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General Motors said on Friday that the costs of closing a plant in Antwerp, Belgium, would run 400 million euros ($532 million). The costs would largely involve paying termination benefits covering 2,600 workers. It also said a search led by the Flemish government would be conducted until the end of September to try to sell [...]

WASHINGTON – Toyota will recall about 50,000 Sequoia SUVs from the 2003 model year to fix traction controls that unexpectedly switch on and slow them down — the automaker’s eighth recall in the U.S. this year. The problem is not linked to reports of injuries or crashes. It does involve flaws in the sensors used [...]

Mazda motor Corp the manufacturer of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, where it has cost cutting to reduce the annual loss for the previous financial year. Mazda announced net loss of 6.48 billion yen ($69.2 million) on yearly that ended in March, compared with previous reading 71.49 billion yen a year earlier. The reason behind [...]

DETROIT – General Motors plans to announce Tuesday that it will spend $890 million to retool five engine and component plants as the automaker uses its growing cash reserves to increase investment in new products. The upgrades will help G.M. build more fuel-efficient engines to meet consumer demand and stricter federal mileage requirements that take [...]

SAN FRANCISCO – With a tremendous amount of momentum on its side, Ford is preparing to launch a Fiesta subcompact this summer that completes a successful overhaul of the automaker’s car lineup and aims to steal back the hearts of young buyers, many of whom drive Asian models. “Fiesta really gives us an opportunity to [...]

General Motors announced this week that it repaid its multibillion-dollar taxpayer-backed TARP loans. GM even bragged that it was able to “repay the taxpayers in full, with interest, ahead of schedule, because more customers are buying [GM] vehicles.” There was great fanfare, including expensive, around-the-clock GM TV commercials nationwide. But, the hype is not the [...]

Nissan Motor Co. said Friday that buyers have already reserved more than 20% of the first year’s production of its Leaf electric vehicle. About 6,600 U.S. consumers have paid the $99 reservation fee, and 3,700 in Japan have done the same. Nissan said it will make about 50,000 Leaf cars the first year. The automaker [...]

SEOUL, South Korea - Kia Motors said net profit quadrupled in the first quarter on stronger sales and equity gains from affiliated companies. Kia, South Korea’s second-largest automaker, earned 398.6 billion won ($358 million) in the three months ended March 31, it said in a regulatory filing Friday. The company reported net profit of 97.4 billion [...]

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, said quarterly profit jumped fivefold to a record after an economic recovery and new models spurred demand. Net income rose to 1.13 trillion won ($1 billion) in the three months ended March 31, from 225 billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based carmaker said in an e-mailed statement [...]

I’ve given up on jetpacks. Star Wars light sabers? Not, apparently, in my lifetime. And if regular air travel is any indication, space tourism will be expensive and uncomfortable. As for the car of the future? I’m at the wheel of one right now, and it isn’t quite what I’d imagined as an overactive 8- [...]

New ownership benefit debuts in conjunction with launch of the all-new 2011 Jaguar XJ luxury sedan Jaguar builds on its customer service leadership Jaguar Platinum Coverage offers longer protection and lower ownership costs BRAMALEA, ON – Coinciding with the launch of its new flagship model, the 2011 Jaguar XJ, and thus the completion of its [...]

3.0 bln eur of 4.1 bln from cap hike booked in Q1 cash Keeps 2010 target for higher revenue and op profit Pref shares up 1.2 pct, outperforming sector .SXAP FRANKFURT – Volkswagen revealed first-quarter operating profit nearly tripled, driven by a sharp gain in sales and a restock of its inventories, and reiterated it [...]

MILWAUKEE – Kara Baylor has been taxiing her two young daughters around in her Toyota Sienna for the last few years. So to hear her mini-van maybe on the long list of recalled Toyota’s is concerning. “I’m surprised about that,” she said. “I knew about all the other recall stuff but I thought the mini-vans [...]

General Motors Co. Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre said GM has repaid $5.8 billion in loans to the U.S. and Canada in an opinion piece published on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site. “We’re paying back — in full, with interest, years ahead of schedule — loans made to fund the new GM,” Whitacre wrote. [...]

DETROIT — Toyota has added another model to its long list of recalls, just hours after agreeing to pay the largest fine ever imposed by the government against an automaker. Toyota said that it would recall the Lexus GX 460 and the Land Cruiser Prado, which is sold abroad, to fix a problem with its [...]

DETROIT — General Motors, hoping to build confidence in its turnaround and move toward becoming an independent public company again, plans to repay the balance of its government loans this week, a person with direct knowledge of the plans said Monday. The automaker is expected to pay off $4.7 billion to the United States Treasury [...]

Hyundai showed off its new products and made it clear to its 790 U.S. dealers that they also are expected to buy in to what the com­pany is doing. That was the business side of the meeting, and it certainly was important. Behind that were some scenes that maybe weren’t so much busi­ness but illustrate [...]

TORONTO, April 16 /CNW/ – Toyota Canada has announced a voluntary safety recall affecting approximately 4,774 units of the Toyota “tray-type” floor mat sold as an optional accessory for certain 2007-2010 Tundra, 2008-2010 Highlander and 2008-2010 Highlander Hybrid vehicles. When the “tray-type” floor mat is unsecured or not properly installed in the driver’s position, there [...]

