Industry

Slumping sales at Jaguar and Land Rover have prompted the companies to cut their workforce by 300 jobs, eliminating two shifts at the Solihull production facility. Further cutbacks are expected next month as well, costing three shifts at the Halewood factory where the Jaguar X-Type is built. The...

Pontiac has suffered in the past becuase of its ties with General Motors' other subsidiaries, giving the brand a mixed image. On one hand, it offers sporty, RWD vehicles such as the Pontiac G8 and the 2009 Solstice Coupe (pictured), and on the other hand it often borrows vehicles from its sister...

General Motors' Saturn brand currently boasts one of the youngest overall lineups in the industry - its oldest model is the Saturn Sky (pictured), which debuted in 2006 as a 2007 model. Tough economic times at GM may mean that the current crop of mostly new models will have to stay largely...

Volkswagen today announced it will be increasing output at its Puebla, Mexico plant from 450,000 vehicles annually to 550,000 in order to accommodate production of a new compact sedan. The company has confirmed that it will be a new world car, intended for all of VW's markets except for China. That...

The European Union's Environment Commissioner, Stavros Dimas, has said that a staggered introduction of stringent new CO2 emissions requirements will not be taking place. Despite numerous protests from the auto industry, most notably from Aston Martin and Porsche, Dimas recommended that a...

Protests that have grown increasingly violent at Tata Motors' planned Singur, West Bengal Nano production site could force the carmaker to leave the area and find another location for its upcoming people's car. With $350 million already invested into the operation, however, it won't be a cheap...

The difficulty facing the U.S. automotive industry with the recently-revised 31.6mpg by 2015 CAFE requirement is well-known, but no less pressing. The carmakers claim the costs to comply will be measured in the billions of dollars when they can least afford it, and now a draft NHTSA report on the...

The all-new Cruze compact car from General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] was just revealed in some detail this morning, but already GM has announced its plans to put a half-billion dollar fund behind the car's production and promotion in the U.S. Of that $500 million, $350 million will be headed...

Marking the first-ever entry of a carmaker into the field of iPhone applications, Audi has released a new driving game for the platform. Making use of the phone's built-in motion sensors, gamers can steer a tiny version of the 2009 A4 through a range of courses. Rated at just 2.5 stars out of five...

The automotive industry's current period of upheaval is perceived from within by many industry heads as merely the prologue to a bright future. Rick Wagoner is certainly a member of that camp, and this hour-long interview by Charlie Rose draws out that optimism, and the reasons Wagoner feels it's...

Kicking off the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) - one of the most important car shows of the year - with its own 'Style event', populated with celebrities, haute couture and hot cars, has only been part of General Motors' pre-show routine for two years but it is already coming to an...

The downturn in the U.S. economy and automotive industry is taking its toll not just on the carmakers, but on their suppliers as well - or at least that appears to be the case, with news that Chrysler has sued Johnson Controls, a Fortune 80 company, for over $15 million in damages. Chrysler claims...

A survey conducted by the University of Michigan to determine customer satisfaction levels among the major automotive brands has revealed that the Detroit 3 have slipped slightly after last year’s record result, while Japanese manufacturers Toyota, Lexus and Honda all remained in the top...

Nissan's force-feedback ECO Pedal accelerator pedal, touted as a 'green' driving aid that pushes back against the driver's foot when accelerating too briskly, is actually a derivative of a new pedal system developed by Continental. Called the Accelerator Force Feedback Pedal, or AFFP, by its...

Finding inexpensive ways to reduce fuel use is a burgeoning business, and U.S. carmakers have joined forces to promote a program that aims to re-train the way drivers approach their cars. By focusing on maintenance and driving style, the EcoDriving website, launched by the Alliance of Automobile...

General Motors' Hummer brand has seen sales fall to barely one-third of last year's figures, and the company has reportedly been shopping the nameplate around for some time. Today word of failed talks with China's Changfeng and a statement of disinterest by India's Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) have...

Even as Ford, Chrysler and GM all reported significant losses through the first half of 2008, Toyota managed to increase market share to 16.8% and post a $3.8 billion profit for the second quarter. But that's not enough to keep the company from predicting it will see total sales volume decline...

Tight finances in Detroit and the rest of the automotive world are nothing new, as consumer demand weakens on high fuel costs, a weak U.S. economy and a low dollar, but the car companies, including Ford, aren't ready to give up yet. The Blue Oval is planning to sell new shares to help raise funds...

Malaysian carmaker Proton has been linked with a number of international carmakers including the likes of General Motors, Volkswagen, and PSA Peugeot-Citroen for the past several years over the possibility of a tie-up. However, in June of last year, the carmaker with the best chance of securing a...

Update: Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain has reiterated his tough stance against supporting a bailout for the Detroit 3 by refusing to lend his backing to proposals that entail federal government guarantees for loans taken out by America’s carmakers. While the...