Auto News 5

Roger Penske, chairman of the second largest US auto dealer company, Penske Group, and a recent bidder for General Motors' Saturn unit, is considering buying GM, Chrysler and Ford dealerships but said the Detroit three and their retailers needed stronger support from finance partners. Full story...

Full year 2009 vehicle sales by Hong Kong listed Geely Automobile Holdings rose 59% to 325,413 units, China's largest privately owned automaker said in a statement on Thursday. Full story...

Nissan North America (NNA) is predicting electric vehicles will account for 10% of its global sales by 2020. Full story...

Renault on Thursday reported 2009 sales dropped 3.1% year on year to 2.3m vehicles. Full story...

The Italian government is considering a new incentive scheme to support the Italian car market amid fears that it would see a big fall without them, an analyst told just-auto today. Full story...

GAZ Group is looking for a foreign partner to help it overhaul production and boost sales said the Russian carmaker's president Bo Andersson. Full story...

Toyota has established a division to speed development of next generation batteries. Full story...

GM Daewoo, the South Korea-based unit of General Motors, expects to return to profitability in 2010, company president and chief executive Mike Arcamone told the Reuters News Agency. Full story...

Car sales in Russia will remain flat this year after halving in 2009, according to the Association of European Businesses (AEB) even though the government's new scrappage incentive is due to kick-in during March. Full story...

For the past ten years, just-auto has reported on the novel innovations emanating from Johnson Controls, one of the world's largest manufacturers of cockpit systems, including instrument panels and clusters, information displays and body controllers, among other technologies. Matthew Beecham talked with Thomas Beer, senior product business manager, global product centre cockpit systems, Johnson Controls and Gert-Dieter Tuzar, principal designer HMI (Human Machine Interface), Johnson Controls, about meeting consumer expectations for the cockpit, the increasing use of infotainment and information assistant systems that relieve the cognitive burden on drivers and the importance of good HMI concepts. Full story...

Höegh Autoliners, one of the world's largest operators in the rolling stock and vehicle transportation segment, has added the port of Charleston, South Carolina, to its Middle East service, and the first ship to dock will leave with US-built BMWs bound for export markets. Full story...

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has said a decision to shut down the company's plant in Sicily was "irreversible", reiterating comments he made on 1 December. Full story...

Magna International has forecast full year 2010 consolidated sales between US$19.5b and $20.5 billion, based on light vehicle production volumes of about 10.3m units in North America and 11.4m units in Europe. Full story...

Ontario is providing consumers with improved protections when they buy or lease new and used cars. Full story...

Need to transport up to eight occupants but can't stomach the 'v' word? (That's 'v,' as in van. Of course if it were the other 'v' word, you may not need to transport eight!). Minivans offer a space/usage ratio that's impossible to beat. Unfortunately, these plebian workhorses of the modern family fail to deliver on the recreational front with the same resourcefulness of a four-wheel-drive SUV. Full story...

MONTREAL, - Canadian drivers will enjoy their first look at the go-anywhere, do-anything luxury SUV at the Montreal International Auto Show. That's where the next-generation, all-new 2010 Lexus GX 460 makes its Canadian auto show debut. . Full story...

Bernie Ecclestone has reiterated his view that at least two of F1's new teams are not likely to make their debuts as scheduled in March. Full story...

Two Korean tyre manufacturers are reportedly interested in becoming the sport's new official tyre supplier for the three-year tenure beginning in 2011. Full story...

Kimi Raikkonen completed his first test session with the Citroen C4 he will drive in the 2010 World Rally Championship. Full story...

Two NASCAR Sprint Cup tracks have changed the race distances of their races this year. Full story...