Chrysler Group LLC has taken the first step to re-enter the U.S. capital markets through filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the automaker’s boss Sergio Marchionne said Tuesday. Get the full story »
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Consumer Reports: GM Volt falls short on range
A Chevrolet Volt sits plugged into a newly installed electric charging station outside General Motors' world headquarters in Detroit, Oct. 12, 2010. (Reuters/Rebecca Cook)
General Motors’ mostly electric Chevy Volt turned in a lackluster performance for efficiency in its first series of road tests by product raters at Consumer Reports.
“We would have really liked to have loved it,” David Champion, director of Consumer Reports auto test center told Reuters on Monday after announcing the organization’s top picks for 2011.
“It was fun to drive and the ride quality was pretty good. But when you look at the finances, for us it doesn’t make any sense,” Champion said. Get the full story »
Honda tops Consumer Reports scorecard
The Honda Fit. (Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images)
Honda Motor Co. and several other Asian automakers scored high marks in a series of new studies and rankings of new cars by Consumer Reports magazine.
Ford Motor Co. was the only one of the Detroit Three to make it into the Top 10 in the publication’s automaker score card for 2011, released Monday. General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC placed 12th and 13th out of 13 carmakers ranked in the April issue of the magazine. Get the full story »
Chrysler CEO receives no salary for 2010
Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Chrysler Group LLC, did not receive a cash salary from Chrysler in 2010, the automaker managed by Fiat SpA revealed on Friday in a detailed filing with U.S. regulators.
Marchionne, who is also CEO of Italy’s Fiat, did receive a $600,000 stock grant for his services as a director on the company’s board from June 2009 until June 2010. Get the full story »
$10M deal OK’d in Toyota crash that killed trooper
From Bloomberg News | Toyota has won approval for a $10 million settlement in a suit over a sudden acceleration crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three others.
Ford to offer Mercury owners loyalty incentives
The Mercury logo on a sign outside of a San Francisco Ford Lincoln Mercury in June 2010. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Ford Motor Co. is offering Mercury owners $500 toward the purchase of a new Ford vehicle and as much as $1,500 to buy a Lincoln as the auto maker looks to retain customers after dissolving the brand last year.
The customer loyalty incentive, which started earlier this week, runs through April 4, according to three dealers briefed on the rebate. The offer is confined to the Midwest states which had been the heart of the Mercury market.
This is one of the first steps Ford has taken to reach out to Mercury customers after the auto maker stopped producing Mercury vehicles at the end of last year. The move also comes as stand-alone Lincoln dealers, those without a Ford franchise, adjust to life minus their Mercury showrooms which helped pull in shoppers. Get the full story »
U.S., Chicago gas prices spike 6 cents overnight
A customer purchases gasoline at a Chicago Shell station on Feb. 7, 2011. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
U.S. gas prices jumped 6 cents overnight, as the recent spike in oil prices begins to hit filling stations across America. That marks the third day in a row that prices have risen, and brings the national average to the highest level since October 2008.
The national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose 5.9 cents to $3.287, motorist group AAA said Friday. Gasoline also jumped 6 cents overnight in Chicago, where prices averaged $3.497. Get the full story »
Toyota to recall 2.2M vehicles in U.S.
Toyota Motor recalled nearly 2.2 million vehicles, citing a defect that could cause gas pedals to stick, in an extension of the safety crisis that has hounded the world’s top automaker for more than a year.
The surprise action on Thursday extended a damaging string of recalls covering 19 million Toyota vehicles worldwide since 2009, mainly over complaints of unintended acceleration linked to defective floormats and gas pedals. Get the full story »
GM posts first full-year profit since 2004
General Motors Co. posted fourth-quarter earnings slightly above expectations and its first full-year profit since 2004. Profit for all of 2010 was $4.7 billion, achieved after the company slashed costs and debt in a 2009 bankruptcy financed by the Obama administration. Get the full story »
Ford recalling 150K F-150s for air bag fix
Under government pressure, Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will recall nearly 150,000 F-150 pickup trucks to fix air bags that could deploy without warning. The recall covers trucks from the 2005-2006 model years in the United States and Canada for what the auto company calls a “relatively low risk” of the air bag deploying inadvertently. Get the full story »
Chicago Auto Show attendance rises 10%
The 2011 Chicago Auto Show reported a 10 percent increase in attendance over last year. The 10-day show closed Sunday. The Chicago Automobile Trade Association, which represents the area’s new-car dealer franchises and produces the auto show, did not provide exact figures.
“Our manufacturers and dealers had hoped to see a bump in interest this year, and they weren’t disappointed,” Dave Sloan, the auto show’s general manager said in a statement. He added that the “heightened interest in a recovering auto industry, coupled with a warmer-than-normal February and strong buzz in the community helped achieve the show’s gains.” Get the full story »
Gas prices up 55 cents from a year ago
U.s. gasoline prices have jumped another nickel per gallon — pushing prices to 55 cents more than a year ago — according to a study published Sunday.
The average price for a gallon of regular is $3.18, the Lundberg Survey found. That’s up 5 cents from two weeks ago, publisher Trilby Lundberg said. In Chicago, the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.284, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge report. Get the full story »
Quinn to carmakers: State’s ready for electric cars
Standing in front of a fast-charging station at the Chicago Auto Show, Gov. Pat Quinn called on automakers to bring electric vehicles to the state in light of charging infrastructure planned for the Chicago area.
“We’re going to have electric vehicles galore in the state of Illinois,” he said. “We want to be the nation’s capital for electric vehicles.”
In announcing that Chicago has signed a contract to have 280 charging stations installed in the area, Quinn said the infrastructure will go a long way toward making the state’s environmental goals a reality. Get the full story »
Volt misses Top 10 in ranking of ‘green’ cars
The Chevrolet Volt didn’t rank as one of the 10 “greenest” cars in America, coming at no. 13, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s annual list.
The fully electric Nissan Leaf ranked second among all 2011 model year cars on the list. First place went to the compressed natural gas powered Honda Civic GX. Get the full story »
Honda recalls nearly 700,000 cars, including Fit
Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it will recall 693,497 vehicles worldwide due to faulty engine parts.
The Japanese car maker said the recall affects some models of the Fit compact, also known as the Jazz in some markets, the City small car and Freed compact minivan models sold in North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Get the full story »
