AUTO

Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) expects global car markets to stagnate next year, a top executive said on Wednesday, calling on staff to help the world's third-largest automaker catch the sector leaders.

Hummer plans to invest $9.4 million over five years and take advantage of tax credits to set up a Michigan headquarters after China's Tengzhong acquires the brand from General Motors Co, a Hummer spokesman said on Tuesday.

Fisker Automotive was awarded a $528.7 million U.S. government loan on Tuesday for development of gas-electric hybrid plug-ins.

CarMax Inc (KMX.N), the largest U.S. retailer of used cars, posted strong quarterly results as the company received an unexpected boost from the cash-for-clunkers program and its finance unit recorded a one-time gain.

Magna International Inc (MGa.TO) has not lost any contracts because of its investment in Opel, a senior company executive said on Tuesday, after outlining some of the ways the Canadian auto parts supplier plans to keep the operations separate.

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it planned to restore about 3,000 jobs at U.S. assembly plants and related facilities and is getting set to raise North American production by up to 45 percent next year.

Cost-savings talks between Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Canadian subsidiary and the Canadian Auto Workers union continued on Wednesday, but the union said Ford had so far failed to address its key issue.

AutoNation Inc.(AN.N), the top U.S. auto dealership chain, is ready to go on offense by acquiring new stores and buying more vehicles as it bets that the battered U.S. auto market is headed for a long and steady recovery, the company's chief executive said.

Ford Motor Co's Canadian subsidiary faces a $1.8 billion shortfall in its pension plan, the Globe and Mail said, citing a company letter to employees and retirees.

German car maker Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) has revised guidance on its bond issue backed by auto leases, an official at one of the banks managing the sale said on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs' (GS.N) $334 million investment in Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK) will boost the Chinese automaker's global ambitions, including a potential bid by its parent for Ford's (F.N) Volvo brand.

AutoZone Inc (AZO.N), the largest U.S. auto-parts retail chain, posted quarterly results on Wednesday roughly in-line with analysts' expectations as same-store sales growth slowed from the prior quarter.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) will start production of a small car in India early next year, and its chief executive said the U.S. market had was showing signs of recovery and he expected industry sales to rise in the next two years.

CarMax Inc (KMX.N), the largest retailer of used cars in the United States, posted a higher quarterly profit, helped by improving customer traffic trends.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced C$54.8 million ($50.7 million) in aid to autoparts maker Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) on Monday to help it develop green and fuel-efficient automotive powertrains.

The chief executive of Canadian auto supplier Magna International (MGa.TO) said on Tuesday he did not know of any tie-up plans with China's Geely Group.

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Zaragoza north east Spain on Saturday to protest Canada's Magna's (MGa.TO) acquisition of 55 percent of General Motors' Opel, Spanish media reported.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors and a former executive have settled a legal dispute that stemmed from the company's early struggles to launch a battery-powered sports car, the company said on Monday.

Canadian auto supplier Magna International (MGa.TO) said it plans to hold talks to appease Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), which has threatened to pull business from Magna if it goes through with an investment in Opel.

Daimler's (DAIGn.DE) chief executive is sticking to the company's long-term EBIT profit margin target of 10 percent for its Mercedes-Benz Cars division but is unclear when the company will reach it, he was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview on Sunday.

Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE) premium unit Audi (NSUG.DE) expects to reach its unit sales target for China two years earlier than previously planned, Audi's head of sales told industry publication Automobilwoche.

The head of Porsche's (PSHG_p.DE) core sports car business said the company could sell 150,000 cars a year in the mid to long-term but new models would be needed to achieve this goal.

Vokswagen (VOWG.DE), Europe's largest carmaker, is expected to take a stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor by the end of 2009, German industry publication Automobilwoche report, citing an unnamed Suzuki executive.

Russia's participation in the Opel deal may be a waste of time if Western technologies are not transferred to the country, German Gref, cheif executive of deal participant Sberbank (SBER03.MM) said on Saturday.

Struggling Russian carmaker Avtovaz (AVAZ.MM) said on Friday it wanted to strengthen its partnership with shareholder Renault (RENA.PA), a day after a top Russian banker suggested a tie-up with Opel.

First talks between European unions and delegates from General Motors and Magna (MGa.TO) begin next week over plans to cut 10,500 jobs at Opel save labor costs in the hundreds of millions of euros.

About 19,000 General Motors Co [GM.UL] workers in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo went on strike on Friday, demanding better wages after failing to reach an agreement with the company.

Chrysler executive Jim Press has been sued by a California credit union for failing to repay more than $400,000 on a loan dating back to his stint as chief of Toyota Motor Corp's U.S. operations, court records show.

From Detroit's union halls to its boardrooms, the consensus belief is that billions of dollars in federal investment and loans kept the American auto industry from collapse.