The Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler, which has told its union that it may need additional job cuts to stem losses, and General Motors resumed labor negotiations yesterday on a new contract. Ford Motor took the day off.þþNegotiations between the companies and the United Auto Workers recessed Saturday night after around-the-clock talks since Sept. 3. þþGeneral Motors, Ford and Chrysler gave the union their initial offers in late August. þþThe automakers proposed a wage freeze, increased health payments by workers and possible job cuts, people close to the talks said. The United States automakers are trying to cut costs to compete with Asian carmakers.þþGeneral Motors, Ford and Chrysler's share of the American market dropped to 60.1 percent in the first eight months of this year from 70.2 percent five years ago, according to Autodata, a market research company in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. Asian automakers' share rose to 32.9 percent from 24.9 percent in the same period.þþToyota Motor, Japan's largest automaker, outsold Chrysler, the third-largest automaker by sales, for the first time in the United States last month. þþChrysler lost $1.1 billion in the second quarter. Its sales fell 5 percent in the United States through August compared with an industrywide decline of 2 percent.þþ
Source: NY Times
