Industry

  • 2009 mitsu eclipse06

    American carmakers have caught the brunt of the public's outrage against the car industry, thanks mostly to their highly public pleas for cash. But the whole industry is hurting, even niche Japanese carmakers like Mitsubishi. As part of their cost-cutting measures, the Triple Diamond brand will be closing the doors on their U.S. design studio in Cypress, CA, leaving 60 employees out of work. The move echoes a similar step taken by Nissan in January when it closed its Michigan studios. Chrysler closed its California design studio last May, though the facility was later purchased by - of all...

  • Dodge Challenger SRT8
    Chrysler's SRT brand not going anywhere

    Just because you can buy a Charger SRT8 for under $35,000 after incentives and rebates doesn't mean Chrysler is liquidating its SRT cars to get rid of the brand. In fact, Chrysler has said specifically that its high-performance division is safe from the current budgetary cutbacks. Unlike General...

  • Bentley Crewe factory
    Bentley gets idle staff to build furniture

    Luxury carmakers have a knack for stamping their logos on almost anything, from pens, to laptops and watches. But the latest direction Bentley is turning for additional revenue has left us scratching our heads a little - the 90-year old company has started producing furniture, including tables and...

  • Fiat and Chrysler logos
    Marchionne confident Fiat can help Chrysler

    The Fiat-Chrysler partnership has been brewing since well before the economic meltdown and federal loan bonanza of late 2008, but it's still taking shape as the carmakers find ways to work to their mutual benefit. Today Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne reaffirmed his confidence that Fiat will be able to...

  • GM American flag
    GM auditors have 'substantial doubt' about the company's survival

    Once again General Motors is issuing a warning that it may run out of cash. How, you might wonder, considering the billions in taxpayer dollars that have already been pumped into the company? It's unfortunately very simple: GM is still playing catchup with its debt, and all the money spent so far...

  • The U.S. Treasury building
    Washington kickstarts credit market with $200 billion in consumer loans

    In a plan to stimulate the flailing American economy and instill confidence in the credit market once more, the U.S. federal government will be launching a new $200 billion program to help Americans finance large purchases. Previously, it was thought that the government could increase the program...

  • 2009 lamborghini gallardo lp 560 motorauthority 013

    Luxury sports car manufacturers are having a tough year in 2009, despite their successes last year. Earlier this month we heard from Porsche, who had experienced a massive drop in sales for the first six months of fiscal 2008/2009 following their record profits last year and now a similar story is unfolding at Lamborghini, with sales dropping by around 40% in the wake of canceled orders. Despite selling the most cars in the brand's history last year, the drop in sales is still in line with a global fall in demand for luxury cars in 2009. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann stated that...

  • This 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo is about the age of the average American car
    Germans scrap clunkers as Americans hang on to theirs longer than ever

    The U.S. Senate killed the 'Cash for Clunkers' bill in February on the argument that it wouldn't have enough of an impact. While they may have been right - the bill only allowed for limited incentives - the premise has proven successful in Germany. Running against a very strong current of downward...

  • Ford Edge HySeries plug-in hybrid
    Obama's stimulus package expands plug-in hybrid incentives, but diesel fans unhappy

    A new-generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles may still be a couple of years away from reaching showrooms but the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill passed by Congress and signed into law last October by President Bush and expanded by President Obama's recent stimulus package secures a tax break...

  • 2009 dodge challenger rt review 004
    Chrysler incentives cost a massive $5,566 per car in February

    People aren't buying new cars. It's really that simple in a lot of ways; the economy is down, the future is uncertain and no one wants to bet their house that they'll still have a job in six months. So Chrysler has been going wild with incentives to try to prop up sales in a market that just...

  • 2010 Porsche Boxster facelift
    Porsche sales hit hard by economic crisis, Boxster fares worst

    Porsche, the once unassailable leader in the sports car segment, has proven that it is not completely shielded from the current economic crisis sweeping the globe. In an official statement, Porsche has revealed that the first six-months of the 2008/2009 financial year have not exactly been smooth...

  • 2009 audi a4 allroad 001
    Audi: we will beat Mercedes and BMW in Europe by 2010

    The bosses at Audi are gunning for their German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, announcing this weekend a goal to sell more cars than either in Europe by 2010. Audi's continental domination will be followed soon after by the Volkswagen Group's rise to the number one spot in the world, if the company...

