Industry

Earlier this year, Ford offloaded Aston Martin from its Premier Auto Group, and, more recently, it confirmed the sale of the Jaguar and Land Rover labels. Now, attention turns to its remaining premium brand, Volvo. Previous reports suggested Volvo would be sold following the sale of Jaguar and Land...

This year has seen Toyota become one of the "big three" in total sales in the U.S., claiming the number two spot ahead of Ford and Chrysler. Volkswagen has, in turn, set its sights on the leading Japanese automaker, seeking to challenge Toyota on a global scale. VW will certainly have to fight for...

Born on shaky ground in the U.S. in 1989, Toyota's Lexus marque has since grown to become the nation's best-selling luxury brand. Now Toyota is hoping similar success can be found around the world. Russia and China are welcoming the brand with open arms. Japan, Toyota's home market, has been slower...

The entry level A-Class and the slightly more expensive B-Class models have been successful for Mercedes in terms of sales but their slim profit margins have led Daimler execs to consider moving production of the next-gen versions to developing countries. Mercedes COO Rainer Schmückle revealed the...

BMW makes some of the best engines in the business so it comes as little surprise the CEO of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, is open to jointly developing new engines with the Munich-based rival. In a recent interview, Zetsche revealed that he would be open to a partnership if it made financial sense...

The month of August has seen healthy sales for Germany’s three major luxury marques, with BMW managing to take top spot as the world's largest premium carmaker for the month. BMW’s sales grew 11.1% to 85,003 units but when combined with sales of its Mini brand, this figure jumps to...

Volkswagen’s decision to move its U.S. operations from Detroit to Washington is only the first step in a possible major overhaul of the German giant’s endeavor to crack the lucrative North American market and fulfill its desire to become a true rival to Toyota. One avenue currently...

It appears Chinese companies are just as happy to clone tire designs as they are cars, with Continental the latest manufacturer to suffer lost sales due to fake Chinese imports. However, unlike BMW and Mercedes-Smart, which have yet to take serious action against China’s Shuanghuan Auto and...

Chrysler has announced today that Toyota's North America President Jim Press will be heading to Auburn Hills to become the carmaker’s new co-president and vice chairman. We don’t normally report on executive shuffles within the auto industry but Chrysler snagging Jim Press is a major...

The European Commission has vowed to redouble its efforts to stub-out formula one's persistent last links to tobacco. The EC's health commissioner Markos Kyprianou will specifically target Ferrari, the last team on the grid still accepting sponsorship from a cigarette brand (Marlboro), and the...

Following their letter of intent to discuss “comprehensive cooperation,” two of China's biggest automakers, SAIC and Nanjing Auto, have announced the start of a merger agreement expected to be finalized by October 1. SAIC will gain 100% of Nanjing Auto in exchange for a share of SAIC...

Mercedes-Benz introduced its first generation A-class to the world in 1997. Initially derided by enthusiasts for its inferior quality and a surprising ability to rollover in certain conditions (such as the infamous 'Moose Test'), the car still went on to sell over 1.5 million units worldwide. The...

Nissan plans to launch several new models in South Korea for the first time, only the second Japanese carmaker attempting to penetrate the Korean market after Honda established itself there in 2004. Nissan’s high-end Infiniti models already sell in South Korea, but this time the carmaker...

At a time when Rolls-Royce and Bentley are both making record sales, Stuttgart's luxury-limo brand Maybach seems to be sharing in none of the glory. According to executives at Mercedes-Benz it doesn't cost much to keep Maybach on the market, but its a very different story when you head down the...

Volkswagen Group has given itself ten years to catch up with Toyota in terms of productivity and profit as part of CEO Martin Winterkorn’s pledge to close the gap in performance between the two carmakers. The timeframe is backed by Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, who sees Toyota’s...

The Chinese built Smart Fortwo replica, Shuanghuan’s Noble minicar, will go on sale in Europe despite threats of legal action from Mercedes-Benz. Officials from Mercedes have threatened the European importer of the Chinese vehicles, Martin Motors, who says the cars will still go on sale as...

The Chinese carmaker accused by BMW and Mercedes-Smart of copying their designs has rejected the claims, citing that it had approval from the Chinese government to build the cars as its defense. Shuanghuan manufactures the Noble minicar, an almost identical replica of the Smart Fortwo, as well as...

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has revealed that he has no interest in acquiring the Volvo unit from Ford, despite having wishes to form an alliance with an additional carmaker. Though he commented that he’d never completely rule out the possibility, he said that at this time he'd rather...

While the Mini may be a sales success in nearly every way measurable, it’s causing major problems for BMW. The problem is that it’s still too expensive to produce, even though the MkII model was supposed to decrease costs. According to a report from the German Manager magazine, BMW...

Two major creditors for Dutch automaker Spyker have requested that the company and its Formula One racing team be declared bankrupt, and are currently seeking legal action to retrieve money they claim they are owed. The creditors include a Zürich insurance company and a private individual, who...