Jun29
Federal loans to automakers and suppliers for development of electric vehicles and other advanced-technology cars would be doubled to $50 billion under a bill passed by the House on Friday night. The climate-change legislation -- the centerpiece of which is a cap-and-trade system for power plants, oil refineries and factories -- now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. The Senate rejected a similar bill last year.
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General Motors and China's Tengzhong will begin talking with regulators this week in a bid to obtain government approval for Tengzhong to buy the Hummer brand by the end of September, a GM spokesman said today.
Volkswagen AG denied today that it had presented Porsche Automobil Holding SE with an ultimatum to accept its plan for a merger of the two carmakers. On Saturday, Porsche accused VW and the German state of Lower Saxony of extortion following a report that VW has demanded that Porsche accept a tie-up of the two carmakers with VW in charge. Lower Saxony is VW's second largest shareholder after Porsche.
Jun26
The fact that Jaguar Land Rover accounted for $504 million of that $520 million total loss means that more job cuts and plant shutdowns are in store for the ailing British duo. Says Tata Vice Chairman Ravi Kant:
China's top economic planning agency is likely to reject Sichuan Tengzhong's bid to buy the Hummer brand from bankrupt General Motors, state radio reported on Thursday. The planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), is worriedChina's top economic planning agency is likely to reject Sichuan Tengzhong's bid to buy the Hummer brand from bankrupt General Motors, state radio reported on Thursday.
FORD attempts to Cash in on Cash for Clunkers
Do you need a new car? Do you have an old car to part with? Are you confused about how to participate in the "Cash for Clunkers" program you've heard so much about? Ford Motor Company would like to talk to you.
Jun25
How to Jump-Start a Car Battery A car battery. One of the most important car parts. And one that seems to die right when you need it the most: driving to your grandparent’s house for Christmas or some other inopportune time, usually in the winter (
Jun24
General Motors plans to complete a 20 percent cut in its white-collar work force by October, a spokesman said Tuesday. The plan, which was detailed in letters to the bankrupt automaker's employees sent earlier in the day, will eliminate an additional 4,000 jobs through a combination of layoffs and terminations.
Jun23
Obama to give $25 billion more in loans to the automakers Ford Motor Co. will receive a share of $25 billion in government loans designed to help automakers retool factories for making fuel-efficient cars, according to sources familiar with the decision by the Obama administration.
Ford's marketers and PR types have a tremendous task ahead of them: Educating the American consumer on what company's new Taurus is all about. It's a Herculean task that amounts to nothing more than rebuilding a brand that was once broadly considered an icon – not just of the auto industry – but of American business at large.
Jun19
General Motors has been tight-lipped about what it's planning to spend on advertising while in bankruptcy, but Automotive News sister publication, Advertising Age, has the answer: $40 million to $50 million per month, which comes out to about same dollars-per-unit rate as before it filed for Chapter 11.
That translates to between $80 million and $150 million, depending on how long it takes GM to dig itself out.
Jun18
The U.S. Senate today beat back a Republican attempt to strip a scaled-back “cash for guzzlers” bill from a spending package for U.S. troops, clearing the way for the measure to be passed and sent to President Barack Obama for his signature.
Jun17
FORD Seeks No-Strike Pledge from UAW Ford Motor Co., the only major U.S. automaker not in bankruptcy, will ask the United Auto Workers to match the no-strike pledge given to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC. Ford is talking to the union about gaining the concessions, Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally told reporters today at the
Obama denies auto suppliers request for $10 billion in aid The Wall Street Journal reported today that President Obama has taken a pass on granting auto parts suppliers' request for $10 billion in aid, leaving the financially-strapped companies to seek succor from Congress instead.
Jun16
Chrysler to restart the first assembly plant, to make Dodge Viper’s Chrysler Group announced Monday that it is restarting a factory, after shutting down all of its manufacturing for nearly seven weeks following the bankruptcy of Chrysler LLC. Chrysler Group is the new company that emerged last week with most of Chrysler's assets and a new ownership structure. The first plant to reopen is the one that makes the Dodge Viper sports car.
Jun15
Th!nk has been saying for some time that it wants to build some of its cars in in the United States. That announcement could come as soon as this week in Louisana. In a report published in Louisiana newspaper The News Star, factory owner Jim Davison will make an announcement on Wednesday of this week. Davison owns a factory that was formerly part of Guide, previously a General Motors lighting division.
Jun11
Aston Martin Rapide in parking lot Who needs spy photographers like Hans Lehmann when you have readers like Car Magazine's Simon Gregg that stumbled upon Aston Martin's all-new Rapide sport sedan sitting in a parking lot without a single trace of camouflage! From what we gather, the test car must be one of the final prototype models of the four-door Aston that is scheduled to be
Jun10
When you think off road, it doesn't get better than the Land Rover Defender. While most of the world's most hard-core off-roaders – Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes G-Wagen, Hummer H2 – have all gone luxed-out, the Defender soldiers on as the bare-bones option. Essentially the same body-on-frame design from 1948, the Defender is still hand-assembled. But what's Land Rover to do when the market demands luxury? Lux out the Defender, of course.
