Headlines for Thursday, November 8, 2012

U.S. Fleet Sales, Oct. & YTD

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

AutoNews Now: Nissan's quest for share

Why Carlos Ghosn says something's wrong; his concerns about U.S. 'fiscal cliff,' China unrest; plus, Ford's 'elastic' hybrid plant. Read More »

First Shift: A deal for Suzuki dealers

Quick cash for retailers who give up franchises, storm claims 15,000 vehicles, another lawsuit filed over Hyundai-Kia MPG. Read More »

Electric vehicle prices must fall for sales to take off, Power study finds

U.S. sales of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles are rising, but they won't gain real traction until manufacturers lower prices and demonstrate clear economic benefits, market researcher J.D. Power and Associates said in a study released on Thursday. Read More »

Obama finding what's good for GM not so good for taxpayers

The GM bailout played an important role in the re-election of President Barack Obama, who stumped on the issue in Midwestern swing states. Now comes the hard part: unloading the government's stake, probably at a big loss. Read More »

U.S. car and light-truck inventories, on Nov. 1

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

Penske Automotive, Group 1 rebounding from Sandy's wrath

When Superstorm Sandy hit last week, stores owned by many of the nation's largest dealership groups mostly avoided damage, with two exceptions: Penske Automotive Group and Group 1 Automotive. Each has about a quarter of its stores on the East Coast. Read More »

Ford hires 5,200 while pushing factory use to 114% of capacity

Ford has added about 5,200 jobs this year in its domestic factories, and its North American plants are operating at 114 percent of capacity, the highest in more than three decades, a top manufacturing executive said today. Read More »

JCI and China's Wanxiang to square off in A123's bankruptcy auction

An American and a Chinese auto parts maker will face each other on December 6 in an auction to buy A123 Systems, a bankrupt maker of batteries for electric cars that was partly funded by the federal government. Read More »

Magna Q3 profit jumps; founder Stronach quits board

Diversified Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. said third-quarter profit nearly quadrupled on gains related to its purchase of the minority stake in its electric car business. Read More »

Honda's Ito on N.A. sales outlook

Honda expects North American sales to climb 32 percent to 1.7 million units in the current fiscal year, and hit 2 million in 2016. In this segment, Takanobu Ito talks about Honda's sales outlook for the region, its hybrid strategy, and its plan for Acura. Read More »

Opel kills EV version of the Adam minicar

Opel has stopped development of a planned electric version of its new Adam minicar, citing high costs. Read More »

Why Alan Mulally apologized to Bill Gates

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said that the first thing he did after agreeing to be a keynote speaker at the International Consumer Electronics Show was pick up the phone. He joked that he “called to apologize to Bill Gates” for taking a spot usually reserved for the Microsoft chairman. Read More »

Maserati lengthens new Quattroporte to compete with German flagships

Maserati has increased the size of its new Quattroporte as it seeks to compete with long-wheelbase versions of Audi, BMW and Mercedes flagships. Read More »

Obama victory may boost EV agenda, spur rules on emissions, safety

President Barack Obama's second term likely will include a return to an agenda of support for electric vehicles and also could clear the way for new rules on tailpipe emissions and auto safety. Read More »

Hyundai, Kia face $775 million U.S. suit over mileage claims

Hyundai and Kia have been hit with a second civil suit seeking class-action status after the companies admitted to making bogus fuel-economy claims. The latest was in a federal Central District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of 23 plaintiffs. Read More »

Why Alan Mulally apologized to Bill Gates

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said that the first thing he did after agreeing to be a keynote speaker at the International Consumer Electronics Show was pick up the phone. He joked that he “called to apologize to Bill Gates” for taking a spot usually reserved for the Microsoft chairman. Read More »