auto industry

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GM, After 16% Sales Dive, Eases Finance Options

No-interest loans, for up to 6 years, on models including pickups and SUVs

(Newser) - General Motors is offering no-interest financing for up to 6 years on a selection of its 2008 automobiles in an effort to boost US sales, which plummeted 16% in May, Bloomberg reports. Soaring gas prices have hurt sales across the board, and falling trade-in values and general tightening of purse-strings...

Plunging Truck Sales Drive Ford Deeper Into the Red

Shift away from large vehicles means a rocky road ahead for Detroit's Big 3

(Newser) - Ford's recovery plans have been sent careening off the road by the continuing drop in truck and SUV sales, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company, which now expects this year's losses to top 2007's $2.7 billion, has given up hope of being back in the black by 2009....

High Gas Prices Are Good for Detroit
 High Gas Prices
 Are Good for Detroit 
ANALYSIS
Jun 9, 2008 12:25 PM CDT

High Gas Prices Are Good for Detroit

Demand rising for electric alternatives, so makers, legislators must seize moment

(Newser) - Sky-high gas prices are finally pushing top US auto-makers to turn out fuel-efficient vehicles, and both Detroit and Washington should keep the pedal down to make a permanent change in how, and what, Americans drive, the US top car salesman tells the Wall Street Journal. "You have to tell...

RIP Hummer: Symbol of Eco-Defiance Is a Goner

Villified car will be tough for GM to unload

(Newser) - General Motors announced yesterday that it was considering selling the Hummer brand, which begs the question: To whom? Who exactly wants the most reviled division in automotive history, asks Frank Aherns of the Washington Post. With gas at $4 a gallon and counting, no one’s really interested in SUVs...

Obama Makes Nice With 'Sweetie' Reporter

Back in Michigan, Dem apologizes again, answers her original question

(Newser) - Barack Obama again did penance for calling a Michigan TV reporter “sweetie,” giving an eight-minute interview yesterday to Peggy Agar, three weeks after causing an uproar by using that term of endearment in brushing off a question she asked. At the time, the candidate apologized for his “...

GM to Close 4 Truck/SUV Plants, Reassess Hummer

Public taste turns away from big cars

(Newser) - GM will close four of its North American truck and SUV factories, the company announced today, as the public interest in gas-guzzlers wanes. The Hummer brand is also under “strategic review,” with all options on the table, "from a complete revamp of the product lineup to a...

Sales of Hybrid SUVs Stuck in Neutral
Sales of Hybrid SUVs
Stuck in Neutral
May 31, 2008 11:15 AM CDT

Sales of Hybrid SUVs Stuck in Neutral

New truck-based models save gas, but they're still costly

(Newser) - As sales drop for traditional SUVs, GM and Chrysler have high hopes for hybrid versions of their popular truck-based vehicles—but sales thus far haven’t been impressive, the New York Times reports. GM has sold 1,100 of its Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrids—pacing far behind the...

Norwegian Electric Car Will Cruise US Streets

Vehicle can log up to 110 miles on single charge

(Newser) - An electric car that can travel up to 110 miles when fully charged will hit select US cities next year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Think City, from Norwegian automaker Think Global AS, is already on the road in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and will set American consumers back...

Used Hybrid Market Soars
Used Hybrid Market Soars
May 28, 2008 10:22 AM CDT

Used Hybrid Market Soars

But buyers beware pricey replacement batteries in aging green cars

(Newser) - The rising price of gasoline has heated up the used hybrid market, leading Newsweek writer Keith Naughton to wonder about the staying-power of the pricey battery the part-electric cars run on. Initial fears that Prius batteries would die well before the expected life of the car have proven unfounded, and...

$4 a Gallon? Keep It Coming!
 $4 a Gallon?
 Keep It Coming! 
OPINION
May 28, 2008 5:05 AM CDT

$4 a Gallon? Keep It Coming!

High prices are finally forcing Americans to fuel-efficient cars: Friedman

(Newser) - The ideal presidential candidate wouldn’t pledge to cut gas prices—but would promise instead never to let them fall below $4 a gallon, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times. The high prices are finally forcing America to use fuel-efficient cars—and that’s crucial for the...

