Automakers & Suppliers
 

Ford to reduce summer shutdowns at most N.A. plants

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Ford Motor, aiming to boost output of key models, is scaling back its annual summer shutdown to one week from two weeks at 20 North America plants.... Read More »
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Ford to maintain Canadian factory footprint despite high labor costs

12:49 pm U.S. ET | May 21, 2013
Ford is confident it can preserve its manufacturing profile in Canada despite uncompetitive operating costs tied to the high Canadian dollar, the company's top executive in the country said today.... Read More »
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Lutz's VL Automotive, Chinese supplier bid for Fisker, report says

2:02 pm U.S. ET | May 21, 2013
A boutique carmaker led by a former GM executive Bob Lutz and China's largest auto parts supplier submitted an offer to buy cash-strapped automaker Fisker Automotive, people familiar with the matter told Reuters today.... Read More »
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Former Saab CEO Jonsson, two other execs arrested on tax charges

7:04 am U.S. ET | May 21, 2013
Three former Saab executives, including former CEO Jan-Aake Jonsson and Chief Financial Officer Karl-Gustav Lindstroem, were arrested by Swedish prosecutors in an accounting-fraud probe.... Read More »
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Two Denso executives to plead guilty to price fixing, U.S. says

10:54 am U.S. ET | May 21, 2013
Two executives at Toyota-affiliated supplier Denso have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices and have agreed to cooperate with an ongoing criminal investigation, the federal Justice Department said today.... Read More »
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Marchionne apologizes for 'wop engine' comment

11:44 am U.S. ET | May 21, 2013
Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has issued a written apology to an Italian-American anti-bias organization for saying at the Detroit auto show that an Alfa Romeo needed a "wop" engine.... Read More »
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Subaru Forester tops Honda CR-V in small SUV review

9:38 am U.S. ET | May 21, 2013
The Subaru Forester small SUV beat the Honda CR-V and other rivals in testing by Consumer Reports, which ranked the model as its top pick in that segment.... Read More »
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Toyota overtakes BMW as most valuable global car brand

7:15 pm U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Toyota has overtaken BMW as the world's most valuable automotive brand, an annual ranking of the world's top brands shows.... Read More »
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TALK FROM THE TOP: JOE HINRICHS, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAS, FORD MOTOR CO.

Hinrichs: Quality is 'of the highest priority' at Ford

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
After three frenetic years overseeing Ford's ambitious Asia Pacific expansion plans, including the construction of nine plants, Joe Hinrichs returned to the Dearborn, Mich., world headquarters in December to take over as president of the company's most profitable region: the Americas. Hinrichs found Ford's North American operations in the midst of a major growth spurt.... Read More »
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Infiniti: Raise quality, sales will follow

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Infiniti President Johan de Nysschen, poached last summer from Audi, aims to push into new segments, restore profitability to Nissan's luxury marque and fix lackluster quality rankings. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has ordered de Nysschen to make the brand a top-tier premium player and boost global sales to 500,000 by 2016 from just 170,000 last year.... Read More »
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Tesla Motors may repay U.S. loan by Wednesday, Musk says

10:41 pm U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Tesla Motors may repay its federal Department of Energy loan as early as Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk said in a message on Twitter on Monday.... Read More »
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Ex-battery maker B456 wins court approval for bankruptcy plan

3:19 pm U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
B456 Systems, the bankrupt electric-car battery maker formerly called A123 Systems, won court approval of a plan to exit bankruptcy that pays creditors from the proceeds of selling virtually all its assets.... Read More »
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REUTERS NEWS ANALYSIS

The road to a greener America is littered with roadkill

11:43 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Apart from the recent success of Tesla Motors, the electric vehicle sector has been one of the biggest duds in clean tech. It's all part of green energy's mid-life crisis.... Read More »
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NEEDED: 'THICK SKIN'

GM designer knows crucial launches produce a love-hate response

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Chevrolet designer Tom Peters describes the blocky, chiseled front end of the 2014 Silverado pickup as a "fist in the wind." The metaphor also could describe the resolve Peters needs to weather his critics as the lead designer for two of the most closely scrutinized vehicles on the planet: the Silverado and Corvette.... Read More »
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TALK FROM THE TOP: MARK REUSS, NORTH AMERICAN PRESIDENT, GENERAL MOTORS

GM seeks clean launch, regular updates for pickups

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America, says GM is staying vigilant on the June launch of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-sized pickups, its most important rollout since the company's 2009 bankruptcy. He says GM is closely monitoring suppliers to avoid bottlenecks that could delay the launch or hurt quality.... Read More »
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CFO says GM streamlining is 'on its way'

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
As a banking adviser to General Motors when he was at Morgan Stanley, Dan Ammann got an upfront view of GM's spiral into bankruptcy in 2009 and subsequent restructuring. Now, more than two years into his job as CFO, Ammann acknowledges that he had only a faint idea at the time of how complex GM is.... Read More »
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Chrysler exec: Our vehicle quality rivals Toyota's

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
The quality gap between Chrysler Group's vehicles and those of Japanese automakers has become so small that it no longer should matter to consumers, Chrysler's quality chief says.... Read More »
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Magna opens body, chassis plant in China's Chongqing

3:36 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Magna's Cosma unit has opened a plant in southwest China to supply body and chassis parts to automakers in the area including Ford and Volkswagen.... Read More »
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CARS & CONCEPTS

U.S. tweaks boost Leaf's mpg score

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
U.S. production of Nissan's Leaf electric vehicle has resulted in improved EPA fuel economy numbers for the car. The production move from Japan to Nissan's plant in Smyrna, Tenn., this year gave the automaker a chance to make a small number of midcycle engineering changes.... Read More »
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CARS & CONCEPTS

NSX's electric motors will help handling

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Technical details on the Acura NSX coming in 2015 are scarce, but large-project leader Ted Klaus offered a few nuggets last week as Honda officials announced that the sports car will be built in Ohio.... Read More »
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