Industry

Ford has put out its hand to several investment banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs in an attempt to finance an $18 billion restructuring package. Ford’s says the money will be used to address cash flow, to fund its restructuring, and to provide a safety net against...

Volkswagen Group’s new chief Martin Winterkorn has hinted that the company’s plant in Brussels could be used to build a new subcompact for Audi dubbed the A1. Germany’s Der Spiegel reports that Winterkorn is planning to meet Belgian Prime minister Guy Verhofstadt later this week...

Tracinda Corp led by Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has cut its stake in General Motors from 9.9% to 7.4%, a month after Kerkorian's ally Jerry York resigned from GM’s board. Tracinda sold $462 million worth of the carmaker’s stock, which equates to roughly 14 million shares...

Three out of every four Chinese built cars have developed at least one defect within the first six months of use, according to a survey conducted by the Chinese Association for Quality. Worse still, for every 100 vehicles sold in the first nine months of the year, there were 338 defects found, up...

Automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin’s latest venture to bring budget cars from China’s Chery brand to the US has come to an end. His company, Visionary Vehicles, was planning to import up to 250,000 Chery-produced cars to North America, with a long-term plan of even greater...

The US EPA hopes to put an end to the discrepancies in fuel mileage rates that current calculation methods are plagued with. The changes will be rolled out from the beginning of 2008 and are expected to reduce the estimates from 5% to 25%, but will still carry a warning that actual results may...

Lotus’ engineering division will be involved in the development of a new range of cars from China’s Jinhua Young-man Auto Company (Youngman). The UK firm will provide Youngman with consultants to help with design work for several new models that will be launched under a new brand over...

Now that any chance of an alliance with Renault-Nissan is truly over for both General Motors and Ford, the two US carmakers may just form a partnership of their own. When asked by Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung if GM would choose to go it alone or merge with Ford, the General’s Vice-Chairman...

As the executive reshuffle at Volkswagen continues, the company’s largest shareholder Porsche is reported to be backing off on further plans to increase its holding in VW. German magazine Focus reports that Ferdinand Piech, whose family owns Porsche and who’s also the supervisory board...

The proposed merger between General Motors and Renault-Nissan is now truly dead, and the teasing of a possibly link with Ford has gone no where. It comes as little wonder then that Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has admitted to having lost interest in forming an alliance with one of North...

After trade talks on Tuesday, the European Union and South Africa are said to be close to finalizing a deal that would cut tariffs on cars exported to each other's markets. Reuters is reporting that if all goes well, the first changes are set to occur by the end of the year. South Africa will cut...

The crucial meeting between President Bush and the CEO’s of the Big Three concluded today, with talk centering on health care, energy and trade. Bush acknowledged that the companies involved were doing it tough and that their managers will have to, and are making some very difficult...

Another senior staffer from Volkswagen may be jumping ship in the near future, with reports suggesting that the company's brand chief, Wolfgang Bernhard, is seriously considering stepping out because of the appointment of Martin Winterkorn as the new CEO. Local sources have alleged that Bernhard...

Ford CEO Alan Mulally has admitted that the company remains uncompetitive against its rivals, commenting that "we're not competitive and it's been getting worse year after year.” Speaking with the Detroit Free Press, Mulally remains positive and is enthusiastic about the opportunities to...

Martin Winterkorn, the soon-to-be chief of Volkswagen group, is planning a major restructuring of the company that's expected to take place early next year. Germany's Der Spiegel is reporting that the biggest changes will effect the entire group's top management, which includes senior staff from...

Nissan is considering the purchase of assets from US carmakers to help it expand its current manufacturing capabilities in North America. Nissan executive Daniel Gaudette has detailed that the outcome will depend on “what's available, when it's available and then what our needs are." Reuters...

Leading from the previous story where 6 of the top 10 worst cars on sale were from Detroit, the influential Consumer Reports magazine has found that the domestics are lagging the Japanese in numerous comparison tests, as reported by The Detroit News. The domestics fail mainly on the reliability...

After the shock resignation on Tuesday of Volkswagen’s CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder, partial owner Porsche is now in the prime position to increase its stake in the company to around 30%. The move would cement the sports car maker’s control over Europe's largest car manufacturer...

According to one of its founders, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Proton will collapse unless it finds an international partner. Proton has lost significant market share to main rival Toyota, and was previously holding talks with Volkswagen. However, negotiations were said to have...

Volkswagen’s board of management has released a statement that current CEO Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder (inset) will step down at the end of the year to be replaced by Audi's chief executive, Martin Winterkorn (pictured above). The move is sudden because it comes only six months after the...