WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - Three Democratic U.S. Tuesday questioned a decision by Volkswagen AG's U.S. Earlier this month, the largest German automaker won its bid to put off a union vote for 1,700 workers at the Chattanooga plant until its challenge to a smaller United Auto Workers bargaining unit at the factory is settled. The National Labor Relations Board, in a 2-1 decision on May 3, granted Volkswagen's motion to stay an election petition filed by some of its workers last month. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sherrod Brown of Ohio wrote to Scott Keogh, president of Volkswagen Group of America, on Tuesday, expressing "deep concern with delays" to the vote. Volkswagen spokesman Mark Clothier confirmed the company had received the letter and would respond. In December 2015, 160 skilled trade maintenance workers voted to unionize and affiliate with the UAW, the union said. VW declined to bargain with the union, saying the unit needed to include both skilled trade maintenance workers and production workers. VW began production in 2011 at the plant, which builds the Passat car and the Atlas SUV. The senators "have heard that facility supervisors in Chattanooga are engaging in direct anti-union conversations with workers in the workplace, including pulling workers off the production line to ask if they support the union," they said. In February 2014, workers at the plant narrowly voted against union representation, which had been seen as organized labor's best chance to expand in the U.S. UAW membership has plummeted 75 percent since 1979 and now stands at about 396,000. The UAW has failed for two decades to organize foreign automaker plants in the United States.
I don鈥檛 expect the shower head and the portable toilet to be inside the Hive EX, too. Set your expectations low for this section. Actually, don鈥檛 set any expectations at all. The Volkswagen Atlas Basecamp Concept is powered by the same 3.6-liter V-6 engine as the Atlas SEL Premium. There are no special tricks that boost up the output of the engine. An eight-speed automatic transmission comes standard, and that鈥檚 responsible for sending power to all four wheels of the SUV. That鈥檚 what the Volkswagen Atlas SEL Premium鈥檚 brochure will tell you. What it won鈥檛 say is that you鈥檙e probably not getting the same amount of power and torque out of that V-6 engine when it comes to the Atlas Basecamp Concept. Between the raised height, the bigger tires, and the fact that it鈥檚 hauling a Hive EX trailer, the Atlas Basecamp Concept鈥檚 V-6 engine can probably produce somewhere closer to 250 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque. I鈥檓 not a scientist. What I can tell you is that heavier wheels and tires, among other things, means less power realized against the road.
If the Atlas Basecamp is wearing bigger tires, that鈥檚 going to have an effect of the amount of power that the wheels will receive from the V-6 engine, though not necessarily from the powertrain itself. Does less realized power make a big difference out in the real world? It does in some cases, but if you understand where you鈥檙e going and what you plan to do when you get there, it shouldn鈥檛 have that much of an effect on the SUV鈥檚 performance capabilities. The good news is that the Atlas Basecamp Concept doesn鈥檛 seem to have any problems hauling the Hive EX trailer around. Best I can tell, the trailer weighs somewhere around 2,000 pounds, so, at the very least, we know that the Atlas鈥?max towing capacity of 5,000 pounds is being put to good use. The Volkswagen Atlas Basecamp Concept isn鈥檛 going to blow the roof off the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
It might not even make a Top 5 list of best debuts at the 2019 New York International Auto Show. The concept SUV will show up, smile for the cameras, and book its next appearance at the 2019 SEMA Auto Show later this year. It won鈥檛 wow anyone, but if you think that it will, then you鈥檙e missing the point of the concept entirely. Volkswagen isn鈥檛 bringing the Atlas Basecamp to New York so people can fawn all over it. It鈥檚 bringing the concept to the show for the purpose of showing everyone that the Atlas is not a one-trick SUV. Like most vehicles in its segment, there are layers to what the Atlas is capable of, provided that you know and understand what you want to do with it. The Basecamp is one example of what VW鈥檚 new SUV can become. I like that Volkswagen鈥檚 showing off the Atlas鈥?rugged and outdoorsy personality. It shows that even if It鈥檚 a mid-size SUV on paper, with the right equipment and the right goal in mind, it鈥檚 capable of far more than just your daily errand ride.
