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Daimler strengthens Ford ties with 3-cylinder engine project

May 24, 2013 06:01 CET
Daimler strengthened ties with Ford after consulting with the U.S. automaker on its three-cylinder turbo gasoline engine, which it is building with Renault for the next Smart and Twingo cars. Daimler and Renault are already collaborating with Ford in the development of fuel cell vehicles.... Read More »

 

Nissan readies Datsun brand for India

May 24, 2013 06:01 CET
Nissan will introduce its first Datsun model in India by March 2014 as the carmaker offers cheaper vehicles in a push for a fivefold increase in its share of Asia's third-biggest auto market. CEO Carlos Ghosn revived the brand to widen Nissan's appeal to customers in countries such as India, Russia and Indonesia.... Read More »

 

Lasorda, Penske launch venture fund for tech startups

1:00 pm U.S. ET | May 23, 2013
Tom LaSorda, the former CEO of Chrysler and Fisker Automotive, has started a new venture capital fund -- with investors that include auto racing and retailing executive Roger Penske -- that will invest in startup companies in health care, clean energy, transportation, information technology, software and applications.... Read More »

 

Former Saab Chairman Muller to be summoned in tax inquiry, report says

May 23, 2013 09:34 CET
A Swedish prosecutor wants to question former Saab Automobile Chairman Victor Muller as part of an inquiry into suspected tax offenses at the automaker, a Swedish newspaper reported.... Read More »

 

Small BMW team rethought electric cars for huge cities

May 23, 2013 06:01 CET
Nearly six years ago, BMW's Project i began to position the automaker for the future. Project i chief Ulrich Kranz explained how the idea of a carbon-body car for megacities emerged from his team.... Read More »

 

Marchionne will face gov't pressure to commit to Italy

May 23, 2013 06:01 CET
The Italian government plans to meet with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne over concerns he's shifting the carmaker and heavy truck manufacturer Fiat Industrial away from the country. Fiat Industrial plans for tax purposes to have its fiscal headquarters in the UK, but Fiat has said a move for the carmaker is not on its agenda at the moment.... Read More »

 

Tesla pays back balance of DOE loan

10:48 am U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Tesla Motors 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 »

 

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 »

 

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 »

 

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 »

 

Daimler may sell company-owned German dealerships to cut costs

May 22, 2013 13:19 CET
Daimler may sell four company-owned Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Germany to cut costs and help close a profitability gap with rivals BMW and Audi. Daimler owns 98 Mercedes car showrooms that account for about half of its car sales in Germany, the brand's second-biggest market after the United States.... Read More »

 

Two Denso execs to plead guilty to price fixing, U.S. says

May 22, 2013 06:01 CET
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 U.S. Justice Department said.... Read More »

 

Lutz's VL Automotive, Chinese supplier bid for Fisker, report says

May 22, 2013 06:01 CET
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.... Read More »

 

Opel keeps Bochum logistics center open to fulfill contract

May 22, 2013 06:01 CET
Opel will keep a spare-parts distribution center open until 2016 at its plant in Bochum, Germany, as long as two years after car production ends at the site. The plant, which makes the Zafira minivan, is scheduled to close by the end of 2014 after workers rejected a restructuring plan in March that would have extended manufacturing there for another two years.... Read More »

 

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 »

 

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 »

 

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 »

 

Marchionne apologizes for 'wop engine' comment

May 21, 2013 17:44 CET
Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has issued a written apology to an Italian-American anti-bias organization for saying that an Alfa Romeo needed a "wop" engine.... Read More »

 

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 »

 

Schaeffler confirms 2013 outlook, net debt

May 21, 2013 11:14 CET
German supplier Schaeffler has confirmed its annual forecast for revenue growth of about four percent and an operating profit margin of approximately 13 percent, despite a drop in first-quarter revenue of 3.6 percent to 2.8 billion euros ($3.6 billion).... Read More »

 

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 »

 

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 »

 

BMW counts on new models to keep U.S. luxury lead

May 20, 2013 06:01 CET
Mercedes-Benz led the U.S. premium-brand sales race through April of 2013, but BMW of North America CEO Ludwig Willisch expects BMW to repeat as No. 1 for the year. Willisch says help is on the way in the form of three models debuting later this year: the 3-series GT crossover, 4-series coupe and a redesigned X5 crossover.... Read More »

 

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 »

 

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 »