Mark Rechtin

Toyota streamlines decision-making for North America
Toyota President Akio Toyoda restructured the company's management this year to give more authority and autonomy to local regions. ...

It's official: Tundra is a bit player in pickups
Gone are the days when Toyota expected to challenge Detroit's dominance in full-sized pickups. "We're never going to challenge the Big 3 in terms of volumes," said Jim Le ...

Musk's magic touch on Wall St.
The cult of personality surrounding Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk has wowed the investment community. Operating on the edge of the U.S. ...

Next Corolla gets CVT, 2 engine choices
The redesigned 2014 Toyota Corolla that debuts here on June 6 will have a continuously variable transmission and will be offered with a choice of two engines, company off ...

Acura's new ad agency targets buyers from luxury rivals
Alex Leikikh, the son of Russian immigrants to Minnesota, had key posts at agencies Leo Burnett and Fallon -- working at Fallon on the BMW account -- before being named p ...

Honda signals it may expand CVTs
Honda's plan to produce continuously variable transmissions at a new plant in Celaya, Mexico, hints that more Honda models sold here could be fitted with CVTs. ...

Toyota: Cost to develop fuel cell cars falls
The hydrogen refueling infrastructure may not be ready, but the cost of developing the fuel cell cars Toyota plans to launch in 2015 has plunged. ...

U.S. output of the Prius is on hold
Once considered a sure bet for U.S. production, the Toyota Prius is now on indefinite hold for assembly here, said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota's North American region. ...

Tesla hikes guaranteed residual value on Model S
Tesla increased the guaranteed residual value of its electric Model S sedan to 50 percent after its lease-to-own period of three years. ...

Honda plans $470 million transmission plant in Mexico
Honda plans to build a $470 million factory in Celaya, Mexico, to assemble continuously variable transmissions. ...

Crossovers lead Honda April gains
Stoked by record April results for the Honda CR-V and Acura RDX compact crossovers, American Honda sales increased 7 percent to 130,999 units last month. ...

Toyota car sales slide in April

LOS ANGELES -- Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. sales fell by 1 percent in April, with 176,160 units sold. ...

Toyota 2015 fuel cell vehicle to cost between $50,000 and $100,000
The cost of a completed hydrogen fuel cell vehicle today is 1/20th of what it was when current prototypes were being developed, Toyota says, paving the way for a workable ...

Once a product planner, former Renault executive Pelata now mines data
Former Renault COO Patrick Pelata had plenty of job possibilities after leaving automaker. He now sells customer-retention software from an office in San Francisco. ...

Pelata on Renault's spy scandal: 'I had to leave'
Former Renault COO Patrick Pelata fell on his sword to save his boss and friend Carlos Ghosn -- and maybe his company. Pelata left the automaker after a botched espionage ...

Pelata on Renault's spy scandal: 'I had to leave'
Patrick Pelata fell on his sword to save his boss and friend Carlos Ghosn -- and maybe his company. ...

Once a product planner, Pelata now mines data
Former Renault COO Patrick Pelata had plenty of job possibilities after leaving the French automaker last summer. ...

Virtues of '13 Civic: Low spiffs, high sales
Honda has turned off the incentive spigot for the 2013 Civic that arrived in January -- and so far, so good. The revamped car is winning over consumers who are looking fo ...

Accavitti sees American Honda's U.S. sales rising 6% in April
Honda's sales in the United States should increase by more than 6 percent in April, a top executive said Wednesday. ...

Henrik Fisker: 'Confluence of events' led to company's downfall
Henrik Fisker's testimony before the U.S. Congress today will paint the automaker he founded as a victim of "a confluence of events" and as an enterprise that is capable ...

Henrik Fisker: 'Confluence of events' led to company's downfall
Henrik Fisker's congressional testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will paint the automaker he founded as a victim of "a conf ...

Asians roar back, resume conquest of retail market
Japanese and Korean automakers accounted for nearly half of all retail sales in 2012, bouncing back after inventory shortages caused by Japan's 2011 earthquake were resol ...

Get ready for Fisker's public flagellation
Top executives from Fisker Automotive are going to be called before Congress on April 24 for a public flagellation. ...

The story behind low Acura ILX production numbers
Those with keen eyesight will have noticed an aberration in the production numbers listed by the Automotive News Data Center. ...

Poll: Deal trumps tech for shopper
For all the effort automakers lavish on new sheet metal and technology, 79 percent of U.S. car shoppers would rather get a good deal on an older model than wait a few mon ...