Fiat debt grew by about EUR1bn in 2012 as European car sales fell 14%, leaving the carmaker ever more dependent on strong growth at its Chrysler US unit in the US.
Opel named Karl-Thomas Neumann as its new CEO. Neumann, 51, a former head of Volkswagen China and the supplier Continental, will take up the post on March 1.
GM's Opel unit appointed Karl-Thomas Neumann as its top executive, tasking the former Volkswagen AG manager with ending years of losses at the German subsidiary.
Fiat will discuss long-delayed investments at its Mirafiori factory in coming months, CISL union leader Raffaele Bonanni said after a meeting with Fiat management.
Chinese supplier Wanxiang Group, which just won approval to acquire battery maker A123 Systems, said it now wants to help support A123's main customer, Fisker Automotive, the financally troubled plug-in hybrid sports car maker.
One of the most unusual press conferences at the recent Detroit Auto Show saw a broad coalition of the UAW labour body, civil rights activists, politicians, Baptist Ministers and the Hollywood actor, Danny Glover, gather to protest against what they claim is Nissan's reluctance to allow its Canton, Mississippi workers to unionise.
General Motors will spend $200m at its global powertrain engineering headquarters to build a new 138,000 sq ft test wing, expected to be completed during the second half of 2014.
Honda Motor said it all but tripled operating profit for the fiscal third quarter ended 31 December, 2012 to JPY131.9bn yen. The 198% year on year rise was due to recovery from the impact of the Thai floods in 2011 and an increase in car sale, mainly in North America.
Daimler will sign a deal in Germany on Friday to take a 10 percent to 20 percent stake in Beijing Automotive Group's car unit, China's National Business Daily newspaper said on Thursday.
Honda cut its full-year profit forecast as lower sales in China and Europe overshadowed the benefits from the weaker yen. Net income will likely be 370 billion yen ($4.
Marussia F1 will unveil its MR02 on Tuesday morning, in Jerez' pitlane.
On the morning of the opening test day, Marussia will launch its first car entirely designed under a new technical structure, featuring Pat Symonds, using wind tunnel technology.
With Timo Glock's departure, the young Max Chilton is the only driver officially signed by Marussia for 2013.
The Brazilian Luiz Razia is reportedly strongly linked to the second seat, even his management say no decision has been made.
Thanks to Lincoln, this year's Super Bowl will feature the first-ever commercial written entirely through social media with consumers participating on Twitter.
Late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon, who's producing the commercial, asked his followers to tweet responses to his questions about road trips full of unexpected events -- all in 140 characters or less, obviously.
The best contributions were chosen from more than 6,000 tweets to write a script for the 30-second spot that will air during the third quarter. A longer 90-second version will be available on SteertheScript.com.
Ford's luxury division recently launched the all-new 2013 Lincoln MKZ and will add three more vehicles in the next four years.
Scuderia Ferrari has reached a sponsorship agreement with Weichai Power, one of China's leading manufacturer of heavy powertrain system and machinery vehicles.
The agreement will last four years and will expire at the end of the 2016 sporting season.
Weichai Power, part of the Weichai Group, is the first Scuderia sponsor to come from China, where Ferrari has had a presence for over twenty years and which has become one of the main markets for Prancing Horse road cars.
He had told Dutch magazine Formule1 that he is not required by his new Swiss employer for the forthcoming winter test period, and it "looks unlikely I will be used during the Friday practice sessions".
"And Sauber has no simulator so I can't gain experience in that way," added Frijns.
Robin Frijns aboard the Sauber C31 in Abu Dhabi. (Photo: WRi2)
Monisha Kaltenborn reacted to Frijn's comments by excusing his implied criticism.
"Robin is still young," she told the Swiss newspaper Blick, "so we should not place his every word on golden scales. He said what he said, but he is also irritated because he has not yet found a place in GP2 for this season."
"The development (programmes) for the young drivers is a real problem," Kaltenborn continued. "The best thing for each team would be to give every reserve driver at least one go on a Friday (practice session)."
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