The Supreme Court cleared the way for the government-backed sale of Chrysler LLC to a group led by Italy’s Fiat S.p.A., a victory for the bankrupt U.S. automaker and the Obama administration. The high court rejected a request from Indiana pension funds and other opponents of the transaction to delay
Jun09
Dealers will receive the amended agreement by Federal Express tomorrow. In it, GM is changing some terms to address such issues as higher sales objectives and facility upgrades. GM also modified terms that waived dealers' rights to protest anything GM does outside a six-mile radius of their stores for two years.
Jun08
The Chinese heavy machinery maker that agreed to buy General Motors' Hummer brand may find the biggest roadblocks to the deal in its home country.Following last week's surprise announcement that Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery and GM had reached an agreement, analysts and Chinese media were buzzing with talk that the two companies may have jumped the gun. The pitfalls range from regulatory to financing issues.
Jun05
Are you on Twitter? As of May 1st, 2009 LeaseTrader.com, a nationwide online marketplace for car lease transfers opened its Twitter account. this will allow customers to get information on the auto world including question and concerns people have with getting in or out of there car leases. This is a leading step in giving information to the general public says Even Snider PR Manger of LeaseTrader.com
A group of pension funds opposed to the sale of bankrupt Chrysler LLC is ready to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary, their lawyer told a U.S. appeals court today. Glenn Kurtz, a lawyer at White & Case representing a group of Indiana pension funds opposing Chrysler's sale to a group led by Italy’s Fiat S.p.A., said his law firm is already working on papers for the appeal to the U.S. top court if necessary.
Penske Automotive Group agrees to buy Saturn from GM Auto entrepreneur Roger Penske's Penske Automotive Group has signed an agreement to purchase Saturn from General Motors by the end of the third quarter. The deal will save nearly 350 dealerships and about 13,000 jobs related to Saturn, said Jill Lajdziak, Saturn's general manager.
Jun04
Chrysler, Fiat Sale Put on Hold! At the same time Chrysler LLC was supposed to be proceeding with its sale to Fiat SpA on June 5th as approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, objecting creditors will be arguing their case yet again in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City
Jun03
Who is Tengzhong? Why does it want to buy Hummer? A question that all of the China is asking now! A little-known player in China's heavy machinery industry emerged from nowhere to agree to buy General Motors' Hummer brand, raising eyebrows among peers who question whether it can turn around the U.S. auto maker. The tentative deal with privately-held Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co.
Danica Patrick's SI Swimsuit Shoot! “bad remarks about doping” In an interview with Dan Patrick published in Sports Illustrated, Danica Patrick was asked, if she could take a performance-enhancing drug and not get caught, would she do it if it allowed her to win the Indianapolis 500.
General Motors is offering some dealerships $100,000 to $1 million to wind down their businesses over the next 17 months, according to three sources familiar with the proposals For Pontiac-only franchises, GM is offering only $10,000 to $200,000, according to two sources. The offers are contained in so-called wind-down agreements that the bankrupt automaker has sent to dealerships that will not have their franchises renewed when they expire on Oct. 31, 2010.
Jun02
The Chinese, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company made an offer for Hummer today! The Chinese manufacturer planning to buy General Motors' Hummer will expand the brand's lineup -- including alternative powertrains -- and retain its U.S. dealers, Hummer CEO Jim Taylor said today.
MAY 2009 AUTOMOTIVE SALES BY THE NUMBERS Ford Motor Co. and General Motors in May reported their smallest monthly sales declines since last summer, while Honda and Toyota each dropped more than 40 percent from their totals a year earlier, when Americans flocked to small cars because of soaring gasoline prices.
GM finds a Buyer for the HUMMER Brand! General Motors Corp., just after yesterdays filing for bankruptcy protection, announced the they have a tentative agreement to sell off the Hummer brand, elements of the plan is to emerge as a leaner, more-competitive auto maker. GM has been trying to figure alternatives for the brand for over a year now, the new buyer could take possession of the Hummer brand in as little as three months by September 2009.
Jun01
General Motors filed for bankruptcy today, forcing the 100-year-old automaker once seen as a symbol of American economic might into a new and uncertain era of government ownership. The filing is the third-largest in U.S. history and the largest-ever U.S. manufacturing bankruptcy. A huge gamble for the Obama presidency.
A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Sunday approved the sale of most of Chrysler LLC's assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat S.p.A. The OK came hours before an expected bankruptcy filing by General Motors. Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved the $2 billion sale of the assets to a new company that will be 68 percent controlled by a health care trust aligned with the United Auto Workers union.