Ford Motor Company, Big Three | featured news

General Motors Co, the largest U.S. automaker, reported a 1.5 percent increase in September auto sales on the strength of its passenger car sales, while Ford Motor Co posted sales that were on par with its results from a year earlier.

Ford Motor Co plans to build a $900 million production plant in India, doubling its investment in the country, as the U.S. carmaker seeks to catch up with rivals in the second-fastest growing auto market in the world.

Both companies report rising sales, but Ford Motor Co. says profits fell about 8% compared with the same period last year as the automaker paid off debt and invested in new vehicles.

Ford earned its largest profit in more than a decade in 2010, as demand for its cars and trucks rose and it benefited from years of restructuring.

But Chrysler Group said its August sales rose 7 percent thanks to the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Ford said Tuesday it would stop production of Mercury vehicles in the fourth quarter and discontinue the brand.

Ford said European sales rose sharply in March, lifting its market share to a 12-year high, and the company said it is pressing for continued government incentives for car buying.

Ford and GM report an increase of 43% for the month. And Honda is up 22% compared with a year ago as automakers keep pace with incentives offered by troubled Toyota.

Ford Motor reached an agreement to sell its Volvo subsidiary to a Chinese conglomerate for $1.8 billion.

US auto sales rose in January but were tempered by Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), which suffered a sales slide late in the month from a recall that led the auto maker to halt sales of more than half its vehicles.