Auto News 5

Mercedes plans to sell a small van based on a Renault Kangoo platform starting late next year. Full story...

Audi says it will decide on whether to build cars in the U.S. by 2015 and will increase capacity in its European factories as it aims to topple BMW as the world's top-selling luxury brand. Full story...

A year of transition promises to give way to a year of renewal for Lamborghini. Full story...

The small, rectangle-shaped roof window is being outshone by more eye-catching roof designs. The design emphasis these days is less on the old tilt and slide sunroofs and more on glass roofs stretching the length of the car and smart combinations of convertible and glass roofs. In this interview, Matthew Beecham talked with Jan Just, executive vice president of Magna Car Top Systems about the company's latest roof designs. Full story...

Tiny T.27 electric car passes EEC 40mph crash test with flying colours.

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The steady revaluation of the Colombian peso versus the US dollar and the free trade agreement with Mexico (therefore no tariffs on vehicle imports) helped take 2010 new car sales to a record 253,869. Full story...

VW will likely resist union calls for 6 percent more pay for 100,000 German workers as Europe's largest carmaker and the IG Metall labor union meet today for a first set of wage negotiations. VW wants pay increases to follow a 2. Full story...

Steve Girsky, like most other General Motors executives at last week's Detroit motor show, was upbeat as he brought the group of European journalists clustered around the long table up to date on where GM is today and where he fits into the grand scheme of life post-Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Full story...

Russia's new-car market, helped by additions to the government's fund for trade-in incentives, finished 2010 on track to revisit pre-crisis sales levels over the next two years and challenge Germany for the title of Europe's biggest car-sales... Full story...

Mazda set to take on the Audi Q5 and BMW X1 with small SUV based on Minagi concept.

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South Korea's Hyundai-Kia group, with its 'hungry' dealers and showrooms brimming with new products in new segments, eased past troubled Toyota Motor Corp. in 2010 to take the title of Asian sales leader in Europe for the first time. Full story...

Volkswagen is in talks with its Chinese partners about developing a local brand as its rivals prepare to launch sales of new models specially created for the Chinese market. Full story...

Fiat brand CEO Andrea Formica has lured his former boss at Toyota Europe, Thierry Dombreval, out of retirement to help end a steep decline in the Italian automaker's European sales. Full story...

Daihatsu will stop sales of new vehicles in Europe. The company said the strong yen has made exporting vehicles to Europe from Japan too unprofitable. Full story...

Mazda will unveil the Minagi compact crossover concept at the Geneva auto show in March. The concept will showcase the automaker's new design theme, which it calls Kodo, or "Soul of Motion." Full story...

Vehicle sales in China -- already the world's largest market -- will soar to 40 million units a year over the next decade, a senior Chinese auto executive predicted. Full story...

Before the Great Crash, North American automakers and suppliers generally feuded over component prices. Nowadays, intellectual property rights may be the new flash point. Full story...

Kicking the carbs? No problem. But the auto industry's best-known chain smoker is having trouble booting the butts. Full story...

As Saab's U.S. sales continue to slip, it's changing its marketing operations. Saab has confirmed it will conduct an ad agency review in the spring. The review follows the resignation of Mike Colleran as Saab Cars North America's COO on Jan. 7. Full story...

Volkswagen Group will focus on improving its core lineup rather than entering new segments as it seeks more U.S. market share. Full story...