Toyota Corolla/Auris GR

The model would likely bear the GR moniker. That鈥檇 be one peg lower than the top GRMN label that鈥檚 only been applied to the smaller Yaris to date. Corolla GR (or Auris GR) would likely reach the Australian market in around three years, but other markets might get it even sooner. It could adopt a version of its aforementioned baby brother鈥檚 engine, or another power plant entirely. Either way, you could expect a stiffened suspension, beefier brakes and enhanced aero to also form part of the package. For our part, we can鈥檛 help but wonder if an even hotter GRMN version will follow. With 300 horsepower or so, it鈥檇 be just what Toyota might need to take on the Honda Civic Type R. But we鈥檙e getting ahead of ourselves here. Like, several car-lengths ahead. For now, we鈥檇 be happy to see an Auris/Corolla GR hit the scene, with the full weight of Toyota鈥檚 resources behind it.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Workers at Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted Friday night against forming a factory-wide union, handing a setback to the United Auto Workers' efforts to gain a foothold among foreign auto facilities in the South. The vote of hourly workers began Wednesday and concluded Friday. Preliminary results show 833 employees voted against representation and 776 voted for it, the German automaker said in a statement. VW said about 93% of the roughly 1,700 eligible employees voted. Frank Fischer, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, said in the company statement. He said results are pending certification by the National Labor Relations Board and legal review. Volkswagen has union representation at all of its other major plants worldwide. A win in Chattanooga would have offered the United Auto Workers its first fully organized, foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the traditionally anti-union South. UAW officials have questioned why Chattanooga should differ from Volkswagen's other union-represented plants worldwide, or Spring Hill, Tennessee's General Motors plant with 3,000 UAW-represented workers. Signs for and against unionization are in a roundabout along Volkswagen Drive in front of the Volkswagen plant Friday, June 14, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Workers voted against forming a factory-wide union, handing a setback to the United Auto Workers' efforts to gain a foothold among foreign auto facilities in the South. UAW organizing director Tracy Romero said she was proud of the pro-union voters at the plant. Romero said in a statement, adding that the automaker tried to make workers afraid of losing the plant and suffer other repercussions. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and other top Republicans urged a "no" vote, saying a union could cause economic harm. In 2014, Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted 712-626 against unionization through the Detroit-based UAW, heeding the advice of then-U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, then-Gov. Bill Haslam and other GOP officials who urged a "no" vote. Volkswagen announced a new SUV would be produced in Chattanooga five months after the vote, essentially confirming Corker's prediction but on a different timeline. UAW claimed "interference by politicians and outside special interest groups" swayed the 2014 election.

After the loss, a smaller bloc of Chattanooga workers voted for union representation in 2015, but Volkswagen refused to bargain with them unless all hourly workers had a vote. Instead of dragging out the fight over the smaller group, the union was granted this week's vote. Other than the smaller vote at Chattanooga, the UAW has not fully organized a foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the South. A 2017 vote at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, failed by a wide margin . Union organizing is more difficult in the South because it doesn't have the pro-union culture of the north, and because politicians and other third parties often campaign against the union, she said. 50 million in state incentives. The state's economic development department has received no indication that the project would somehow hinge on the union vote, said department spokesman Scott Harrison. UAW is calling on Congress to take a comprehensive look at the country's labor laws and NLRB rules following the vote, the union said in its statement. Brian Rothenburg with the United Auto Workers places signs at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Friday, June 14, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.