auto industry – News Stories About auto industry - Page 31

Viper Might Be Luxury Chrysler Can Do Without

ANALYSIS

Aug 28, 2008 3:15 PM CDT

Viper Might Be Luxury Chrysler Can Do Without

Automaker needs to raise $1B, and hot rod looks odd model out

(Newser) - Despite a $1.1 billion operating profit in the first half of the year, Chrysler is hemorrhaging money. In a bid to raise another billion, the company is looking to sell off its iconic Dodge Viper line, BusinessWeek reports. The Viper has sold a mere 594 cars since January, and...

Protests Threaten
World's Cheapest Car

Aug 26, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

Protests Threaten World's Cheapest Car

Tata, having promised Oct. launch for $2,500 Nano, considers costly factory move

(Newser) - The promised October launch of a $2,500 car by India’s Tata Motors is in jeopardy after massive protests at its West Bengal factory, Der Spiegel reports. Led by the state's opposition leader, 30,000 demonstrators promised a "fight to the finish" for land they say the government...

Arab Investors Interested in GM's Hummer Brand

Aug 26, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

Arab Investors Interested in GM's Hummer Brand

As US sales slide, GM looks overseas to unload gas-guzzler unit

(Newser) - There may soon be more Hummers heading to the Persian Gulf, this time as two Gulf Arab investors signal interest in buying GM's troubled brand of SUV—modeled on the military vehicle. Analysts have expected the gas-guzzler to be tough to unload, but low fuel prices, economic prosperity, and Hummer’...

Cross-Country Hydro-Car Tour Wraps Up In LA

Aug 25, 2008 5:12 PM CDT

Cross-Country Hydro-Car Tour Wraps Up In LA

31-city, nine-automaker tour aims to promote nascent technology

(Newser) - A fleet of hydrogen-powered cars wrapped up a 31-city cross-country US tour in Los Angeles this weekend, Reuters reports. The first such trip by zero-emission vehicles aimed to promote the cars, supplied by nine automakers, and the need for more accessible zero-emission fuel. The US has 60 hydrogen stations so...

GM Plans New Chevy Compact

Aug 21, 2008 4:55 PM CDT

GM Plans New Chevy Compact

(Newser) - General Motors will invest $500 million to build its new compact car in the US, the Detroit News reports. The Chevrolet Cruze, expected to get about 45mpg, will go into production in 2010 in Lordstown, Ohio. The ailing automaker, once heavily reliant on SUVs, continues to alter its production line...

Chrysler Looks to Team With Nissan on Midsized Cars

Aug 7, 2008 7:41 AM CDT

Chrysler Looks to Team With Nissan on Midsized Cars

US automaker plans to expand outsourcing deals as it searches for profitable course

(Newser) - Chrysler is in talks to team up with Nissan to produce midsized cars, the Wall Street Journal reports, following an earlier deal to jointly produce pickup trucks and subcompact cars. The move could represent what the Journal calls a "radical new business model," in which Chrysler becomes a...

Car Sharing Rides $4 Gas
to Increased Popularity

Aug 5, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

Car Sharing Rides $4 Gas to Increased Popularity

Zipcar catches on nationwide

(Newser) - With gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, car sharing as an alternative to car ownership is finally gaining traction, reports Newsweek. Started 8 years ago, the best-known car-sharing company, Zipcar, rents communal vehicles by the hour or day. Both cost-efficient and eco-friendly, the company charges members about $10 an...

GM Loses $15.5B, Stuns Street

Earnings

Aug 1, 2008 8:20 AM CDT

GM Loses $15.5B, Stuns Street

$27.33 per-share loss much worse than analysts predicted

(Newser) - General Motors stunned Wall Street today, reporting a $15.5-billion second-quarter loss—a figure far worse than anything analysts had predicted—as sales collapsed on the company's most profitable products, trucks and SUVs. Prognosticators had estimated the automaker would lose $2.62 per share, excluding items; instead the loss came...

GM, Ford Join Chrysler in Retreat From Leasing

Jul 30, 2008 8:00 AM CDT

GM, Ford Join Chrysler in Retreat From Leasing

As resale values plummet and credit tightens, automakers leave market

(Newser) - Ford and GM are joining Chrysler in moving away from auto leasing, the Wall Street Journal reports, signalling the end of an era in which leases allowed many Americans to drive more expensive cars than they could afford to buy. The move is prompted by falling prices for used SUVs...

Honda Profits Jump 8%
on Fuel-Efficient Lineup

earnings

Jul 25, 2008 7:33 AM CDT

Honda Profits Jump 8% on Fuel-Efficient Lineup

The gas tank is half empty, as the company cuts global outlook

(Newser) - Honda announced an 8.1% gain in net profit yesterday for the quarter ending June 30, riding demand for its fuel-efficient models and beating analysts’ estimates, the Wall Street Journal reports. Honda has been hurt less by falling demand than rivals Toyota and Nissan because it's the least invested in...

