Automakers & Suppliers
 

GM prices Chevy Spark EV below $20,000 after tax credits

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 23, 2013
GM will price its new Chevrolet Spark electric vehicle at $27,495, including destination charges and before federal tax credits, placing it among the cheapest EVs on the market.... Read More »
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Ford to shutter Australia car, engine plants in 2016

8:04 pm U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Ford, saddled with high costs, falling sales and financial losses, will close its Australian car and engine assembly plants in 2016, ending almost nine decades of manufacturing in the country.... Read More »
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Tesla says it paid back entire DOE loan today

10:48 am U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Tesla Motors today said it paid off the entire balance of its federal government loan given as part of a Department of Energy program to spur development of alternative energy vehicles.... Read More »
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Ford, Chrysler to reduce summer shutdowns at most N.A. plants

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Ford Motor and Chrysler Group said today they are scaling back annual summer production shutdowns this year in hopes of boosting output of key models in North America. General Motors declined to disclose specific summer plans.... Read More »
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Michael Stanton, longtime D.C. advocate for automakers, to retire in 2014

11:50 am U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Michael Stanton, a longtime lobbyist and a driving force for automakers in public policy, plans to retire as president and CEO of the Association of Global Automakers in early 2014.... Read More »
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GM moving treasury office to Detroit headquarters from New York

9:35 am U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
GM said it will move its treasury office to its Detroit headquarters from New York in mid-2014, affecting about 70 employees.... Read More »
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Gentex CFO leaves but will work with supplier as consultant

4:02 pm U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Gentex, a maker of rearview mirrors and electronics parts, said its CFO and vice president of finance has left the company but will remain a consultant with the supplier.... Read More »
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Lutz's VL Automotive, Chinese supplier bid $20 million 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 of $20 million to buy cash-strapped automaker Fisker Automotive, people familiar with the matter told Reuters today.... 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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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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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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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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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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TALK FROM THE TOP: JIM LENTZ, CEO, NORTH AMERICA REGION, TOYOTA MOTOR CORP.

Toyota streamlines decision-making for North America

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Toyota President Akio Toyoda restructured the company's management this year to give more authority and autonomy to local regions. Nowhere was this more evident than in North America, where Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, was placed in charge of all Toyota sales and manufacturing for the region.... Read More »
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Again, Tokyo show a no-go for Detroit 3

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
The Detroit 3 will sit out the Tokyo Motor Show, no-shows for the third straight time.... 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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Chrysler quality chief: Little difference now with Toyota

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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