OEM Coverage

Ford to shutter Australia car, engine plants in 2016

8:04 pm U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
Ford, citing high operating 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. Ford, the smallest of the country's three manufacturers after Toyota and GM, will shut its assembly plant in Broadmeadows in northern Melbourne and an engine plant in Geelong to the west of the city, Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano said.... 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 »

 

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 »

 

DAVE GUILFORD

Why Infiniti, Lincoln face the same challenge

2:51 pm U.S. ET | May 22, 2013
The luxury marque hasn't lived up to its dreams. In fact, there was talk that its parent company might kill it. Now with a dynamic new leader, it's trying to build buzz with a more exciting lineup.... Read More »

 

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 »

 

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 »

 

PSA will close r&d site to reduce spending

May 22, 2013 09:49 CET
PSA will shut a French r&d facility as part of a program to reduce spending.... 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 »

 

Former Saab CEO Jonsson, two other execs arrested on tax charges

May 21, 2013 13:04 CET
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 »

 

Mercedes workers end strike in S. Africa

May 21, 2013 10:00 CET
A two-day strike at Mercedes-Benz's East London car plant in South Africa ended following crisis talks between management and a workers union.... Read More »

 

Magneti Marelli expands China production of lighting components

May 21, 2013 09:15 CET
Magneti Marelli has opened a plant in the southern China city of Foshan to produce rear lights, headlamps and other lighting components. The company aims to secure a 10 percent share of China's lighting market in the midterm.... 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 »

 

German brands enjoy sales boom in Korea

May 21, 2013 06:01 CET
South Korea has become a growth market for BMW, Mercedes and Audi as lower tariffs make their cars cheaper and local buyers abandon a decades-long preference for domestic brands.... Read More »

 

GM's Cruze diesel ghostbuster

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
No one on Mike Siegrist's engineering team talks about the failed Oldsmobile diesel V-8 from the 1980s. But it's there, a 745-pound cast-iron ghost. Siegrist leads the 50-member engineering team that is equipping the first GM car in North America with a diesel since 1986.... Read More »

 

TALK FROM THE TOP: LUDWIG WILLISCH, CEO, BMW OF NORTH AMERICA

BMW counts on new models to keep luxury sales crown

12:01 am U.S. ET | May 20, 2013
Mercedes-Benz led the U.S. luxury-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 this fall: the 3-series GT crossover, 4-series coupe and a redesigned X5 crossover.... Read More »

 

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 »

 

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 »

 

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 »