NASCAR Fans Sneer at Toyota

Jul 24, 2008 9:51 AM CDT

NASCAR Fans Sneer at Toyota

Japanese automaker's success comes as American firms are in slump

(Newser) - In an effort to curry favor with millions of American NASCAR fans, Toyota joined the league’s top circuit 2 years ago, but fans aren’t warming to the Japanese automaker, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many fans felt betrayed last year when champion racer Kyle Busch traded in his...

Ford Posts $8.7B Loss,
Will Make Fewer Trucks

Earnings

Jul 24, 2008 9:08 AM CDT

Ford Posts $8.7B Loss, Will Make Fewer Trucks

Writedowns lead to ugly quarter

(Newser) - Ford Motor Co. lost $8.67 billion in the second quarter and will retool two more North American truck and SUV plants to build small, fuel-efficient vehicles, the company announced today. The net loss includes $8.03 billion in writedowns due to a decline in the value of its truck...

Shopping in US Looks Like the 1970s: Analyst

Jul 20, 2008 8:01 PM CDT

Shopping in US Looks Like the 1970s: Analyst

Automotive industry, discounters predict permanent shift

(Newser) - Retailers and marketers are closely watching American shopping trends, knowing that recession habits can linger for years, the AP reports. Studies show that 63% of Americans have cut down spending by coupon-cutting, biking to work, and buying store brands. They're also buying smaller cars and shopping at discounters. "We...

McCain Flips
on Emissions Standards

Jul 18, 2008 3:37 PM CDT

McCain Flips on Emissions Standards

After favoring a national norm, candidate says states should decide

(Newser) - John McCain seemed to flip-flop on auto-emissions standards today, telling a group of General Motors engineers he supported states’ rights to set their own levels, the Detroit News reports. McCain told the newspaper last month he supported a nationwide standard. Automakers support a national standard because they fear the expense...

Smart Car Scores Big on Cute

Jul 18, 2008 9:45 AM CDT

Smart Car Scores Big on Cute

Tiny rides now trendy, even for big car people

(Newser) - Mercedes’ Smart cars are selling brilliantly—the US waiting list is 30,000 long—and the tiny two-seater's performance at the gas pump isn't the whole story. Yes, they’re the most fuel-efficient non-hybrids around, but only barely—some Hondas and Toyotas almost match their 33mpg. There's also the cute...

Drivers Order Big Extras for Small Cars

Jul 17, 2008 2:12 AM CDT

Drivers Order Big Extras for Small Cars

Downsizing buyers want jumbo comforts in smaller vehicles

(Newser) - American drivers are ditching their SUVs for smaller vehicles in droves—but they're cramming in all the extra comforts they can, reports the New York Times. Buyers are spending thousands on bonus features such as heated leather seats and top entertainment systems. The trend gives a rare glimmer of hope...

Eyeing US Market,
VW Plans Tenn. Plant

Jul 16, 2008 8:42 AM CDT

Eyeing US Market, VW Plans Tenn. Plant

Company hopes Chattanooga factory will improve market share

(Newser) - Volkswagen will invest around $1.6 billion to build a factory in the US—20 years after the closure of its last plant, Der Spiegel reports. VW hopes to have the plant, located in Chattanooga, Tenn., running by 2011, and operating at a rate of 150,000 cars per year....

GM Will Cut Salaried Jobs, Benefits to Survive Slump

Jul 15, 2008 9:42 AM CDT

GM Will Cut Salaried Jobs, Benefits to Survive Slump

Company aims to cut costs to boost liquidity, cope with lower sales

(Newser) - General Motors will cut salaried jobs, accelerate factory closings, and eliminate health care coverage for many salaried retirees in order to raise $15 billion to survive the industry's deep downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. GM will also suspend dividends, sell some assets, lower capital spending, and cut production of...

GM to Announce New Round
of Major Cuts

Jul 15, 2008 2:37 AM CDT

GM to Announce New Round of Major Cuts

$4 gas threatens workforce, car and truck production

(Newser) - General Motors is expected to announce another big round of cost-cutting measures today, Bloomberg reports. Insiders say the ailing automaker, hit hard as consumers leave gas-guzzlers standing in car lots, is likely to slash thousands of jobs and reduce production of trucks and SUVs for the second time in two...

Keep the Hummer:
Save America's Soul

OPINION

Jul 12, 2008 2:00 PM CDT

Keep the Hummer: Save America's Soul

Yes, it's obnoxious; that's why we need it

(Newser) - Sure, the Hummer is more of a "cartoon" than a vehicle, a ridiculously over-the-top gas-guzzling monstrosity. But the unbridled optimism it takes to manufacture it—and to fill up the tank—is what makes it uniquely American, writes Matthew DeBord in the Washington Post. If GM axes it, or,...