GENERAL MOTORS

Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker submitted an improved bid for Sweden's Saab to General Motors Co on Thursday, just ahead of a key deadline that could prompt closure of the brand.

General Motors Co said on Thursday it will seek to sell its Nexteer Automotive business -- the steering unit the U.S. automaker took back from former parts subsidiary Delphi Corp last year.

General Motors Co showed off the first battery pack for its electric Chevy Volt on Thursday with a ceremony that highlighted the automaker's dependence on U.S. government financing for its revival plans.

Prospective bidders in Sweden, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were making last-ditch efforts on Thursday to buy Saab, hours before a deadline set by owner General Motors to either sell or close the Swedish carmaker.

Bidders in Sweden, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are making last-ditch efforts on Thursday to buy General Motors -owned Saab, as the deadline for its sale loomed, threatening the Swedish car brand with closure.

Future hazy as Google makes waves; China sued over Internet filter; Fed sees jobs turnaround

General Motors Co Chief Executive Ed Whitacre said on Wednesday he is not hopeful a breakthrough deal can be reached to save Saab and said GM is proceeding with the wind-down of the Swedish brand.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it sold 21 percent more cars in China in 2009 compared with a year earlier, lagging rival General Motors' 67 percent gain.

Ford Motor Co posted a 33 percent sales gain for December as U.S. auto sales ended 2009 on an upswing after a tumultuous year that saw GM and Chrysler collapse into bankruptcy and China overtake the United States as the biggest car market.

(Corrects to show gain in Honda sales was nearly 25 percent, not 20 percent, in paragraph 6)

Ford Motor Co posted a 33 percent sales gain for December as U.S. auto sales ended 2009 on an upswing after a tumultuous year that saw GM and Chrysler collapse into bankruptcy and China overtake the United States as the biggest car market.

Two Chinese companies are targeting up to a combined $1.5 billion from initial public share offerings in Hong Kong in the first quarter, reinforcing the fundraising wave that made it the world's No.1 IPO market in 2009.

Ford Motor's China car venture sold 316,139 units in 2009, up 54.5 percent from a year earlier, its Chinese partner said on Tuesday.

General Motors expects to sell 100,000 vehicles in 2010 in India, up 43 percent from 70,000 sold in 2009, its India head said on Monday.

U.S. auto sales are expected to end 2009 on a slight upswing in December, capping a year that saw General Motors and Chrysler collapse into bankruptcy and China overtake the United States as the biggest car market.

Geely, China's No.1 private carmaker, said on Thursday that its parent company has strong support from the Chinese government to acquire Ford Motor's Volvo unit, and expects robust growth for China's auto industry in 2010, also with help from Beijing.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday blamed a combination of human and systemic failures in security for allowing the botched Christmas Day attack aboard a U.S. airliner, in his first big test on homeland security.

General Motors Co , which is winding down its Pontiac and Saturn brands, has offered dealers $7,000 per car to clear remaining inventory through Monday, the company said on Tuesday.

General Motors Co is offering huge incentives to its dealers to speed up the sales of leftover inventory from its Saturn and Pontiac brands, that can push up the automaker's December sales, the Wall Street Journal said.

General Motors unit Opel said new registrations of its cars rose to the highest level in four years in 2009, when government-backed scrapping incentives bolstered a floundering European auto industry.

China's Geely would barely lay a finger on Ford Motor Co's Volvo if it succeeds in acquiring the Swedish luxury car brand, the firm's top executive was quoted by state media as saying on Friday.