Auto News 5

Volkswagen AG warned that business is becoming "difficult" after reporting its weakest monthly growth rate so far this year. The world's third-largest carmaker said on Friday it had delivered 572,200 vehicles in July, up 2. Full story...

Mahindra & Mahindra's proposed takeover of Ssangyong Motor could be inked within weeks following news the Indian automaker was the preferred bidder. Full story...

Dongfeng Automobile plans to invest CNY3bn (US$442.9m) to develop and build up capacity for green vehicles over the next five years, a Chinese media report said on Friday. Full story...

GM Daewoo Auto & Technology has called in its South Korean suppliers for key quality talks aimed at achieving zero defects in new products such as the Alpheon luxury sedan. Full story...

Russia's own satellite navigation system - a new competitor to the US Global Positioning System (GPS) - is likely to get a competitive edge in its domestic market under a plan by prime minister Vladimir Putin to tax rival systems. Full story...

Governments owning shares in GM will be offering them for sale any minute now. The American people want it off the books as fast as possible and who can blame them? There is a window of opportunity because car demand and equity demand are both reasonably strong. They could weaken any day. Full story...

Are Rolls-Royce customers ready for a hybrid? How about diesel? Full story...

Fans of German sheetmetal congregated at the West Coast Summer Concours, Legends of the Autobahn, on a breezy Friday afternoon in Carmel Valley, Calif., as part of vintage car week. Full story...

We get exclusive access to elegant new Mondeo challenger Full story...

Canadian-Austrian car parts supplier Magna International Inc. is in advanced talks to build a joint battery plant for electric cars with Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp., an Austrian newspaper reported on Friday. Full story...

General Motors Co.' Full story...

GM's board and bankers pressed CEO Ed Whitacre to either leave the automaker or commit to stay for years more to help them sell investors on the company's initial public offering, three people with direct knowledge of the talks said Thursday. Full story...

In tapping longtime telecom executive Daniel Akerson as its next CEO, succeeding Ed Whitacre, GM directors are intent on keeping the automaker on the same, new course a year after it exited U.S. bankruptcy. Full story...

GM's planned IPO may be 'a tad earlier than people would like,' said the former head of President Barack Obama's automotive task force. Full story...

Dan Akerson arrives at General Motors Co. as CEO with the same mandate given his predecessor just eight months ago: Bring new leadership to an automaker still struggling with the legacy of its government bailout. Full story...

Two weeks after its ownership changed hands from U.S. car giant Ford to Chinese powerhouse Geely, Volvo is restructuring its ad agency relationships to mimic what other global auto manufacturers have: a dedicated unit to serve its marketing needs. Full story...

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. won't proceed with a plan to buy control of London black cab maker Manganese Bronze Holdings Plc., the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday. Full story...

And there it is ladies and gentlemen! The ultra-seductive, highly-desirable Porsche 918 Spyder! And it's a hybrid! Yes, a hybrid. This car may very well redefine the hybrid: what it is, what it's for and why it is. This car is as far removed from the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight as Pluto is from the Sun. Yet, this car is greener, in all senses of the word, than all subcompact cars you can purchase now in North America. Full story...

Part of the perk of being an invited guest of the prestigious Stuggart-based brand is the ability to drive some of their latest, if not all or nearly, of their current product line. Having been fortunate enough to spend some considerable amount of time (although it's never enough) at the wheel of many of their most recent creations, such as the Panamera and 911 Turbo S, I concentrated on the new Cayenne. Full story...

I'm a fan of the Mustang. A realig one. In fact, when I was a baby, the sound of the muscle car would lull me to sleep. In the 1960s (and I won't be more precise than that!) my dad bought his first Mustang. Full story...