by Ken Zino | Dec 23, 2009
Ford Motor Company [NYSE: F] and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Company Limited have agreed on “all substantive commercial terms” regarding the potential sale of Volvo Car Corporation. The announcement comes as General Motors is in the process of closing bankrupt Saab,...
by John Day | Dec 23, 2009
Among other imperatives, like improving fuel economy, automakers are under pressure to develop products faster, and at lower cost. An engineering firm thinks it has found a new way to achieve those goals, and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the...
by Ken Zino | Dec 22, 2009
In a forecast that mirrors one issued last week from the respected Center for Auto Research, a West Coast consulting firm says that the U.S. light vehicle market is expected to close out 2009 at a mere 10.3 million sales, down from 16.1 million sales only two years...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Dec 22, 2009
Ford Motor Co. shares closed the day on Wall Street at $9.90, a comfortable 2.4%, or 23-cent jump for the day, well above the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But more significantly, the bell rang as Ford shares surged to their highest level in four years, and a big...
by Ken Zino | Dec 22, 2009
General Motors has just released sketches of the displays for its four remaining “core brands” at the North American International Auto Show next month. Public days runs from January 16-24, 2010. More than 700 vehicles will be on display, according to the organizers....
by Ken Zino | Dec 22, 2009
Costs of plug-in hybrid electric cars are high — largely due to their lithium-ion batteries — and unlikely to decrease drastically in the near future, claims a new report from the National Research Council. Costs to manufacture plug-in hybrid electric...
by Mike Davis | Dec 22, 2009
For many decades, Detroit has been trying to figure out how to make money on a small car in the U. S. Even the definition of what a “small car” is has changed over the years. In 1959, when the Falcon, Corvair and Valiant “compacts” were introduced to stem the flow...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Dec 22, 2009
It could get difficult if all 41,000 of Ford’s U.S. factory workers were to accept the automaker’s latest buyout offer. In fact, the company is hoping for a small but unspecified number of employees to accept the offer of up to $70,000 in cash as it looks to trim...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Dec 22, 2009
The e-mail from Cadillac arrived early this morning and just a bit ahead of the holidays, containing two gifts for fans of the long-time luxury leader. The big news is the photo you see here, a partial image of what appears to be the long-rumored XTS, which will make...
by Ken Zino | Dec 21, 2009
It is a mistake that policy makers keep repeating: By imposing a standard that stipulates a design, rather than one that defines the performance or outcome desired, innovation is stifled and the often-beneficial effects of competition are eliminated. The latest...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Dec 21, 2009
In an unexpected move, General Motors has raided the high tech world of Microsoft to recruit its new Chief Financial Officer. Wrapping up a search that began shortly after the automaker emerged from bankruptcy, last July, GM has named 51-year-old Chris Liddell to...
by Mike Levine | Dec 21, 2009
There are car guys, truck guys and, it seems, appliance guys. In a surprising move, the man credited with designing the last three generations of the Ford F-150 is leaving the automaker. Turnover in the automotive business has been intense, lately, so the departure...
