Headlines for Tuesday, December 18, 2012

AutoNews Now: Why dealerships lose staff

Among the findings: Workers weary from working weekends; GM's new purchasing chief; $17.35M Toyota penalty a warning? Read More »

First Shift: Toyota hit with record fine

Recall timing sparks $17.35M penalty; Infiniti 'Q's up lineup; Consumer Reports likes new Accord; touring a Lexus via iPad. Read More »

Ford's community relations arm to invest $10 million in Detroit

Ford Motor and its community relations arm today committed $10 million to a program aimed at strengthening a Detroit neighborhood. Read More »

GM promotes Grace Lieblein to head of global purchasing, supply chain

General Motors has appointed the head of its Brazil operations as the company's global purchasing czar. Grace Lieblein, 52, will oversee GM's $77 billion annual purchasing budget as the company's vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, GM said in a statement today. Read More »

Toyota to pay record $17.35 million fine for U.S. defect reporting lapse

Toyota has been ordered to pay a record fine of $17.35 million for failing to report a safety defect to federal regulators in a timely manner, the Department of Transportation said today. Read More »

Toyota to maintain global production at 9.9 million vehicles, report says

Toyota will keep its global output target for 2013 nearly unchanged from this year at 9.9 million vehicles despite a production cut at home, the Nikkei reported. Read More »

Renault Algeria plant deal ends 33-year absence

Renault plans to build a factory in Algeria as part of its push for growth in Africa. The factory will produce vehicles in the same segment as the Symbol sedan. Read More »

Cadillac teases ELR ahead of Detroit intro

The veil is beginning to come off the 2014 Cadillac ELR, the extended-range electric luxury coupe that will make its world debut at the Detroit auto show in January. Read More »

PSA appoints former EADS chief to its board

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen appointed Louis Gallois, former head of planemaker Airbus's owner, as France's board representative at the carmaker following the government's move to help the company's bank unit. Read More »

Toyota touts roomier 2013 RAV4 with improved transmission

Toyota was the first automaker to bring a compact crossover to the U.S. market. But since 1995, Toyota's dominance of the segment has eroded. It now resides in fourth place in the segment sales race. Read More »

Volvo CEO sees no big sales rebound in 2013

Volvo is expecting roughly flat sales next year but has no plans at present to cut more staff in its production, CEO Hakan Samuelsson said. Read More »

Renault taps Logan creator for $5,500 India car

Renault has given Gerard Detourbet, the man behind the no-frills Logan, a mission to devise an even cheaper vehicle program for India that can compete with such champions of frugality as Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai. Read More »

Accord helps Honda rebound from Civic jeers

Honda Motor Co., hit by Consumer Reports' stinging review for its Civic small car last year, got high marks for the revamped 2013 Accord that the magazine said ranks among the market's best mid-sized cars. Read More »

Infiniti to rebadge lineup under Q, QX series

Infiniti is renaming its entire product portfolio for the 2014 model year, returning to the letter “Q” from the brand's early history for every car and “QX” for every Infiniti crossover and SUV. Read More »