by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 25, 2013
General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson got a 44% increase in total compensation last year, taking home a total of $11.1 million in total compensation. That news, detailed in a federal filing, comes after GM tried to downplay earlier reports that the executive was...
by Joseph Szczesny | Apr 25, 2013
General Motors claims its new Chevrolet Spark has captured the U.S. fuel economy crown with a 119 MPGe — or Miles Per Gallon-equivalent – rating. The new battery-electric vehicle has meanwhile been rated at 82 miles range on a full charge, according to the...
by Joseph Szczesny | Apr 25, 2013
Bucking the slower-than-expected start-up of the battery-car market, little Detroit Electric plans to have its first model, a battery two-seater, in production this coming summer – and the Michigan-based start-up now hopes to get a helping hand from Geely, the owner...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 25, 2013
“I, me, my,” sang the Beatles – for the younger generation, that’s the group Paul McCartney was in before Wings. Meanwhile, Toyota is responding with its Me.We concept, a show car it describes as “anti-crisis,” and intended to “address contemporary human, economic...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 25, 2013
Fisker Automotive may be running out of options other than bankruptcy, the floundering battery-carmaker’s chief operating officer conceded during an often contentious hearing on Capitol Hill. The maker — which recently laid off 75% of its U.S. staff and this...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 24, 2013
Toyota maintained its title as world’s best-selling automaker for the first quarter of 2013 – though the gap began to close as the Japanese maker struggled to regain its momentum in the critical Chinese market. The industry giant — which regained its sales crown...
by Joseph Szczesny | Apr 24, 2013
Daimler AG suffered through another disappointing quarter as both earnings and revenues tumbled more than analysts expected during the January to March period, putting more pressure on the company’s top executive, Chairman Dieter Zetsche, to produce a...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 24, 2013
Battling against a distracted driving “epidemic” blamed for causing more than 10% of all U.S. highway fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has unveiled new voluntary guidelines meant to keep driver’s eyes on the road rather than on...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 24, 2013
The ongoing collapse of the European automotive market took a heavy toll on the world’s third-largest automaker by unit sales, Volkswagen AG reporting a 38% decline in first-quarter profits. The maker previously had been able to offset the worst of the European...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 24, 2013
Ford Motor Co. topped Wall Street’s already optimistic earnings estimate with a 16% jump in first-quarter net income of $1.6 billion, or 40 cents per share. That compared to last year’s 35-cent earnings and a 37-cent consensus estimate for the latest quarter among...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 24, 2013
There are an estimated 90,000 plug-based vehicles on U.S. roads today and, with sales only slowly beginning to accelerate, few expect to see that climb to 1 million advanced battery vehicles, as the Obama Administration has called for. Nonetheless, battery car...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Apr 24, 2013
It’s likely to be both the best of times and worst of times for Ford Motor Co. as it reports its first-quarter earnings today. Industry analysts are uniformly anticipating the second-largest domestic automaker will report record pre-tax profits for North America – but...
