Industry

Danish audio-video masters Bang & Olufsen have announced today their partnership with Mercedes' AMG performance division. They join Audi and Aston Martin as the company's primary automotive partners. The primary focus of the agreement will be for in-car entertainment systems, both audio and...

Not widely recognized as a performance parts leader, but rapidly becoming one, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) has revealed a supercharger system for its Tundra and Sequoia pickup and SUV. Featuring the same basic Eaton four-lobe system found in the Cadillac CTS-V and Corvette ZR-1, the new...

Lexus has once again taken top honors in the annual J.D. Power and Associates vehicle dependability study, a position it’s held for the past 14 years. Last year, however, saw Buick sharing the top spot but in the latest study the GM division has slipped to sixth place. The annual study looks...

The CEO of Pininfarina, Andrea Pininfarina, was killed early this morning after the motorbike he was riding on collided with a car near the company’s Cambiano design center in Turin, Italy. While details are still scarce, preliminary local police reports claim the car crashed into...

Updated: Ford has confirmed that it’s met its cost-cutting goal of reducing its North American white-collar employee costs by 15% but has warned that it’s prepared to make further cuts should the need arise. Several thousand of Ford's 23,800 salary workers in North America were expected...

Though the report is still unofficial, Saab is believed to have posted a $365 million loss for 2007. The company is framing the result as an improvement on its figures for 2006, especially since the loss from operations in 2007 was smaller than the preceding year in spite of sales being down 7,800...

Earlier this week reports emerged citing an announcement made by Toyota that it was cutting up to 800 jobs at one of its plants in Japan. The decision was made in response to declining sales of SUV models in North America, in particular the Lexus RX mid-size SUV, which the plant is responsible for...

Defunct American luxury automobile manufacturer Packard may be the next legendary auto brand to be revitalized, with latest reports indicating the rights to the company as well as a V12 prototype is now up for sale. Former Arizona residents Roy and Barbara Gullickson are looking for a buyer for the...

Two of the world's largest suppliers of carbon fiber are planning to raise costs of the already expensive material, largely due to higher costs of crude oil - a key component in carbon fiber's manufacture. Toray Industries and Mitsubishi Rayon Co. have announced that carbon fiber prices will rise...

Mercedes Benz filed a law suit against battery supplier Cobasys last week for failure to deliver batteries as required under their contract. The holdup in supply could push back production of the company's hybrid ML450 SUV (concept pictured), even though it is not due to hit the streets until late...

The debate between embattled auto manufacturers and environmental groups continues today, with environmental groups urging the government to speed up federally mandated fuel economy requirements. The proposal calls for the federal goal of a '35mpg standard by 2020' to be moved up to 2015, and...

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has expressed his desire to see America set a goal of having at least one million plug-in electric hybrid vehicles on its roads by 2015 - an arduous goal to achieve in just seven years considering major carmakers are still years away from offering such vehicles for...

Ford is still reeling from its $8.7 billion second quarter loss announced late last month, but already analysts are predicting more drastic things to come. Some analysts fear Ford may be forced to sell its stake in Mazda to help raise capital to fund its future projects, just as it has done with...

The man at the head of Mazda's design studios in Irvine, CA, Franz von Holzhausen, has left the company to lead Tesla's design unit. His first two challenges will include the 'Model S' sedan and an affordable sport compact EV, but after more than three years as the lead designer for Mazda's highly...

The rest of the SUV market is screeching to a halt, but Indian manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra wants to bring a whole new line of the vehicles to America. The company is developing a network of around 300 dealerships across the U.S. to sell the vehicles, with a $125,000 fee being asked from...

Ford and General Motors are reportedly in talks about co-developing new powertrain technologies as the two Detroit giants struggle to reduce costs in the wake of massive losses this year. According to sources at both companies, GM first approached Ford over a month ago and since that time there...

As the U.S. market makes a shift from leasing to retail purchasing, Chrysler has announced that in August it will repackage its incentives to make vehicle purchases more affordable. The new strategy includes 72-month finance deals on an expanded range of compact, mid-size and full-size vehicles...

Chrysler has bucked the trend of its fellow Detroit 3 carmakers by announcing an operating income of $1.1 billion for the first half of 2008. This is the first time that Chrysler has revealed its financials since being bought by Cerberus Capital Management, and comes as speculation rises that the...

Less than two months after General Motors first announced that its Hummer brand was up for review, reports have emerged claiming the U.S. carmaker is in talks with firms based in India, China and Russia. India’s Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), which has previously expressed interest in developing...

Update: Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli has put to rest fears the carmaker’s new midsize global platform - internally known as ‘Project D’ – is taking up too many resources and could be delayed by announcing that several unexpected vehicles and platforms could be unveiled by as...