auto industry

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US Car Sales Sink in Slow Economy
US Car Sales Sink in Slow Economy
Mar 3, 2008 9:45 PM CST

US Car Sales Sink in Slow Economy

GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota saw sales fall last month

(Newser) - A tumbling US economy hit Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and Toyota today as all four posted declining sales for last month, Bloomberg reports. Chrysler fell 14% as Ford dropped nearly 7% and GM suffered almost a 20% drop in light truck sales. "Primarily it's driven by the weak economy,...

Are Car Roofs Tough Enough?
Are Car Roofs Tough Enough?
Mar 3, 2008 2:55 PM CST

Are Car Roofs Tough Enough?

US regulators consider stricter strength-to-weight standard

(Newser) - Three-quarters of vehicles on the road today would fail a proposed tougher standard for automobile roof strength, reports the Wall Street Journal. The current standard, unchanged since 1973, requires that car roofs withstand a force equivalent to 1.5 times the vehicle’s weight, but it exempts those more than...

Auto Worker Powerhouse Doug Fraser Dead at 91

Ex union boss helped save Chrysler from ruin

(Newser) - Former United Auto Workers president Doug Fraser, who played a vital role in saving Chrysler from bankruptcy, died yesterday at age 91. The cause of death was unknown, but Fraser had been suffering from emphysema, the Detroit Free Press reports. As UAW president during the ’70s and ’80s,...

Isuzu Says Sayonara to America
Isuzu Says Sayonara to America
Jan 31, 2008 1:14 PM CST

Isuzu Says Sayonara to America

Japanese automaker bailing as passenger sales fall to nearly nothing

(Newser) - Japanese automaker Isuzu, which brought the US such treasures as the SUV and fictional car salesman Joe Isuzu, is closing up shop in the US, thanks to its nearly non-existent sales. Of the 16.1 million cars sold last year, just 7,098 were Isuzus. Said actor David Leisure, who...

Ford Trims Q4 Loss to $2.75B; Plans Job Cuts

Eying weak economy ahead, will offer new round of buyouts

(Newser) - Ford Motor Co. said job cuts and plant closings helped slash its fourth quarter losses to $2.75 billion, Bloomberg reports, less than half of what they were a year ago. But, adds  the Wall Street Journal, the company plans to reduce its workforce by at least another 13,000...

Toyota, GM In Tie for Top Automaker
Toyota, GM In Tie for
Top Automaker
Jan 23, 2008 9:28 AM CST

Toyota, GM In Tie for Top Automaker

Tie highlights two companies headed in opposite directions

(Newser) - Toyota has finally caught up with GM, after years of growing roughly five times as fast. GM’s sales rose 3% in 2007, to 9,369,524 vehicles, but it was only enough to tie Toyota, which last week announced sales of approximately 9.37 million, ending GM’s 76-year...

Mitt Outplayed Mac in Michigan
Mitt Outplayed Mac in Michigan
OPINION
Jan 15, 2008 5:39 PM CST

Mitt Outplayed Mac in Michigan

Pundits rush in before polls even close

(Newser) - With Great Lakes State voting booths not quite closed—and polls tied—pundits are already writing post-mortems on the two-Republican race, and giving Mitt Romney the campaigning edge. The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn and Henry Payne in the National Review agree that Mitt hit his stride, convincing Michiganders he’...

Romney Gets Personal in Michigan
Romney Gets Personal in Michigan
Jan 13, 2008 10:04 PM CST

Romney Gets Personal in Michigan

Will candidate's more emotional touch save his campaign?

(Newser) - You can go home again, Mitt Romney is finding in Michigan, where the GOP presidential candidate has adopted a softer approach as he vies for a badly needed primary victory in the state where he was born and raised and his father was governor. Voters are responding to the more...

Malibu Wins Car of the Year
Malibu Wins Car of the Year
Jan 13, 2008 4:26 PM CST

Malibu Wins Car of the Year

Mazda CX-9 wins best truck at Detroit auto show

(Newser) - General Motors' goal of taking on the Camry and Accord got a boost today as the Chevy Malibu won North American Car of the Year at Detroit’s auto show, CNNMoney.com reports. Its Corvette-inspired twin-cockpit design, and a body shape similar to European luxury cars, has already won media...

Battery Is Burning Issue for Electric Cars' Future

Manufacturers racing to make batteries that won't burst into flame

(Newser) - One main obstacle is holding back the electric car, the Wall Street Journal reports: its unfortunate tendency to burst into flames. Lithium-ion batteries, the only kind small and light enough to power the industry’s designs, have a history of overheating in laptops and other consumer electronics. You can’t...

