THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
Chrysler LLC CEO Bob Nardelli told a U.S. Senate committee today he would support a merger with General Motors if it became a condition for government support of the Detroit 3 automakers. GM CEO Rick Wagoner said GM would seriously consider such a condition but that he would prefer such an arrangement be negotiated with the UAW. A GM-Chrysler merger would save $8 billion to $10 billion a year in a combined company, Nardelli said. » Read Article
[REG] 4:04 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
U.S. senators raised the possibility today of getting bailout loans to the Detroit 3 by having the federal government guarantee loans that would be made by private banks and financial institutions. Sens. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, and Tom Carper, D-Del., injected the new scenario during hearings this morning in the Senate exploring the need for an automaker bailout. » Read Article
[REG] 1:01 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4 | UPDATED: 12/4/08 3:47 p.m. EST
| THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
A Tennessee senator today drove a wedge between Chrysler LLC and its Detroit rivals General Motors and Ford Motor Co. when he charged that Chrysler is only asking for money to tide it over until it is bought by a partner. “It troubles me to know we're providing enough capital to help you stay around long enough to get married,” U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in a hearing today. Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli, who was at the hearing, quickly challenged Corker's comments. » Read Article
[REG] 3:12 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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| THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
A bankruptcy of even one of the Detroit 3 would cause an already distressed supply base “to implode,” Johnson Controls Inc. President Keith Wandell told Congress today. Testifying in a Senate Banking Committee hearing on a $34 billion automaker bailout request, Wandell said a Detroit 3 failure would cause a cascade of failures among suppliers, particularly smaller female- and ethnic minority-owned companies. » Read Article
[REG] 1:34 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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| THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
The collapse of auto industry sales has cost Chrysler LLC about $16 billion in lost revenues, CEO Bob Nardelli said in U.S. Senate testimony today. In submitting a request for a $7 billion loan to a U.S. Senate committee, Nardelli said the financial crisis devastated Chrysler's sales and derailed its previously successful recovery plan. He specifically cited the drop in sales from nearly 17 million units in 2007 to an annual rate of about 10.5 million vehicles in November. » Read Article
[REG] 10:15 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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Mercedes-Benz's Alabama factory will shut down an additional two days this month and another two weeks next month to align production with falling sales. In meetings with employees last night and today, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International said it will offer “limited, nonproduction work” for employees who sign up to work the idle days. The factory in Vance, Ala., employs almost 4,000 and is the exclusive producer of Mercedes' lineup of SUVs and crossovers for the worldwide market. » Read Article
[REG] 11:50 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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| THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
George Nahas owned only an Oldsmobile dealership when General Motors announced in 2000 that it would kill the brand. So he moved on -- to Saturn. Nahas, who now owns two Saturn stores in Alabama and Florida, again faces the possibility that the struggling automaker will take away his livelihood. » Read Article
[REG] 12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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Barely five months after scrapping two shifts of F-150 production, Ford Motor Co. is reversing course and is planning overtime assembly of the pickup. Ford will restore a shift of F-150 production at its suburban Kansas City, Mo., assembly plant in January, spokeswoman Angie Kozleski told Automotive News. Overtime production of the pickup in Kansas City was scheduled to begin this week, UAW Local 259 reported on its Web site. » Read Article
[REG] 10:24 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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Minneapolis auto dealer Denny Hecker was hospitalized last night after an auto accident in Plymouth, Minn. Hecker, 56, is in fair condition at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbindale, Minn., after the vehicle he was driving went off a dark Minneapolis-area road and struck a utility pole about 8:15 p.m., the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported today. Hecker was alone at the time. » Read Article
[REG] 3:34 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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It's official: The Ford Taurus X crossover and Mercury Sable sedan will die early next year. Ford Motor Co. has notified dealers to prepare their final orders for the two vehicles before production ends in the spring. Ford spokesman Mark Schirmer told Automotive News today that Ford will assemble the final Taurus X in March. The final Sable will roll off the assembly line at the end of April. » Read Article
[REG] 4:40 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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Disappointment and heartache in the truck business have failed to dampen Nissan North America Inc.'s enthusiasm for big trucks. Nissan today unveiled in suburban Detroit the largest U.S. concept vehicle it has ever shown: a workhorse truck that it hopes will carry it even deeper into the depressed American light-truck market. » Read Article
[REG] 9:31 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4 | UPDATED: 12/4/08 4:47 p.m. EST
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THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger declined today to say the UAW would accept additional concessions on retiree health care.Responding to questions from Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Gettelfinger said the union would have to study whether it could cut the Detroit 3's future commitment to the Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Associations. » Read Article
[REG] 3:19 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4 | UPDATED: 12/4/08 3:47 p.m. EST
THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the debt ratings of Chrysler LLC and its finance company Chrysler Financial Services Americas LLC. The bad news comes as Chrysler LLC fights for survival in Washington in the form of a $7 billion chunk of a $34 billion package of loans and credit lines sought by the Detroit 3. The move means the New York ratings agency believes current economic conditions mean there's an increased likelihood of default by the two companies. » Read Article
[REG] 10:36 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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Ford Motor is seeking to sell Volvo for as much as $6 billion, and is using JPMorgan Chase & Co as an adviser, Bloomberg reported on its website on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the plan. The report said Ford is counting on the strength of the brand to draw bidders. » Read Article
[REG] 4:00 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will make a visible attempt to impress lawmakers with GM's technology tomorrow morning. He will drive from his hotel to the Russell Senate Office Building in one of GM's prototype electric-hybrid vehicles. The prototype vehicle, or “mule,” has the Volt's powertrain inside the body of what will be the Chevrolet Cruze, said a GM spokesman. » Read Article
[REG] 12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
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Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. sustained a net loss of $10.4 million in its third quarter, an improvement from its $62.7 million net loss during the same quarter of 2007, the wheel maker said today. The quarter's sales and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization both decreased 10 percent from the year-earlier quarter. Sales fell to $497.0 million from $554.9 million in 2007. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to $50. » Read Article
[REG] 12:42 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT
General Motors and Chrysler are considering accepting a pre-arranged bankruptcy as the last-resort price of getting a multi billion dollar government bailout, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with internal discussions. In response to automakers' bailout plea, staff for three members of Congress have asked restructuring experts if a pre-arranged bankruptcy could be used to reorganize the sector without liquidation. » Read Article
[REG] 3:00 am U.S. ET | Dec. 4
TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. withdrew full-year earnings and sales forecasts on Thursday due to the upheaval in global automotive markets that has forced vehicle producers to cut production. » Read Article
[REG] 5:00 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
Toyota Canada Inc. cut the ribbon on a new C$1.1 billion ($859 million) assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario on Thursday, bringing about 1,200 new jobs to a sector that has been losing jobs rapidly. » Read Article
[REG] 4:15 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
Ford has created a position overseeing worldwide development of performance vehicles. Jost Capito, who most recently spearheaded development of the Focus RS, will fill the post. Capito, 50, will lead the North American SVT and European TeamRS in developing consistent performance car features. He also will head Ford's motorsports operations. Capito, a Ford employee since 2001, previously directed motorsports and performance vehicle operations in Europe. » Read Article
[REG] 2:32 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 4
The Detroit 3 CEOs won a warmer reception in Congress today than they did two weeks ago as Senate leaders said they were searching for ways to provide emergency loans. " I don't think we want to walk away without trying to get something done," Christ... 
