AUTO

SAIC Motor, China's largest automaker, plans to roll out its first self-developed hybrid car this year, followed by a plug-in hybrid car in 2012, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Porsche rolled out a more fuel efficient, more spacious and lighter Cayenne SUV at the New York International Auto Show.

India's largest vehicle maker, Tata Motors, said one of its ultra-cheap Nano cars caught fire on Wednesday as it was driven to a dealer, the second such incident this year.

The German car maker debuted its 6th generation 5 Series Sedan at Wednesdays New York Auto Show, with models expected to be available for purchase in the summer.

The Mazda2 was unveiled in North America at this years New York Auto Show.

At the New York auto show, Hyundai unveiled its 2011 Sonata Hybrid with unique approaches in hybrid powertrain design, battery technology and vehicle appearance. The Sonata Hybrid is Hyundai's first hybrid in the U.S. market.

Germany's new car market shrank for a fourth consecutive month, posting a 26.5 percent year-on-year decline in March, still feeling the affects of the end last year to government incentives for new car buyers.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday it was recalling 12,984 vehicles sold in South Korea due to floor mat problems, the latest in a string of safety problems and product recalls at the Japanese carmaker.

AutoNation Inc, the largest U.S. auto dealership group, raised its first-quarter earnings forecast on Tuesday and left revenue and other outlooks intact, sending its shares up nearly 3 percent.

U.S. regulators on Monday proposed fining Toyota Motor Corp the maximum penalty of $16.4 million, saying the company failed to notify the government in a timely way about accelerator pedal flaws that were the subject of a massive recall in January.

French carmaker Renault, its Japanese alliance partner Nissan and Germany's Daimler are likely to announce partnership and cross-shareholding plans as early as Wednesday.

The first 200,000 electric cars made by each automaker will be given a zero emissions rating under new U.S. fuel efficiency rules, after which the smokestack emissions of power plants will be included.

Chrysler expects steady U.S. sales growth to start in June, the one-year anniversary of the automaker's emergence from bankruptcy, its U.S. sales chief said on Wednesday.

Mazda Motor Corp said it expects a single digit increase in March U.S. sales, lagging the projected growth in industry sales, after cutting back on sales to rental companies and incentives to consumers.

Japanese auto sales jumped by a quarter in March to cap a business year that relied heavily on government incentives, while South Korea's Hyundai Motor continued to rack up impressive sales growth, sending its shares to a record high.

Ford Motor Co's sale of its Volvo unit this year will leave the No. 2 U.S. automaker with no luxury brand outside North America.

Nissan Motor Co priced its battery-powered Leaf hatchback at more than twice the cost of a similarly sized gasoline car, counting on government subsidies to drive demand for the emissions-free vehicles.

Chrysler Group LLC is on track to break even on an operating basis in 2010 and holds more than $5 billion in cash at the current time, said Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne on Tuesday.

U.S. auto safety regulators said on Tuesday they will tap the expertise of the country's top space and aeronautics experts to analyze Toyota Motor Corp's electronic throttles to see if they are behind the reports of unintended acceleration that have hounded the automaker.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, China's largest private-run car maker, has agreed to buy Volvo cars from Ford for $1.8 billion.

The United Auto Workers healthcare trust on Tuesday plans to auction Ford Motor Co stock warrants for at least $1.27 billion, capitalizing on the automaker's share price rise to fund its retiree plan.

Toyota Motor and Mazda Motor announced a deal under which Japan's top automaker will supply its hybrid technology under license to Mazda, in the latest link-up within the fast-changing auto industry.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, China's largest private-run car maker, will sign an agreement on Sunday with Ford Motor to buy the U.S. carmaker's Volvo car unit, a Volvo spokesman said on Saturday.

General Motors Co is bringing back 600 laid-off workers at its Oshawa, Ontario, assembly plant, where it is adding a third shift to support a ramp-up in production at another local factory, the company said on Friday.

The controversy surrounding safety issues at Toyota Motor Corp has not changed the way it is market testing the new plug-in version of its Prius Hybrid, the director of Toyota Canada said on Thursday.

The Renault-Nissan group and Daimler AG are considering taking symbolic stakes in each other and working on bigger joint projects, sources said, in the face of intense pressure to cut costs and develop cleaner cars.

Geely founder Li Shufu, China's Henry Ford, looks set to rewrite the automotive history books this weekend with the purchase of Ford's Volvo car unit, which would be China's largest offshore auto deal.

U.S. carmaker Ford Motor Co looks set to sign the deal to sell its Swedish Volvo unit to China's Geely on Sunday, in what would be the largest-ever purchase of a foreign automaker by a Chinese counterpart.

When Toyota Motor Corp concluded that seemingly harmless floormats posed a danger in all of its cars and trucks, the automaker sent a stark warning intended to prevent crashes.