Federal prosecutors in southwestern Illinois say they’re planning to take legal action against a telemarketer who sold extended auto-service contracts. The U.S. attorney’s office in southern Illinois says it’ll detail the move during a court hearing Monday afternoon in East St. Louis. Get the full story »
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GM to seek easing of executive pay restrictions
General Motors CEO Dan Akerson speaks at the Economic Club of Washington, Dec. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
General Motors will seek some relaxation of executive pay restrictions imposed by the U.S. government as a condition of providing $50 billion in bailout and bankruptcy financing.
The automaker’s chief executive, Dan Akerson, told the Washington Economic Club that he would meet with the Obama administration’s acting special paymaster, Pat Geoghegan, later on Friday to discuss the matter.
“We have to be competitive and attract and retain great people. We’ve been able to do that. But we’re starting to lose them,” Akerson said. Get the full story »
Judge tentatively refuses to dismiss Toyota suits
Dozens of personal injury lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. will be allowed to move forward if a federal judge’s tentative ruling becomes final. Get the full story »
Driver Bobby Rahal buys Lincoln Park mansion
ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | Retired professional race car driver Bobby Rahal, who won the 1986 Indianapolis 500, moved from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio, in 1981, but the Glen Ellyn native never forgot his roots.
A part-time Chicago resident from 2005 until 2008, Rahal, 57, now is set to make Chicago his exclusive home. He recently paid $3.295 million for a 12-room, 6,600-square-foot Lincoln Park mansion and also has listed his longtime six-bedroom, 13,192-square-foot mansion on 8 acres in New Albany, Ohio, for $4.75 million. Get the full story »
Chrysler introduces new 200, Avenger sedans
Chrysler is kicking off production of the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger sedans, two revamped cars that are critical to the automaker’s future. Get the full story »
Honda to end Element production in April
The Honda Element. (MCT)
Honda Motor said Friday that it would cease production in April of its Element crossover, a slow-selling boxy vehicle that never quite caught on with the target audience of younger buyers.
Honda has only sold about 325,000 Elements in the United States since it entered production in December 2002 and the vehicle will end with the 2011 model year, Honda said.
“This vehicle was positioned as a ‘dorm room on wheels,’ but it never quite got the hip reputation’,” Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell said. Get the full story »
RV industry rebounding, led by smaller trailers
An RV makes its way over the Golden Gate Bridge the day before Thanksgiving. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
American families are ready to hitch up their trailers and tow the RV industry out of its worst stretch in nearly two decades.
The industry was driven into the ditch last year by the recession. Sales plunged, plants closed and thousands of jobs were cut as orders for recreational vehicles dropped to their worse level since 1991.
Now, RV makers such as Winnebago are starting to turn profits and have begun to hire. And dealers are ordering more RVs for their showrooms. Get the full story »
Treasury gets another $1.8 billion from GM stock
The Treasury Department has received an additional $1.8 billion in net proceeds from the sale of additional stock in General Motors. Get the full story »
Nissan sees electric car envy in criticism of the Leaf
(Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)
From The International Herald Tribune | Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn says criticism of the company’s Leaf car is due to electric car envy. “They don’t have one, so it’s not a surprise,” Mr. Ghosn said in an interview this week at Nissan headquarters. “People who are challenged by innovation are going to fight it in the beginning,” he said. “Get ready to see a lot of converts.”
GM injects $4 billion cash into pension funds
General Motors said on Thursday that it made a $4 billion cash contribution to pension plans for its U.S.-based hourly and salaried workers. Get the full story »
Agency trying to bring plug-in electric cars to Ill.
The first mass-market electric cars go on sale this month. And Illinois authorities want the state to be in the driver’s seat in using plug-in cars.
The state’s Commerce Commission formed a committee called the “Initiative on Plug-in Electric Vehicles” earlier this year. It has asked utility companies to respond by Dec. 15 on how plug-in cars would affect Illinois’ electric grid. After that, a public meeting is planned in January. Get the full story »
U.S. auto market picks up speed in November
Though still far from robust, the U.S. auto market continued its slow recovery in November as consumers headed for showrooms, enticed by heavy month-end advertising.
General Motors Co. the first of the major automakers to report Wednesday, said that November sales rose 21% from a year earlier, to 168,704 vehicles, after factoring out the Pontiac, Hummer, Saturn and Saab brands it closed or sold as part of its bankruptcy reorganization last year.
Through the first 10 months of this year — prior to the reports of November sales — the industry has been averaging about an 11% gain. Get the full story »
GM hiring to push electric effort beyond Volt
The Chevy Volt. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
General Motors said on Tuesday it would hire 1,000 engineers and researchers in Michigan over the next two years to develop more electric cars and hybrids as it launched its battery-powered Chevrolet Volt.
“Volt clearly demonstrates that we are well on our way and it is especially true when it comes to the electrification of the automobile,” GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson said at a ceremony marking the start of production of the plug-in hybrid.
The Volt, which tops the Toyota Prius for fuel economy, is a first-of-its-kind vehicle that GM has touted as a symbol of its commitment to pushing for gains in fuel efficiency and developing new technology. Get the full story »
Toyota to fix 378,000 Prius hybrids for heat risk
Toyota will pay to fix about 378,000 Prius models in the United States for a coolant pump glitch that could cause the top-selling hybrid to overheat and lose power, the automaker said on Monday.
The repair campaign for Prius models built from 2004 to 2007 was detailed in a notice for Toyota’s U.S. dealers.
The Japanese automaker said it had not received any reports of accidents or injuries related to the defective water pump on the Prius. Get the full story »
Overallotment makes GM IPO world’s biggest
General Motors Co’s underwriters exercised their full overallotment option, making the initial public offering of the U.S. automaker the biggest in the world, at $23.1 billion. Get the full story »
