Headlines for Thursday, October 4, 2012

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AutoNews Now: Backseat in big debate

Obama, Romney mum on bailout; Fisker, Tesla loans rapped; Ford ads poke fun at Prius; plus, who's up for coveted award. Read More »

First Shift: VW Golf to bypass Tenn.?

Mexico plant called top contender to build car; glitch hits Subaru, Scion coupes; how Subaru uses 'word of mouth on steroids' Read More »

BRADFORD WERNLE:

Ford's C-Max goes for laughs to dethrone Prius in 'Hybrid Games'

When Ford and its Team Detroit ad agency were creating a campaign for the new C-Max Hybrid, they had one clear target in their sights: the undisputed champion of the hybrid world, the Toyota Prius. Read More »

Tesla CEO says company is fine, repaying U.S. government loans

Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed fears the electric carmaker was in financial trouble and said it was making an advance payment on the federal loan used to make its Model S sedan. Read More »

U.S. Fleet Sales, Sept. & YTD

This is data compiled by the Automotive News Data Center and requires a Data Center subscription to access. Read More »

Denso develops lithium ion battery for vehicles with stop-start systems

Japanese supplier Denso said it has developed a lithium ion battery pack to boost fuel efficiency of vehicles with stop-start systems. Read More »

Visteon’s Leuliette sees 'clarity' on revamping by end of 2013

Visteon will decide its strategy for each of its units by the end of 2013 and provide investors “clarity,” the company's permanent CEO Tim Leuliette says. Leuliette ascended to CEO after serving as interim chief following the ouster of Don Stebbins on Aug. 10. Read More »

Customer Incentives

This is data compiled by the Automotive News Data Center and requires a Data Center subscription to access. Read More »

U.S. regulators investigate auto supplier Stabilus' struts

Federal safety regulators have opened an investigation to determine which automakers may have produced vehicles with gas-filled struts on rear liftgates that are prone to failure. Read More »

2012 L.A. AUTO SHOW:

2013 VW Beetle convertible to get platform shared with Jetta, Golf

The convertible version of the Volkswagen Beetle gets a debut at the Los Angeles auto show in late November, shortly before the car goes on sale. The launch of the 2013 VW Beetle convertible trails the arrival of the redesigned Beetle coupe by about a year. Read More »

Priority Auto CEO apologizes for customer’s arrest in Va.

The CEO of a Virginia dealership group has apologized for the arrest of a customer in June after one of his dealerships mistakenly undercharged the customer for a vehicle, then told local police he stole the vehicle when he resisted the dealership’s efforts to get him to pay the difference. Read More »

Dodge Dart gets top crash-test rating

The Dodge Dart, the model Chrysler is betting on becoming a top-selling small car, was among four new vehicles on the United States market to receive a top crash-test rating by an influential safety group on Wednesday. Read More »

Ford takes on Toyota Prius in ad campaign for C-Max hybrid wagon

Ford, introducing its first hybrid-only model, is targeting Toyota's market- leading Prius in a series of advertisements starting today. The C-Max wagon, a vehicle Ford brought from Europe and equipped with a gasoline-electric propulsion system, arrived in showrooms last month. Read More »

Mercedes posts record vehicle sales on U.S., China demand

Mercedes-Benz posted record global vehicle sales for September thanks to growth in China and the United States and despite falling volume in Europe. Read More »

Visteon CFO Welch resigns

Supplier Visteon announced the resignation of Executive Vice President and CFO Martin Welch. Welch will be replaced on an interim basis by Michael Widgren, who has served as Visteon's vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer since May 2007. Read More »