CHRYSLER

Workers represented by the United Auto Workers union walked out on strike on two plants operated by Chrysler LLC, while another of the automaker's key assembly plants was told to remain on hold.

Chrysler LLC and the United Auto Workers union were negotiating a new labor agreement on Wednesday hours before a union-imposed strike deadline.

The United Auto Workers union and automaker Chrysler LLC remained locked in contract talks on Wednesday morning just hours before a strike deadline set by the union that could trigger the industry's second major work stoppage in as many weeks.

With just over a day remaining until a strike deadline, representatives of the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler LLC bargained into Tuesday morning in a bid to reach a new contract for some 49,000 U.S. factory workers.

Negotiators from Chrysler LLC and the United Auto Workers were set to resume contract talks on Monday after the union set a deadline for wrapping up negotiations this week. The struggling No. 3 U.S. automaker has been given a 72-hour strike notice by the UAW as they negotiate a new labor agreement, a person familiar with the talks said on Monday.

General Motors Corp gained ground against rivals in September with a 4 percent U.S. sales increase while Ford Motor Co sales plunged 18 percent and Toyota Motor Corp sales were off 1 percent for a third monthly decline. Overall, sales steadied in September, bucking Wall Street expectations for a decline.

Hedge fund Appaloosa Management LP said in a U.S. regulatory filing on Tuesday that its offer for bankrupt auto parts supplier Dana Corp could be conditioned on there not being a strike at any of the major U.S. automakers.

Four firms remain in the race to buy Ford's European luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover after India's Mahindra & Mahindra and vulture fund Cerberus pulled out, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Carmakers wasted no time trying to show off their new-found green credentials -- as well as their glittering profits -- at the start of the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) on Tuesday.

Chrysler has lured another high-profile executive, this time from Asia, into its ranks on Friday, following a similar move a day earlier as the company seeks to revive its struggling operations.

Chrysler added Toyota's top American executive to its ranks on Thursday, hiring James Press as its new vice-Chairman and President in a bid to steer the newly private, but struggling company as it attempts a comeback.

Chrysler LLC has named longtime Toyota Motor Corp North American executive Jim Press as a new vice chairman and president.

Major automakers posted mixed U.S. sales for August on Tuesday, as executives cautioned the embattled industry was facing reverberations from a weaker housing market and the shakeout in subprime lending. Industrywide sales for August were tracking at 16.1 million vehicles on an annualized rate, down from 16.2 million a year earlier.

DaimlerChrysler left investors guessing about plans to return excess cash to shareholders as the German carmaker reported second-quarter operating profits on Wednesday in line with market expectations.

Chrysler LLC has proposed shedding non-core assets in contract talks with the United Auto Workers, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. The car maker has proposed shutting down or selling its Mopar unit, a maker of high-performance and specialty auto parts, and Chrysler Transport, which manages deliveries of supplies to Chrysler plants.

DaimlerChrysler has paved the way to rename itself Daimler AG by striking a deal with Ford Motor Co to use the name now owned by British brand Jaguar, the companies said on Wednesday.

General Motors Corp. is raising incentives to boost sales in August, mainly for full-size pickup trucks, the automaker's global head of product development said on Thursday.

Chrysler LLC, the struggling No. 3 U.S. automaker purchased by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, is expected to return to profit within three years, Cerberus chairman John Snow said.

By picking a tough-minded outsider to head Chrysler, the struggling automaker's new owners have put company employees, suppliers and dealers on notice that things will be changing.

Robert Nardelli, who was named to head Chrysler LLC on Monday by its new owner Cerberus Capital Management, declined to detail his compensation package, but said it would be tied to the automaker's progress in its turnaround. Nardelli was widely criticized for a pay and severance package seen as excessive during his term as chief executive of retailer Home Depot Inc.

Cerberus Capital Management on Monday named former Home Depot Inc. Chief Executive Robert Nardelli as chairman and chief executive of Chrysler LLC in an executive shake-up just after the private equity firm completed a deal to acquire the struggling No. 3 U.S. automaker.