Auto News 5

Despite its liquidity struggles, General Motors is answering dealers' pleas to pay bonus cash earlier than it had intended. Full story...

The industry's dramatic upheaval has forced carmakers to rethink their manufacturing strategies, focusing more than ever on speed and flexibility. Full story...

The employees of Allen Patch's dealership in Scottsbluff, Neb., were in for a shock when they showed up for work on March 9. Not only was the entire new-vehicle inventory missing, but Patch and two of his top managers had vanished, too. Full story...

A number of Chrysler LLC suppliers are at risk of financial collapse within "days if not weeks," the company's senior procurement officials said last week. Full story...

Yasunari Seki was just sitting down at a Chinese restaurant in Torrance, Calif., with fellow engineers from Honda Motor Co. when the call came from across the Pacific. Full story...

Round One of Pickup Battle 2009 went to Ford Motor Co. as it ate up market share late last year after introducing the re-engineered 2009 F-150. Full story...

Not only are Toyota Division's new-vehicle sales plunging, but so are residual values on its used cars and trucks. That is depriving Toyota of one of its best marketing tools: the healthy residuals the brand long has been able to brag about. Full story...

Three years ago, Gary Linam recalls wistfully, his retail auto business was a "jet at full throttle, going straight up." Today, the jet is crashing toward Earth. In 2006, Linam's Suzuki dealership in Huntsville, Ala. Full story...

With only a few holdouts, the import brands are leaning heavily on incentives to avoid ballooning inventories of unsold vehicles. Full story...

Nervous about the viability of its largest Tier 1 suppliers, General Motors last week launched an unprecedented program to make direct payments to Tier 2 suppliers. Full story...

Honda's luxury division is jumping on the 'crossover coupe' bandwagon with its new model pictured here. The teaser image clearly shows a severely sloping rear window and bulging rear fenders. The rear doors feature concealed handles to make the vehicle look more like a coupe. Full story...

Formula 1 team BMW-Sauber would like to see formula one's minimum car weight increased due to the introduction of the KERS system. Full story...

Renault's Fernando Alonso set today, Monday the fastest lap time around the Spanish circuit of Jerez of the last test session leading to the 2009 Formula 1 season. Full story...

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has covered 9,445 kilometres in testing with the F1.09 in Valencia, Sakhir, Jerez and Barcelona in preparation for the team's fourth season in Formula One. Here is Interview with BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. Full story...

Executives of the Toyota Motor Corporation considered following fellow struggling Japanese carmaker out of formula one, a top chief of the Cologne based team has admitted. Full story...

Brawn GP is the third Formula 1 team whose diffuser design for its 2009 car has been questioned by F1 rivals, including Renault's Flavio Briatore. Full story...

The owner and director of Brawn GP Formula 1 team Ross Brawn has plainly rejected speculation his Brackley based team is artificially topping the test timesheets. Full story...

Spring is right around the corner -- March 20, at 11:44 am to be exact. Yet, starting yesterday, March 15, Quebecers can legally remove their winter tires if they so choose! Full story...

HIROSHIMA, Japan--Mazda Motor Corporation's sporty SUV, the Mazda CX-7, will be the first passenger vehicle produced by a Japanese automaker to be equipped with a urea selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. Mazda's SCR is smaller than previous systems, which is a significant improvement that enables it to be installed in passenger cars. It will be combined with Mazda's newly developed clean, highly efficient MZR-CD 2.2L turbo diesel engine. Full story...

Just when one thought it couldn't get any closer than Saturday's Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner (ST) race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Billy Johnson and Andy Lally nearly did so in Sunday's Grand Sport (GS) race, the second of two KONI Challenge races in the Grand-Am Fan Appreciation Weekend. Full story...