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford closed out the SAE World Congress on Thursday with an endorsement of the future of electric vehicles. “All the early cars were electric,” said Ford, great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, at the engineers’ conference. “They’ve been around really for the past century or so, but they really haven’t had [...]

Hyundai wants to show its dealers that the manufacturer is committed to growing the brand and expects the dealers to respond in kind. Dave Zuchowski, vice presi­dent of national sales for Hyun­dai Motor America, said the parent company is doing its part by building a more desira­ble lineup of vehicles. He point­ed to the Montgomery-made [...]

The last time Ford was gaining U.S. market share as fast as it is now, Mark Fields, the company’s president of the Americas, was learning to drive. Fields, 49, said Tuesday that the company’s market share rose 2.7 percentage points from January through March, Ford’s sharpest increase in a three-month period since the fourth quarter [...]

At least 131 Toyota owners report experiencing unintended acceleration after their recalled vehicles were repaired at dealerships, a USA TODAY review of federal records shows. Daily complaints — from three on Monday to 11 on March 5 — to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration come as Toyota continues to contend mechanical, and not electronics, [...]

HONG KONG (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX)  – Two global credit rating agencies said Monday that top South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. will continue to expand its share of the global car market. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said its stable outlook on Hyundai Motor reflects its expectations for the company’s future growth. [...]

TORONTO – Honda Canada Inc., has announced a recall of approximately 605 Acura ZDX vehicles to inspect the inside of the dashboard surface material. On affected vehicles, the passenger side airbag of the 2010 ZDX will not deploy properly. While no incidents have been reported, a manufacturing quality check revealed that some vehicles do not [...]

TORRANCE, Calif. – American Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it is recalling its new Acura ZDX because the passenger side air bag may not deploy properly. Honda said no incidents because of the issue have been reported. The problem was discovered during a manufacturing quality check. Honda said some vehicles may not have the necessary [...]

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, fell the most in 11 weeks in Seoul trading as the won rose to an 18-month high, reducing the company’s repatriated earnings from exports. Hyundai declined as much as 4.7 percent, the most since Jan. 26, to 120,500 won and traded at 121,000 won as of 10:58 a.m. [...]

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, is currently working with authorities, web hosts and banks to put an end to a scam that victimizes online car-shoppers. “If you see a classified ad that references an Edmunds escrow service, please report it immediately to the Web site hosting the ad,” [...]

Five days before Toyota recalled more than 2 million vehicles to fix “sticky” gas pedals, one of the automaker’s top U.S. executives sent an e-mail to another Toyota official saying the company should “come clean” about problems with its gas pedals. The Jan. 16 e-mail from VP Irv Miller was a response to an e-mail [...]

A grand experiment in collaborative auto manufacturing that began a quarter-century ago has ended. On Thursday, the final Toyota Corolla left the New United Motor Manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif., where General Motors and Toyota had engaged in a joint venture. G.M. ceased production at the plant last year, when the automaker was restructured. The [...]

Toyota sold a lot of vehicles in March, but its declining first-quarter market share gives a better idea of the company’s pain. Toyota’s sales problems are beginning to become clear, and they are serious despite its big March number. The best measure is market share. In the first quarter of this year Toyota ( TM [...]

RICHMOND HILL, ON – BMW Group Canada (BMW and MINI brands combined) reported retail sales of 2,779 units in March, up 38% over the same period last year. Year to date, BMW Group Canada reported sales of 5,590 units, representing a 29% increase over the same period last year. BMW Brand: BMW achieves record March [...]

TORONTO – Canadians shopping for vehicles that combine maximum utility and versatility with tremendous fuel efficiency and emissions performance turned to Toyota and Lexus in March. Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) today reported strong sales of 19,792 Toyota and Lexus cars, trucks and SUVs – up 24.5% from March 2009. This included 18,489 Toyota models (up [...]

MISSISSAUGA, ON – Kia Canada recorded its 15th month of consecutive sales growth in March, further evidence that its new value proposition is winning over Canadian consumers. “Vehicles like the recently launched Sorento and the Sportage, which made its North American debut yesterday, are legitimizing Kia as an important and influential force in the Canadian [...]

Record March sales for: Ram Truck – up 101 per cent Dodge Grand Caravan – up 40 per cent Jeep(R) Wrangler – up 81 per cent All-time record for Dodge Journey – sales up 66 per cent Retail sales up 36 per cent over March 2009 WINDSOR, ON – Chrysler Canada today reported another exceptionally [...]

MISSISSAUGA, ON – Nissan Canada Inc. (NCI) today released its March 2010 sales figures, completing its fiscal year with the company’s strongest March results ever with 8,617 total units sold, up 13.3 per cent from March 2009. Sales for the Nissan brand totaled 7,729 units in March, up ten per cent from the same period [...]

TORONTO – Combined March sales of 14,389 units by the Honda and Acura divisions represented a 15% increase over last year. The Honda Automobile Division reported March sales of 12,565 units, up 11% from last year, led by all-time record sales of Honda CR-V with 3,427 units. The Acura Division reported March sales of 1,824 [...]