Big Three, Auto Industry | featured news

General Motors Co has withdrawn its application for $14 billion in subsidized loans from the U.S. Department of Energy, saying it has the financial strength to fund investment in more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles.

Chrysler is in the midst of a new-product blitz that includes revamped models of the Grand Cherokee and the 300 sedan, as well as smaller models it will get from Fiat.

Bill Ford Jr. just can't let the good times roll. In late December, Ford, 53, was on a family ski vacation in Colorado but found himself unable to put aside dark visions of how too much success could lead to the next crisis for the auto industry.

General Motors Co posted a 7.5 percent rise in December U.S. auto sales and said it expects the industry to report sales at a 13 million-vehicle annualized rate for last month -- far higher than many forecasts and what would be the highest rate of 2010.

Investor demand for General Motors stock has been so strong that the company will expand its initial public offering by 31 percent, to 478 million common shares, a person briefed on the sale said Tuesday.

General Motors on Wednesday finalized terms for a stock offering of about $13 billion to repay a controversial taxpayer-funded bailout and reduce the Treasury to a minority shareholder.

General Motors and Chrysler are beginning to make some headway after getting a financial and operational overhaul compliments of the U.S. bankruptcy court.

The upcoming initial public offering of General Motors Co will be open to the widest possible range of investors, including both overseas funds and U.S. retail buyers, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

How long it takes for the government to divest its holdings in General Motors will, in part, be determined by the company’s success, G.M.’s chief executive said.

The annual package includes $1.7 million in salary and a mix of stock, some part of a long-term incentive plan.