  • Audi Design Competition: SPORE

    Like bell-bottom jeans, tie-dyed shirts and shoulder-length hair - on men - some things capture the style of an era. It's easy to look back and see what defined the hippie culture, or the beatniks or even the mods, rockers and punks of the '80s. But looking forward is an altogether different task. So Audi has enlisted the help of the evolution-based game SPORE to fuel its competition for an Audi design from 2025. The core thesis of SPORE is to create a microcosm of one's own design, and then guide it through five stages of evolution, from cell, to creature, to tribal to civilization and...

  • Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Chairman Bill Ford Jr.
    Ford execs take 30% pay cut

    Ford has been one of the most active of the Detroit 3 carmakers when it comes to cutting executive pay and white collar jobs, and today the Blue Oval announced its latest measure for weathering the economic storm and turning around its slumping performance. Hourly workers at Ford will get yet...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    GM scraps plans for Volt engine plant in Flint, Michigan

    Earlier this month General Motors announced that it was putting plans for the construction of a new engine plant in Flint, Michigan, on hold. The plant was to build a new range of 1.4L four-cylinder powertrains for cars like the Chevrolet Volt and Cruze, but a company spokesperson has now revealed...

  • Chrysler Auburn Hills headquarters
    Chrysler assets could be sold to Chinese carmaker

    There is mounting speculation that ailing Detroit carmaker Chrysler may not be able to survive as a standalone firm. Negotiators in Detroit are working furiously to secure a deal with Italy’s Fiat Group but if the proposed alliance falls through Chrysler has a number of options as backup. One...

  • The Toyota Highlander was among the imports chosen
    Obama's car industry task force shuns domestic cars for personal use

    The resurgence in domestic car quality (it's real) hasn't quite caught up with the members President Obama's newly-formed Task Force on the Auto Industry, or at least so it would seem from their personal car choices: 18 of 20 members and senior aides drive imports. It's not a surprise the majority...

  • Honda NSX
    New focus on R&D expected at Honda with announcement of new CEO

    Honda, like most major carmakers, is experiencing one of its worst performance slumps in decades. Shrinking demand worldwide for new vehicles and a strengthening yen have had disastrous effects on the company’s bottom line, with the most recent profit warning predicting a $3.7 billion...

  • Canadian Parliament

    General Motors and Chrysler have told authorities in Canada that they need as much as $8 billion in aid to stay afloat, more than double the original amount requested just three months ago. The latest request is in addition to the $26 billion the two Detroit carmakers are seeking from the U.S. government as revealed in their recent viability plans. While no specific figure has been given for the Canadian aid request, GM and Chrysler said they expect amounts proportional to the loans they are seeking back in the States. Unfortunately for the Canadian government, it has little to no bargaining...

  • GM and Chrysler logos
    Chrysler still sees GM merger as best bet

    Desperate times call for desperate measures and at Chrysler it appears every option is on the table. The Auburn Hills carmaker has been tied with at least five major carmakers in the past six months, even coming close to a merger with Detroit rival General Motors. While such a move may seem a...

  • GM American flag
    GM viability plan calls for $16.6 billion in additional aid, 47,000 job cuts

    Chrysler’s request for an additional $2 billion in government funded loans in its latest viability proposal looks trivial compared to the $16.6 billion requested by General Motors today in front of the U.S. Treasury. Without this funding GM says it could run out of money as early as next...

  • Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche speaks at the press conference
    Chrysler cost Daimler $1.75 billion in 2008

    The divorce of Daimler from Chrysler in 2007 wasn't complete - the German company Daimler still holds 19.9% of Chrysler - and now that lingering relationship has come back with a vengeance. Despite a year that would be only moderately unsuccessful for Daimler, Chrysler's involvement more than...

  • Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli
    Chrysler's viability plan requires additional $2 billion in loans

    Building a foundation for the reconstruction of the industry, General Motors and Chrysler are required to submit new plans for viability today as part of the loan agreement established late last year. GM has yet to unveil their reworked plan, but Chrysler has just released the key details of its...

  • The White House
    White House: GM, Chrysler to get another $7 billion today

    Detroit's carmakers are due to submit their latest viability plans to the government later today, but already a White House source has leaked that General Motors and Chrysler will both be getting new loan funds. GM's $4 billion loan and Chrysler's $3 billion will bring the total amount handed out...

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