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  • GMAC Logo

    In a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) GMAC revealed that it will no longer have the exclusive right to finance all of General Motors vehicles, and it will cease all lease financing as well. The new business arrangements are part of the terms of GMAC's agreement with the U.S. government to secure federal aid. The new deal displaces a previous agreement under which GMAC agreed to pay GM an exclusivity fee each year through 2016 for the privilege of being the company's sole lender for new sales and leases. Other details of the agreement include a two-year window...

  • GM and Chrysler logos
    GM gets first $4 billion in aid money, Chrysler waits

    The $17.4 billion bridge loan package signed into action by President Bush late in December has begun disbursement, with General Motors receiving $4 billion on Wednesday. Chrysler is still waiting on the finalization of details with the U.S. Treasury before it will be able to tap into the loans...

  • GMAC Logo
    GMAC drums up $21.6 billion in debt-for-equity swaps

    GMAC has leveraged the recent promise of U.S. Treasury funds to boost its lending capacity, and now it has generated another $21.2 billion in cash via debt-for-equity swaps with its bondholders. The fund raising is part of the company's' effort to raise enough cash to meet the regulatory...

  • 2009 Volvo C30
    Volvo reinstates free maintenance on new cars

    Free maintenance programs were once de rigeur for the upper ranks of the automobile industry, but the service has been dying a slow death with brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi abandoning their programs. BMW and Saab kept theirs however, and Volkswagen recently announced the start of free...

  • Jaguar and Land Rover logos
    Tata Motors cash infusion for Jaguar-Land Rover could reach $1B

    When the automotive subsidiary of Indian mega-conglomerate Tata Motors took over Jaguar-Land Rover earlier this year, many feared for the brand's future. Since then, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has taken great pains to reassure fans of the two carmakers that all would be well. Yesterday it was...

  • The White House
    White House considering 'orderly bankruptcy' as an option for GM, Chrysler

    Bankruptcy for one or more major carmakers as a solution to the current automotive downturn has been widely reviled as the worst possible alternative for the carmakers themselves and the industry, and economy, in general. But now the White House has revealed that a structured bankruptcy for General...

  • Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder exhaust

    In September, a committee in the European Parliament proposed easing the carbon dioxide emissions rules previously set to phase in over the next several years, and today the proposal was approved. The modifications require only 65% of manufacturer fleets to meet the strict 130g/km targets in 2012, raising that figure to 100% by 2015. When the new rules were proposed several months ago, German industry committee member Werner Langen said, "This is an attempt to find a reasonable compromise between climate policy and the automobile industry's competitiveness." The phase-in process will ratchet...

  • Chrysler logo
    Report: Chrysler has hired bankruptcy firm Jones Day

    The U.S. Congressional hearings on Capitol Hill are still underway, and thus far no definitive result has been reached. Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli has at times appeared apologetic and even regretful, but always concerned with securing additional funding for the company. The near-desperation...

  • Chrysler logo
    Chrysler's viability plan calls for $7 billion emergency loan before 2009

    Just as Detroit compatriots General Motors and Ford are revealing their strategies for future viability - and need for funding in the meantime - Chrysler has come out with its plan for the future, both near-term and long-term. An immediate need for $7 billion in emergency loans before the end of...

  • Ford grille
    Ford submits plan to Congress, promises EVs, possible profits by 2011

    The return trip to Washington by the nation's key automotive CEOs will be a considerably more concrete happening, with real-world plans, hard numbers and specific goals. Ford is the first to announce its ideas for the future, and the plan revealed today offers a goal of profitability by 2011, and...

  • Opel logo
    Germany holding aid talks with Opel

    Germany on Monday confirmed it would be holding talks with Opel, General Motors' primary European brand, to discuss the topic of aid for the company should GM cease supplying cash. The concern on Opel's part is very real considering the state of GM's U.S. and global operations, and Opel's...

  • Australia launches campaign against noisy vehicles
    Australia launches campaign against noisy vehicles

    Noise cameras are ready to be deployed across Australia in an effort to ticket and hopefully deter the proliferation of noisy vehicles and machinery on the nation's streets. Several states and territories will have the devices posted at certain locations, ready to snap a shot of a noisy object...

  • NHTSA Logo

    Fuel economy requirements and their corollary emissions laws are becoming the central focus of modern car development as governments around the world set higher standards. The U.S. has the NHTSA working on new CAFE standards, and a study announced today reveals that the recommended path will require 4.5% improvement each year through 2020, which will put the fleet-wide average at 39.4mpg by that time. Carmakers have so far been vocal in their opposition to the proposed CAFE standards, which previously had targeted 4.5% annual improvements through 2015, ending at 31.6mpg. But extending the...

  • LED daytime running lights
    EU announces plan for mandatory daytime running lights by 2011

    The European Commission has announced plans to make it mandatory for all new cars to be fitted with daytime running lights (DRLs) as standard from 2011, and on trucks and buses one and a half years later. Despite widespread opposition from carmakers, the issue was raised once again on the back of...

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