Big incentives in August helped give Chrysler a decent sales bounce, but the automaker still has a 76-day supply of vehicles on dealer lots, well above the industry average of 60 days.
An electric version of the iQ city car will arrive in Japan (as the eQ) and the US (as the iQ EV) this December, but the automaker is significantly scaling back its 2010 promises of several thousand cars sold per year to just 100 fleet-oriented vehicles.
ENGADGET: Toyota plans dialed-back launch of eQ and iQ EV city cars in December
But Shladover wondered if the automaker was actually preparing customers to get used to cars that increasingly drive themselves.
He has put in 28 years at the automaker but says he will quit rather than accept an expected transfer to another plant that would be a two-and-a-half hour commute from his home.
In the 1980s, Kerkorian built a stake in Chrysler, but was unable to acquire the entire automaker.
Asian automakers own half the U.S. market, but Volkswagen has vowed to be the largest automaker in the world by 2018.
FORBES: If I'm Going to Detroit in January, This Is What I Want to Know
But GM is not the only automaker looking to reinvigorate its luxury brand.
FORBES: GM Revamps The Cadillac Lineup To Target Luxury Market Share
But, ironically, the Japanese automaker would never consider outsourcing a quality-sensitive operation like a body shop or paint shop, says Jeffrey Liker, a University of Michigan engineering professor and author of The Toyota Way.
The number of electric cars expected on the road in the next several years varies depending on the automaker, energy company or analyst you ask, but before we can even talk about the cars, we need the chargers.
But Buick buyers are still older, and the automaker would like to catch more people in their 40s.
Tesla, Chevrolet, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Renault, and a slew of Chinese automakers have led the charge since 2008, but no German automaker had placed a PEV in a major market until March.
Consumers in urban environments agonize, indeed, over which cars to buy to fit their lifestyles, but BMW is upping the ante: the German automaker is designing a whole way of life around a car.
FORBES: BMW's Project i And The Future Of Fun, Sustainable Mobility
This applies to the first 200, 000 plug-ins, but goes up to 300, 000 if an automaker sells at least 25, 000 in the 2012 model year.
Mr. RON CHRISTIE (Vice President, DC Navigators): Well, Farai, I don't think that we're at the end of the era for the U.S. automaker, but U.S. automakers are in a very difficult position right now to remain competitive with the world market.
Expect the two German automakers to compete with affluent green-minded car buyers but the bigger question is whether Tesla can steal them away if, as planned, the Silicon Valley automaker comes out with a cheaper, A3-sized version of the Model S sometime in the next couple of years.
FORBES: The Audi A3 Electric Goes Old School To Take On BMW, Tesla
Mascarenas was in San Francisco to unveil the new Ford Fusion, and given the proximity to Silicon Valley the focus was on the technology the automaker is deploying as it takes on the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and other bland but big-selling sedans.
Perhaps not, but some other shareholders appeared to be bailing out of the automaker.
But you won't recognize what's left of the automaker William Durant cobbled together in 1908 and Alfred P.
The automaker still buys steel from outside suppliers, but when it comes to complex curved body panels or important structural components, the company prefers to use its own recipes.
The automaker will notify owners, the administration said, but customers may also contact the NHTSA's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to www.safercar.com.
The automaker even killed off the Taurus name in 2006, but it was brought back to life shortly after Alan Mulally arrived from Boeing as Ford CEO.
The automaker still buys some basic steel from outside suppliers, but when it comes to complex curved body panels or important structural components, the company prefers to use its own steel.
Chrysler, the third large U.S. automaker, also had a decent month, but missed estimates.
FORBES: Solid January For Detroit As GM Predicts A Record Year; Toyota's Sales Surge
But analysts say economic trouble in Europe is likely to slow VW's growth and keep the automaker in third place this year.
The Yokohama-based automaker said vehicles in North America and Europe are affected, but did not immediately have other details on its 343, 000 overseas recalls.
The world's biggest automaker has lots of problems, not the least of which is uninspired vehicles, but health care weighs heavily.
Another automaker finds itself in the mpg hotseat, this time not in form of an audit, but in the courts.
As we noted when the news first broke, a safety recall is one thing for an automaker to deal with, but an organized cover-up is entirely different.
FORBES: Toyota Should Pay Its $16.4 Million Fine And Move On
The automaker has only 6 models in the country currently (compared to GM?s 30) but is adding a seventh model, the Kuga compact SUV by the end of the year.
Each automaker would have a significant range of choices about the sounds it chooses for its vehicles, but the characteristics of those sounds would need to meet certain minimum requirements.
ENGADGET: NHTSA details new sound requirements for hybrids and EVs travelling under 18 mph
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