Auto News 5

Car parts and machinery maker Rieter said it would ask for shareholder approval to split its automotive and textiles units into distinct companies.

Car parts and machinery maker Rieter said it would ask for shareholder approval to split its automotive and textiles units into distinct companies.

Japan light vehicle output is expected to be reduced by about 335,000 units to the end of this week (25 March, 2011), and virtually every major OEM globally will be affected by the earthquake/tsunami disaster by mid-to-late April, IHS Automotive director of global automotive forecast, Michael Robinet, said in a note emailed to media on Tuesday.

Fisker Automotive Inc. has begun making the $88,000 Karma plug-in car, aiming to get its first production vehicles to U.S. and European dealers by next month.

Fisker Automotive Inc. has begun making the $88,000 Karma plug-in car, aiming to get its first production vehicles to U.S. and European dealers by next month.

New vehicle sales in Malaysia amounted to 40,387 units in February, largely unchanged from the 40,654 units sold a year earlier, according to data released by the Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA).

No, it's not a joke. After several postponements, Fisker spokesperson Roger Ormisher has announced that production of the Karma was finally launched today at Valmet Automotive's Finnish plant.

Average prices for some Japanese cars are already inching up in the United States as question marks are raised over supply, IHS Automotive analyst Aaron Bragman said in a research note on Monday.

French automotive parts subcontractor Plastivaloire is remaining tight-lipped concerning any possible acquisition in Germany.

Under the guidance of Professor Gaétan Laroche, researchers at the Université Laval in Quebec have developed a technology that will put an end to one of our automotive banes: fog.

In this interview, Matthew Beecham talked with Jonathan Shine, vice president of business development and co-founder of Evida. Evida Power Inc designs and manufactures energy solutions for the Electric Vehicle (EV) market, with operations in the US, Europe, Israel and China.

Electric vehicles are all the rage these days, and many car buffs are turning towards them to realize their automotive dreams. Witness the students of Ladner High School in British Columbia, who are on the verge of successfully converting a 1989 Toyota pickup into an eco-friendly dragster.

Auto dealership chains are pursuing new stores and paying pre-recession multiples on acquisitions to expand their networks as the U.S. auto market recovers. AutoNation Inc., Penske Automotive Group Inc. and Group 1 Automotive Inc.

New vehicle sales in the Philippines increased by 5.8% to 22,518 units in the first two months of this year, compared with 21,282 units a year earlier, according to data released by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc (CAMPI).

The wait is over: On Saturday, March 19th, the Red Bull Crashed Ice (RBCI) Champion will be chosen in Québec, Canada. MINI will be the official automotive partner of the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship for the second time this year, and will award the best newcomer with the MINI Rookie Award, a prize given to the fastest newbie on the course. More than 120,000 spectators are expected to watch this year's event, as groups of four athletes on ice skates plunge down an ice-cross downhill track some five metres wide and peppered with bumps, jumps and banked turns.

US dealer group Asbury Automotive has closed the sale of its International, Hino, Isuzu, UD, IC Bus and Workhorse franchises to Rush Truck Centers of Georgia, a subsidiary of Rush Enterprises.

Johnson Controls, a global diversified company in the building and automotive industries, today announced that it is donating $1 million, or nearly 100 million yen, to the Japan Red Cross through the American Red Cross for disaster relief efforts currently underway in Japan.

Making cars lighter and more fuel efficient are challenges that have pushed the industry ever since Carl Benz filed a patent for his "gas engine-powered vehicle" in Berlin in 1886.

Many automotive analysts have been predicting that the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Japan would affect the supply chain to the North American plants of Japanese automakers. Unfortunately, those predictions proved accurate for two of them today.

Automotive parts manufacturer Denso says it has "basically suspended" production in Japan for today (15 March) and tomorrow, adding four of its employees were still unaccounted for.