Auto News 5

Following an investment of about $300m, Ford Brazil has started to produce an advanced new engine, the Sigma series with aluminium block, cylinder head and structural oil pan. Full story...

Serbia and Fiat have agreed on the completion of Fiat's purchase of a majority stake in the country's biggest carmaker, Zastava Automobili. Full story...

Last-ditch negotiations to save Saab Automobile continued over the weekend after General Motors on Friday said talks with Spyker had ended and that the brand would be wound down. Spyker said on Sunday it had submitted a renewed offer with a deadline of 5pm EST (10pm GMT) today (21 December) "in the hopes of securing a future for Saab, its employees and the brand - despite the announcement that the winding down of Saab would begin". Full story...

IM Group, the UK-based automotive importer and distributor for Subaru, Isuzu and Daihatsu, has announced the signing of an agreement that will see it import vehicles from Chinese auto maker, Great Wall Motor Company, into Europe starting next year. Full story...

China-made Mercedes cars are now good enough to export, according to Ulrich Walker, Chairman and CEO of Daimler Northeast Asia. Walker refuted suggestions that Daimler might actually sell its Chinese-made cars overseas. Full story...

Japanese automakers sold 319,342 vehicles under the U.S. cash-for-clunkers program this year, almost half of the roughly 677,000 vehicles purchased. About 115,000 of those Japanese vehicles were imported. Full story...

General Motors Co. said it would evaluate several expressions of interest for Saab, including a new fast-track bid from Spyker Cars. Full story...

Chrysler Group will build its first Fiat-derived four-cylinder engine for North America at a factory in Dundee, Mich. The engine will power the Fiat 500 minicar, to be made in Mexico for sale at some U.S. Chrysler dealerships before the end of 2010. Full story...

GM said it will evaluate several expressions of interest for Saab including a new fast-track bid from Spyker. Full story...

Michael Simon, newly installed as general manager of a stand-alone Saab store under new ownership, kept pushing sales right up until the death sentence was delivered. Simon bought more new Saabs from less-hopeful dealers. Full story...

The Ohio dealer and a couple of Maryland dealers weren't supposed to have a chance to get this far. Their path was winding, blocked by companies with deeper pockets and larger legal teams. Full story...

It may be the worst of times for new-vehicle sales, but in a nondescript office building on a busy highway in suburban Philadelphia, executives at Subaru of America have pulled off a miracle. Full story...

Frank Ewasyshyn, Chrysler's veteran manufacturing chief, will retire at the end of 2009. He will be replaced by Scott Garberding, who has been interim head of manufacturing since Ewasyshyn, 57, took medical leave several months ago. Full story...

Ford Motor Co. dealers are having trouble getting some versions of the 2010 Taurus, such as SEL and SHO trims. That's because Ford misjudged which variants of the vehicle would be popular and how many should be built, said marketing chief Jim Farley. Full story...

Fiat's decision to stop Lancia production at its factory in Termini Imerese, Sicily, in 2011 has led to wild speculation that India's Tata Motors or Mahindra and Mahindra or China's Chery Automobile could buy the plant. Full story...

For some executives, being posted below the equator at GM Holden Ltd., General Motors Co.'s obscure Australian subsidiary, might have been a kind of banishment. Full story...

Volkswagen is unlikely to make further strategic deals in the near future, CEO Martin Winterkorn said after the company's recent spree which included taking a stake in Suzuki. He also said he expects VW to win further market share in 2010. Full story...

Opel aims for an operating profit margin of 4 to 5 percent within four years, new CEO Nick Reilly told the Financial Times. Full story...

General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Division tapped two agencies to handle creative advertising during the first half of 2010. Publicis won work for the Chevrolet Malibu, Equinox and Traverse nameplates, the division said in a statement. Full story...

The stocky, brown-haired trucker arrived on Halloween to pick up a new 2010 LX 570 SUV from Lexus of Memphis. The hauler, who appeared to be in his 30s, spoke with a thick foreign accent and smoked heavily. Full story...