AUTO

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday put a bill to extend the popular

BMW (BMWG.DE) will launch a new class of environmentally friendly vehicles under its own brand, signalling that even premium automakers are ready to embrace electric vehicles as a mainstream product.

U.S. carmaker General Motors [GM.UL] and German officials began a fresh round of talks on Tuesday to try to narrow their differences on which bidder they want to take control of its Opel unit.

Leading global automakers reported forecast-beating quarterly results on Tuesday, but continued to give cautious outlooks for the industry, which remains hard hit by weak demand and a lack of consumer credit.

The state parent of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings is in talks with Daimler AG to set up a joint venture in China making special purpose vehicles, executives at the parent company, Brilliance Auto, said on Monday.

The Obama administration was optimistic on Sunday that the U.S. Senate would extend the federal

More than 6,000 U.S. hourly workers have left General Motors Co under the automaker's latest buyout program intended to make it a leaner company after its emergence from bankruptcy.

The question is whether jobs can be found for retrained workers in the state with America's highest unemployment rate.

Americans flocked to auto dealerships this month to take advantage of government rebates for gas-guzzling

Ford Motor Co has seen a sharp increase in sales over the past week since its dealers began accepting trade-ins under the U.S. government's

The House of Representatives has quickly voted to allocate an additional $2 billion for the in demand ‘Cash for Clunkers' car rebate program just ahead of its summer recess.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that General Motors Co [GM.UL] and Chrysler Group were companies worth saving, but he expects both to repay their government loans.

Auto parts maker Federal-Mogul Corp (FDML.O) posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit on Thursday, but reported substantial progress from earlier in 2009 as it cut costs to address the economic downturn and production cuts by its automaker customers.

In the first half of 2009, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and General Motors [GM.UL] remained the world's two biggest automakers despite a more than 20 percent drop in sales from the year earlier.

Automakers in Europe and Japan unveiled weak results for the first half of the year on Thursday and are set to keep tight control over costs but most predict an improvement in conditions for the rest of 2009.

Auto dealership group Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG.N) posted a 47 percent drop in quarterly earnings on Thursday, but said the U.S. new vehicle market had essentially stabilized, though at very low levels.

French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) swung to a worse-than-expected 2.712 billion euro net loss for the first half on Thursday, but now expects the world automotive market to contract less sharply this year.

German luxury automaker Daimler released consensus-beating second-quarter results on Wednesday, but analysts are split on whether the figures signal the beginning of a turnaround for the carmaker or if its balance sheet problems will continue.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (GT.N) posted a loss on Thursday that was smaller than analysts had expected as the downturn in the North American and European economies pressured results.

China's bubbly stock market is making heroes out of some unlikely companies. And none more so than BYD Co. (1211.HK), in which Warren Buffett plans to take a 10 percent stake.

Honda Motor Co said it is recalling more than 300,000 units of its 2001 U.S.-built Accord and Civic cars in the United States and Canada to fix a defective airbag that deployed in a fatal accident.

Japanese car manufacturers unexpectedly posted profits on Wednesday and Mercedes-maker Daimler forecast improving performance this year but clear signs of sustained recovery for the world's battered auto sector remained elusive.

New orders for U.S. durable goods posted their biggest drop in five months in June while major global steel and auto companies said on Wednesday any return to growth would be gradual, casting doubt over some economists' forecasts for a recovery starting later this year.

Auto dealership chain Sonic Automotive Inc (SAH.N) posted a plunge in second-quarter profit on Tuesday as the economic recession hurt consumer demand for new vehicles.

Canadian auto parts maker Magna (MGa.TO) has increased the amount of upfront capital it will inject in its offer for General Motors' European unit Opel, a German government source said on Tuesday.

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp plans to launch a hybrid compact for around 1.5 million yen ($15,760) in Japan in late 2011, broadening its hybrid car line-up, the Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), Europe's largest carmaker, is considering raising up to 4 billion euros ($5.7 billion) ahead of a takeover of Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) to protect its credit ratings, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Opel's labor force demanded greater say in the process of selecting a future investor for the German carmaker and called on former parent General Motors GM.UL to forgo any right to buy back a stake at a later point.

Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.BO), India's largest vehicle maker, reported a 58 percent rise in net profit, with a change in accounting policy and lower costs seeing it defy forecasts for a halving of profit and sending its shares up.