friendship Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram of Bristol, thisyear’s No. 1 store, employeessupport each other in times ofneed | PAGE B3 |

■ The complete ranking of the 100 BestDealerships To Work For | PAGE B6 |■ Rankings by dealership size | PAGE B32 |■ Profiles and photos of each Best Dealership | PAGES B38 - B66 |

see PRICES, Page 32

Nick Bunkleynbunkley@crain.com

DETROIT — Soon after assuming the pres-idency of a union that had lost nearly 40 per-cent of its members under his predecessor,Bob King spoke bluntly about the need tobring workers at the foreign-owned autoplants dotting the American South into theUAW’s fold.

“If we don’t organize these transnationals,

I don’t think there’s a long-term future forthe UAW — I really don’t,” King said in Janu-ary 2011. When he set a goal of organizing atleast one Southern plant by that year’s end,many outsiders saw it as wishful thinking.And as King’s term winds down — at 67, he’stoo old to run in June’s election under unionrules — the UAW has yet to achieve a victory.

But the union’s claim last month that it hadwon over a majority of workers at the 2-year-

old Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga andsupport from within VW for establishing aGerman-style works council at the planthelped swing its mission from improbable topromising.

Through a strategy of coalescing globalunions, civil rights activists and political fig-ures, King has engineered a broad push intoa decidedly hostile corner of the country. Inaddition to Chattanooga, the UAW is focus-

see KING, Page 30

UAW uses multifront push to organize imports

The redesigned Chevrolet Silverado:Good reviews, but a price disadvantage

UAW President Bob King has said the UAW’sfuture depends on organizing “transnationals.”

BOB KING’S FINAL BATTLE

Representing the top 10Best Dealerships To WorkFor, are, from left: LynnFreeman, AutoNationHyundai Mall of Georgia;Andrew Guelcher, CioccaHonda (Pa.); Warren Zinn, of Warren Henry Jaguar andWarren Henry Infiniti (Fla.);Tracy Gilliam, Star Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram (Texas);Tom Hall, FriendshipChrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram ofBristol (Tenn.); LisaCopeland, Fiat of Austin(Texas); Steve Chapman,AutoNation Honda SouthCorpus Christi (Texas); SeanVan Praet, Prime Hyundai(Maine); Larry Zinn, WarrenHenry Volvo (Fla.)

Manheim COO Janet Barnardand Automotive News Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain, right,with Tom Hall, generalmanager of FriendshipChrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram ofBristol, the No. 1 dealership

Top of their game

Where are the 2013 Best Dealerships To Work For?Check out the national spread in our interactive mapat autonews.com/bestdealershipsmap

Watch the video reports of the BestDealerships at autonews.com/bestvideos2013>

PHOTOS BY JOE WILSSENS

They are motivators, leaders and innovators. Automotive Newscelebrates this year’s 100 Best Dealerships To Work For

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