Michigan

A former Ford Motor Company product engineer, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing trade secrets in a federal court, is likely to face six years prison term.

The University of Michigan forecasts the U.S. economic recovery to be sluggish in the near term due to the weak jobs market, deleveraging, belt-tightening within state and local governments, and the still-felt impact of the housing collapse.

Ford Motor co engineer Xiang Dong Yu, 49, of Beijing, China, pleaded guilty today in federal court to two counts of theft of trade secrets.

Ford Motors has announced the list of cities, which shall receive the first all-electric passenger car Focus Electric, which debuts in late 2011.

Plenty of research - from sources like GE and Deloitte, to name a few - has shown that range anxiety, or the fear of running out of battery charge in the middle of the road, is one of the biggest factors scaring consumers away from electric vehicles (EVs).

U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected in November, boosted by stronger holiday sales, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey.