US secretary of energy Steven Chu announced on Thursday that his department had closed a US$1.4bn loan with Nissan North America to help modify the automaker's Smyrna, Tennessee, manufacturing plant to produce the Leaf electric vehicle and its lithium-ion battery packs.
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Rear view mirror maker Gentex made a fourth-quarter profit of US$30m compared with a $10.4 loss a year ago.
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Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK) said on Thursday its decision to axe 750 jobs at its plant in Derby would not involve compulsory redundancies.
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Honda Motor's third fiscal quarter operating profit (October-December) was likely between JPY120-170bn(US$1.3-$1.9bn), roughly twice that of the previous quarter, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.
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Reports in Russia says that two major carmaking alliances will be created under a proposal to revitalise Russia's struggling auto industry.
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Toyota Europe said on Thursday 26 reports have so far been recorded since its accelerator pedal mechanism sticking problem surfaced but conceded the number of affected vehicles might be higher as a report could include details of more than one car from local distributors.
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Expected strong demand for planned updated versions of Nissan's successful Qashqai crossover will see a temporary third (night) shift re-instated at its plant in Sunderland, north-east England, next May.
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Israeli holding company, Israel Corp, is investing another US$72m in Better Place, the electric vehicle infrastructure company partnering Renault-Nissan in the country.
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Chevrolet wants to more than double European sales to 1m vehicles within five years, its head of its European operations has said.
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A leading British academic has warned that the economic downturn impacting Britain's car industry is 'deeper and longer' than the recession of the early 1980s and that a shallow recovery is in prospect.
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A look across the automotive world reveals a global light vehicle market where different manufacturers and models hold sway in different regions. Glenn Brooks utilises just-auto's proprietary PLDB global database of light vehicle model production lifecycles in considering prospects for brands and models.
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Ford Motor on Thursday reported full year 2009 pre-tax operating profit, excluding special items, of $454m, a $7.3 billion improvement over a year ago. Full year net income of $2.7 billion, or 86 cents per share, was helped by favourable pricing,
structural cost reductions, net gains on debt reduction and strong Ford Credit results.
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While UK market sales look likely to fall steeply this year, one manufacturer is seeking to boost numbers through its ground-breaking guarantee and a raft of new brands.As Kia Motors UK launched its upgraded Sorento and new Venga in Barcelona this week to British media, managing director Michael Cole talked to just-auto about how the carmaker wants to drive its retail share from 2% to 3%.
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After a year of strong growth led by a government stimulus package, opinions differ on whether China's automotive boom can maintain momentum in 2010. CSM Worldwide analyst Jerry Huang looks at the issues.
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Toyota's massive recall of more than 6m of its most popular models is being extended to Europe.
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CTS, a US$500m Indiana-based component company, said that it is starting to ship replacement throttle pedals and assemblies for Toyota in the wake of the sudden-deceleration reports that have led to a massive recall of some of Toyota's best-selling models.
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Autoliv says it has agreed to acquire Delphi's Occupant Protection Systems (OPS) operations in Korea and China. These operations, it says, are expected to generate approximately US$250 million of annualised sales in 2010.
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Hyundai Motor has said that its 2009 net profit more than doubled from the previous year on strong sales and favourable exchange rates. Fourth quarter net profit was almost four times higher than the previous year.
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First amazing spy pictures of all-new 6.0-litre bi-turbo V12-engined supercar!
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