Auto Industry | featured news

Toyota has surged back from a downturn following the natural disasters in Japan last year and is expecting to sell 23 percent more vehicles than it did in 2011.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it's recalling 778,000 RAV4 SUVs and Lexus HS 250h sedans in the U.S. to fix a suspension problem that could cause crashes. The company says if rear suspension nuts aren't tightened properly after a wheel alignment, the arms can rust and separate from the vehicle.

General Motors said Thursday that its second-quarter profit fell 41 percent as losses in Europe and South America cut into strong North American earnings.

U.S. auto sales remained soft in July and all three Detroit automakers reported sales for the month that fell slightly short of analyst estimates, as high U.S. unemployment and weak consumer confidence kept would-be buyers on the sidelines.

Chrysler reported its second-quarter profit soared as its predominately North American operations shielded it from the European economic slowdown on plaguing its U.S. competitors.

Pickup truck buyers are a stubborn lot, or so goes the conventional wisdom. What matters is payload and towing capacity; all else be damned. But recent trends suggest that’s not necessarily the case. The latest generation of full-size trucks now offer the sort of high-tech, high-touch features you might expect in a luxury car. And, perhaps most shockingly, Ford Motor Co. is now selling more than half of its F-Series pickups equipped with V-6s, rather than the classic, heavy-hauling V-8.

Joel Ewanick, the agent of change brought in by General Motors just over two years ago to shake up its moribund marketing operations, has unexpectedly resigned... One source indicated that it was only decided hours before a press release finally went out that Ewanick’s departure would be described as a “voluntary” resignation. That, said several observers, raises questions about whether there was more behind the departure than simply a disagreement over policy.

Chinese government to force unprofitable automakers into involuntary bankruptcy... The Ministry said in a note published on Tuesday that it is considering the introduction of a withdrawal mechanism to force near-bankrupt automakers out of the bloated automotive industry. China has around 1,300 automobile makers, including 171 car, truck and bus makers and more than 900 specialty vehicle manufacturers, according to the government.

While the North American business performed well, the automaker reported a loss in Europe and now expects to lose more than $1 billion there this year.

That sound you heard from Detroit this morning was the other shoe dropping, loudly, at Opel. General Motors announced that Karl-Friedrich Stracke stepped down from his positions as GM Europe president Opel/Vauxhall CEO.