GENERAL MOTORS

The top executive at General Motors Corp said on Friday that U.S. consumers appeared to be holding up well despite the recent credit crisis that roiled world markets and prompted the U.S. central bank to cut rates.

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.

General Motors Corp.'s Buick brand tied Toyota Motor Corp's Lexus for top ranking in a widely watched U.S. survey of vehicle reliability released on Thursday.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) will continue to grow in the U.S. market, but at a slower rate than it has in the past, and is considering targeting young consumers with a premium small car, the automaker's North American sales chief said on Thursday.I don't think the double-digit growth of the past few years will continue because we are such a large part of the U.S. market now, Jim Lentz told Reuters in an interview.On Wednesday, Lentz said Toyota is on track to post a U.S. sales increase of 5 to 6 percent in 2007. The automaker is now neck and neck with General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in global sales, and is expected to become the world's largest automaker this year.For next year, we will definitely grow, but we have to reevaluate the market in the fourth quarter to see how much we could grow, he said. Toyota sold 2.5 million vehicles in the U.S. market in 2006 and had more than 17 percent of the market in July.Through July, Toyota has surpassed Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) -- excluding Ford's luxury brands, which it is looking to sell -- to become the second-largest automaker behind GM in the United States.As the Japanese automaker has grown in the United States, it has entered every segment with a full line of cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles, including a luxury line with its Lexus brand and an experimental youth-oriented line with its Scion brand.When asked about what Toyota might offer next for U.S. consumers, Lentz said the automaker is looking at the premium small car segment -- a category most automakers in the United States have stayed away from so far.Lentz said Toyota has been studying a process called urbanization in which large numbers of people in their 20s and early 30s are moving into cities.These people have money and they need cars, Lentz said. They don't have long commutes, and they don't have too much space to park. That's where we see the need for a premium small car.BMW (BMWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest premium carmaker, is the only automaker to succeed with a small luxury car in the U.S. market -- with its Mini Cooper. The Mini shows that a small car does not have to be a cheap car, Lentz said.The Mini subcompact has four models in the U.S. market, ranging in base price from $18,700 to $26,000.In contrast, Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) charges a base price of $13,850 for its Fit subcompact car, while Toyota charged $12780 for its Scion xA, which it stopped making last year. It charges $14,550 for its new Scion xD. GM's base price for its Aveo subcompact starts at $10,560.I think it's time for more luxury-type small cars, Lentz said. He declined to provide any details on Toyota's plans, saying: We are looking at that, and that's all I can say.RAPID GROWTH, SLOW ON DEALERSLentz said Toyota plans to maintain only two channels at dealers even as it grows rapidly in the United States. The automaker has been admired for its dealership efficiency at a time when rivals GM and Chrysler LLC, just purchased by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management (CBS.UL: Quote, Profile, Research), have been criticized for having too many brands and dealerships.With only two brands -- Toyota and Lexus -- in the U.S. market, the automaker launched its youth-oriented Scion brand in late 2003, pulling it into the Toyota channel and keeping only the Lexus brand under a separate dealership.We are not considering a new brand, but if we were to have one, we would not increase our channels, Lentz said.

Toyota Motor Corp. expects industrywide U.S. auto sales to slow for the second straight year in 2007, with a rebound beginning in 2008, the company's U.S. sales chief said on Wednesday.

Toyota Motor Corp has told its parts makers that it is planning global output of over 10 million vehicles in 2008, up more than 6 percent from its plans this year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

General Motors Corp on Tuesday said it flipped to a quarterly net profit, trouncing Wall Street estimates as it benefited from cost-cutting, a better mix of products and growing sales overseas. GM, whose shares rose about 6 percent in early electronic trading following the results, posted a net profit of $891 million, or $1.56 a share, compared with a net loss of $3.4 billion, or $5.98 a share a year earlier.

General Motors sales outgrew the broader European car market in the first half as a surge in demand for its Korean-built Chevrolet brand cars offset a hefty decline in Saab sales, the automaker said on Monday.

Toyota and Ford, two of the world's three largest auto makers, reported strong first-half sales in China's fast-growing market, where as relative newcomers they are competing to roll out new models to attract customers.

Stocks fell on Thursday as rising bond yields fueled concern about a $20 billion buyout of Hilton Hotels Corp. General Motors Corp. dragged on the Dow. The largest U.S. automaker's shares fell after a steeper-than-expected drop in U.S. sales in June. On Thursday, Bear Stearns cut its recommendation on General Motors' stock.

Toyota Motor Corp. rattled Detroit-based automakers in June with generous discounts on its new Tundra pickup truck, but said on Tuesday it had no plans to compete on price in other areas of a weakening U.S. vehicle market.

General Motors Corp. said on Monday its 2 billion yuan ($263 million) engine plant in south China will begin production in August.

United Auto Workers union members have approved a deal that gives Delphi Corp. concessions on wages, benefits and plant closings that the auto parts maker has said it must have to exit bankruptcy.

Bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp. will retain and operate four plants under a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers, according to a document posted on a Web site run by union members.

It has been said only half-jokingly that General Motors Corp. is actually a giant health-insurance provider - just one that happens to make cars.

General Motors Corp. said on Friday it is accelerating its hydrogen fuel cell program, shifting work from laboratory to engineering groups that aim to develop the technology for mass production.

The control of a reorganized and potentially profitable U.S. auto parts maker Delphi Corp. may come down to a fight between its two largest shareholders.

General Motors Corp. and bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp. are near a deal with the United Auto Workers union that would provide a cash payout to Delphi workers in exchange for lower hourly wages, the Detroit News reported on Thursday.

Shares of Daimler Chrysler rose on Friday, after a report stated that General Motors could buy the German-American car maker's struggling Chrysler unit.

While General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Co. both say that being profitable and providing the cars that people want to buy is their priority, the question of who will be number one in vehicle sales has nevertheless attracted a great deal of attention.

The Pontiac division of General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) launched a new online website that will serve as the virtual car-club for Pontiac owners, taking advantage of Yahoo's social media assets.