Honda Sells 60 Millionth Super Cub

Little cycle the best-selling motorized vehicle ever

(Newser) - Honda’s Super Cub motorcycle may look mundane, but it's also the best-selling motorized vehicle in history, Wired reports. In fact, Honda recently sold its 60 millionth. The Cub first put Honda on the map by making motorcycles safe for suburbanites. But the ultra-dependable little bike isn’t available in...

SUVs Plunge in Value as Drivers Turn to Smaller Cars

Downsizing is in as pump prices start to pinch drivers

(Newser) - SUVs are falling out of fashion fast as gas prices go through the roof, CNN reports. As drivers downsize to more fuel-efficient vehicles, gas-guzzlers are filling up used-car lots—but there aren't many buyers. The biggest SUVs—like the Cadillac Escalade, Ford Expedition, and Chevy Suburban—are dropping in value...

Nanotech Cancer Risk Seen
 Nanotech Cancer Risk Seen 
May 21, 2008 4:28 PM CDT

Nanotech Cancer Risk Seen

Nanotubes, widely used 'wonder particles,' could have asbestos-like effect

(Newser) - Researchers have found that microscopic “wonder particles” used in a small number of materials, including bicycle parts and bumpers, have asbestos-like effects if inhaled, the Los Angeles Times reports. Consumers aren’t really at risk from the carbon nanotubes, but factory workers making the products could be, the researchers...

American Axle Deal Restarts GM Plants

Wage cuts, buyouts, buydowns, plant closings a bitter pill for workers

(Newser) - General Motors is poised to resume production at dozens of idled plants as workers at American Axle & Manufacturing, a key GM supplier, have reached a tentative deal in their 11-week-old strike. The UAW strike had all but stopped the production of GM's highly profitable SUVs, pickups, and vans, reports...

EU Will Toughen Car Ads to Curb Gas Guzzlers

Regulations would require CO2, gas mileage info in every advertisement

(Newser) - Car ads in Europe will soon have to highlight gas mileage and carbon dioxide emissions under regulations in the works from the European Union, Der Spiegel reports. EU commissioners hope regulating ads will motivate more Europeans to ditch gas-guzzling models, but manufacturers and media execs aren’t happy. The plan...

Mercury Line May Hit the Scrap Heap

Sales have slipped from half a million annually to 168K last year

(Newser) - Once a four-wheeled icon of cool, Ford's Mercury brand is steadily losing traction and may soon be parked for good, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ford has not yet announced a plan to scrap the line, but one key stockholder is urging the company to let it go.  "...

Buy Our Minivan, Give Your College Fund a Boost: VW

$1,500 incentive offered with purchase of Routan model

(Newser) - Volkswagen is offering an innovative incentive to parents to buy their Chrysler-built Routan minivan: $1,500 in a college savings plan, Left Lane News reports. The partnership with Upromise might pale to those with more pressing concerns (or who hate planning ahead), though: Chrysler itself is offering a credit card...

US Woes Drive Toyota Profits Down 28%
 US Woes Drive
 Toyota Profits
 Down 28% 
Earnings report
May 8, 2008 7:15 AM CDT

US Woes Drive Toyota Profits Down 28%

World's No. 2 automaker sees tough year ahead

(Newser) - Even Toyota—with its array of popular gas-sipping vehicles—is struggling in a slumping global economy, according to the latest figures. The world’s No. 2 automaker today reported that earnings for the last quarter fell 28% to $3.05 billion from $4.2 billion a year ago, reports the...

Health Care Costs to US Manufacturers Skyrocket

US employers pay double the price foreign companies do

(Newser) - The cost of providing health insurance to US workers is rising so fast it can't be passed along either to workers or customers, a new study reported in the Los Angeles Times finds. Manufacturers now spend, on average, $2.38 per worker per hour—more than twice as much as...

Small Cars Surge Amid Sky-High Gas Prices

1 in 5 vehicles sold in April was compact or subcompact

(Newser) - Facing ballooning gas prices, many Americans are turning to smaller cars, with about one in five vehicles sold in April a compact or subcompact, the New York Times reports. That compares to one in eight 10 years ago. “It’s easily the most dramatic segment shift I have witnessed...

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