India's Tata Debuts $2,500 Car
India's Tata Debuts $2,500 Car
Jan 10, 2008 10:34 AM CST

India's Tata Debuts $2,500 Car

Tata Motors' Nano could add millions of cars to India's already congested roads

(Newser) - It has no radio, air conditioning, or passenger-side mirror and only one windshield wiper; but what Tata Motors' newest offering, the Nano, does have is a price tag that could help millions of people become car owners: $2,500. The tiny 4-door sub-compact, the world's cheapest car, was unveiled at...

Ford Sales Slump in December
Ford Sales Slump in December
Jan 3, 2008 1:15 PM CST

Ford Sales Slump in December

Light-vehicle sales down 9% over Dec. '06, and off 12% for all of 2007

(Newser) - Ford Motor Co. reported a 9% dip in US sales of cars and light trucks between last December and December 2007, capping off a dismal year for the company and the auto industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ford, which is third in US auto sales behind Toyota and leader...

Cars Get Gadgety Makeovers
Cars Get Gadgety Makeovers
Jan 2, 2008 1:42 PM CST

Cars Get Gadgety Makeovers

Vegas electronics show will preview next wave of tech upgrades

(Newser) - Cars could be the next must-have gadget, the Wall Street Journal reports, with Ford making Microsoft's Sync system standard issue on many models just a sign of things to come. Bringing the comforts of the digital age to the road will be a major theme of this year’s Consumer...

Toyota Poised to Overtake GM
Toyota Poised to Overtake GM
Dec 25, 2007 8:00 AM CST

Toyota Poised to Overtake GM

Plans to build 9.95 million vehicles, widen lead as largest automaker

(Newser) - Toyota, the most profitable automaker in the world, says it will increase production by 5% to a record 9.95 million vehicles in 2008, opening up a lead over General Motors, Reuters reports. Toyota, which sold 9.36 million vehicles in 2007, also expects sales to increase 5% in 2008...

Chrysler Faces Cash Crunch
Chrysler Faces Cash Crunch
Dec 21, 2007 10:09 AM CST

Chrysler Faces Cash Crunch

Struggling automaker looks to sell assets to raise cash in a hurry

(Newser) - With an auto industry novice as CEO, a product line trailing the rest of the industry, and an inadequate cost-cutting strategy, Chrysler is scrambling to sell assets to climb out of a deep financial hole. Four months after Cerberus Capital Management took the automaker private, the Wall Street Journal finds...

Feds Block California's Tougher Emissions Law

EPA refuses waiver with 16 states waiting in the wings

(Newser) - The Bush administration has refused to allow California and 16 other states to set their own strict standards on tailpipe admissions. EPA chief Stephen Johnson yesterday declined to grant California a federal waiver to impose its own standards on greenhouse gas admissions from vehicles. The other states were poised to...

GM Offering Buyouts to 5,200 Workers

New round aims to slash labor costs

(Newser) - General Motors is offering to buy out another 5,200 hourly workers, the Detroit News reports. The automaker, worried that the slowdown in auto sales will carry into next year, is keen to get veteran workers out the door and lower-paid new workers in. Over 34,000 blue-collar workers left...

Calif. Clears Hurdle on Emissions Law

In blow to automakers, judge rules state can set standards on greenhouse gases

(Newser) - California is one step closer to being able to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles after a federal judge today rejected the auto industry’s challenge to a state law, the Los Angeles Times reports. The state still needs a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency to implement its standards,...

Auto-Loan Delinquencies Rise as Stress Spreads

Lenders are tightening credit, raising rates as delinquencies rise

(Newser) - Consumer auto loans are beginning to show the strain of the subprime collapse, with delinquencies among top-rated borrowers from 2006 rising 55%, to 4.5%, in September. That's the largest month-to-month increase in delinquencies in nearly a decade, the Wall Street Journal reports. Delinquencies among less credit-worthy consumers rose to...

Chrysler CEO Predicts $1.6B Loss This Year

Automaker faces second straight year in the red

(Newser) - Chrysler will be screeching toward a second consecutive year in the red, sources told the Wall Street Journal, as the automaker will lose $1.6 billion. CEO Robert Nardelli told designers and engineers this week that while the beleaguered automaker’s revenue was about $63 billion, costs exceeded $64 billion....

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