Politics

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 »

 

Manufacturers could challenge Colo. franchise bill

3:42 pm U.S. ET | May 13, 2013
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers could challenge dealer-backed franchise legislation that passed the Colorado Legislature earlier this month. Alliance spokesman Dan Gage said the association has yet to make a final determination on whether to file a lawsuit to try to overturn the measure.... Read More »

 

U.S. transport chief nominee said to be Anthony Foxx, mayor of Charlotte, N.C.

7:01 pm U.S. ET | April 28, 2013
President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Charlotte, North Carolina, Mayor Anthony Foxx, a Democrat, to lead the Transportation Department. Foxx would replace Ray LaHood, who is stepping down.... Read More »

 

GM's Akerson meets Merkel as two sides bury past differences over Opel

April 11, 2013 18:04 CET
General Motors CEO Dan Akerson met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the automaker's Opel unit as the two sides worked to move past a dispute over a failed effort to sell the division.... Read More »

 

Musk says Texas dealers 'unjust' in preventing Tesla stores

3:04 pm U.S. ET | April 10, 2013
Texas dealers are unjustly trying to prevent Tesla Motors from competing in their state, company founder and CEO Elon Musk told state lawmakers late Tuesday. Musk testified in a Texas House committee hearing on behalf of Tesla-backed legislation that would allow the electric vehicle maker to operate company-owned dealerships in the state.... Read More »

 

Probe of U.S. electric-car loans pledged by Republican Issa

12:11 pm U.S. ET | April 10, 2013
A House panel chairman said he'll accelerate a probe into the Energy Department's loans for alternative-fuel vehicles after Fisker Automotive dismissed most of its workers and hired bankruptcy lawyers.... Read More »

 

RICHARD JOHNSON

Thatcher forged lasting imprint on Europe's luxury brands

12:01 am U.S. ET | April 9, 2013
Britain's auto industry changed dramatically under Maggie Thatcher's government. Her decision to allow foreign ownership of British carmakers set off a bidding war between General Motors and Ford.... Read More »

 

RICHARD JOHNSON

Britain's Iron Lady forged lasting imprint on Europe's luxury brands

4:07 pm U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
Britain's auto industry changed dramatically on Maggie Thatcher's watch. Japanese carmakers began setting up assembly plants in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, starting with Nissan in Sunderland in the North East of England in 1986. It was Europe's first Japan transplant and was a particular triumph for the Iron Lady.... Read More »

 

Fisker's job cuts fuel political debate on green energy projects

10:36 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013
Fisker Automotive's dismissal last week of 75 percent of its employees, after it once received federal loans to build luxury plug-in cars, is adding to the political debate over the federal government's funding of clean-energy programs.... Read More »

 

Obama selects key auto bailout figure for deputy budget director

3:23 pm U.S. ET | April 2, 2013
President Obama said he intends to nominate White House aide Brian Deese as the new deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.... Read More »

 

Major U.S. automakers come to the aid of destitute Detroit

2:51 pm U.S. ET | March 25, 2013
The Detroit 3 automakers joined other Michigan businesses today in donating $8 million for new ambulances and police cars to Detroit as state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr took over running the destitute city.... Read More »

 

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, auto industry ally, won't seek 7th term

6:07 pm U.S. ET | March 7, 2013
Carl Levin, the six-term Democratic senator from Michigan known for his steadfast backing of the U.S. auto industry, won't run for re-election in 2014, his office said.... Read More »

 

HANS GREIMEL

Japan may crack open market to join U.S. free-trade agreement

10:22 am U.S. ET | March 6, 2013
Is Japan poised to open its market to more imports? Japan's automakers are desperate for their country to enter a free-trade deal with the United States. But U.S. automakers oppose Japan's entry, saying Japan's market is closed.... Read More »

 

GABE NELSON

Why the auto industry isn't scared of the 'sequestration' crisis

5:17 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 28, 2013
If you have watched even a few minutes of television news in the past few days, you are probably well aware the United States is less than a day away from another fiscal crisis. So why isn't the auto industry panicking?... Read More »

 

Auto execs to speak on U.S. manufacturing in House hearing

2:59 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 28, 2013
Top executives from Ford, Honda, and Toyota are scheduled to testify next week at a Capitol Hill hearing on the outlook for U.S. auto manufacturing.... Read More »

 

GM joins U.S. business group heading to Myanmar to explore opportunities

8:11 am U.S. ET | Feb. 24, 2013
General Motors is part of a business delegation from the United States visiting Myanmar this week to explore trade and investment opportunities in the resource-rich nation now that the United States has eased sanctions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said.... Read More »

 

Ford urges U.S. pressure on Japan ahead of meeting

3:36 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 21, 2013
Ford pushed for President Barack Obama to pressure Japan's prime minister to open its auto market and refrain from weakening the yen to give its companies an advantage.... Read More »

 

Fisker technology shouldn’t go to the Chinese, U.S. senator says

10:02 am U.S. ET | Feb. 20, 2013
The technology of Fisker Automotive, the plug-in hybrid carmaker that owes American taxpayers about $200 million, shouldn’t be sold to Chinese companies, Senator Charles Grassley said.... Read More »

 

Dealers seek to roll back '80s-era emissions control paperwork

12:47 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 15, 2013
Under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives, dealers no longer would have to fill out paperwork assuring buyers that the emissions control systems of the cars they purchase have not been modified.... Read More »

 

DAVE GUILFORD

Why Obama had to eschew being a green venture capitalist

3:00 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 15, 2013
It looks like President Obama is exiting a business he never should have entered -- playing venture capitalist in the green technology sector.... Read More »

 

U.S. automakers urge Obama to punish Japan for weak yen

11:09 am U.S. ET | Jan. 17, 2013
President Barack Obama should tell Japan's new government that the United States will retaliate for policies aimed at weakening the yen, a group representing Ford, GM and Chrysler said today.... Read More »

 

2013 AUTOMOTIVE NEWS WORLD CONGRESS

A Detroit legend roils Russian vehicle making

10:03 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 15, 2013
Bo Andersson was one of the most powerful and feared men in the Detroit a few years ago. Now he is a hero of the Russian auto industry. He might still be a little feared, he admits.... Read More »

 

Analysts: U.S. auto sales outlook hinges on end to political strife

9:27 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 13, 2013
Nothing is more likely to stall auto sales this year in the United States than continued political wrangling. That was the conclusion of a panel of economists and forecasters at a Society of Automotive Analysts conference here Sunday evening before the Detroit auto show.... Read More »

 

Jackson to step down as Obama's EPA chief

11:37 am U.S. ET | Dec. 27, 2012
Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson, one of the key players in raising federal fuel-efficiency standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025, is stepping down from her post after a tenure of almost four years marked by battles with Republicans who fought her proposed environmental regulations.... Read More »