Auto News 5

Toyota Motor Corp will suspend production at its Russian factory for the third time this year, the automaker said. "In (view) of unstable car market conditions... Full story...

Bernd Pischetsrieder, ex-CEO of Volkswagen, could be a suitable head of a new Opel company independent of U.S. parent General Motors, an Opel dealer group in Germany said. Full story...

Porsche took the wraps off its much-awaited Panamera grand tourer in Shanghai on Sunday, saying it wanted new customers in the luxury performance-car segment to expand its global sales. Full story...

Daimler AG expects China's economic stimulus measures to give sales of luxury cars a major boost this year, making the country an increasingly crucial market as demand slumps elsewhere, a top executive said. Full story...

Chongqing Changan Auto Co., Ford Motor's China partner, is planning acquisitions overseas as it prepares to enter Europe and North America where the industry downturn has hit hard, its chairman said on Sunday. Full story...

General Motors has sent out confidentiality agreements to more than six potential investors for its Opel/Vauxhall unit, CEO Fritz Henderson said. Full story...

General Motors is prepared to part with a controlling stake in Opel/Vauxhall for nothing but a pledge to invest directly in a new company formed from its European operations, the Financial Times said on Sunday, citing two people familiar with... Full story...

The 2009 Honda Accord is a striking 31.3 inches longer than the first Accord that Honda built in 1976. But those extra 31 inches only begin to tell the story of the Accord's march to prominence as a best-selling car in America. Full story...

Steven Rattner, chief of the Obama administration's automotive task force, was described in media reports as the executive who arranged for his firm to pay more than $1.1 million to obtain New York state pension business. Full story...

General Motors sales chief Mark LaNeve is mounting a stout defense of the company's Buick-Pontiac-GMC brand strategy, but that may not offer much consolation to dealers. Full story...

Chrysler may shift minivan production out of its Windsor, Ontario, plant, where it has built the iconic vehicles for a quarter century, and produce small Fiat models there instead. As Fiat S.p.A. Full story...

Ford Motor Co. is offering dealers in its development program, who are mainly black or Hispanic, the chance to buy their stores for $1. Ford will brief dealers on the offer today, April 20. Full story...

An investor group called Telesto Ventures says it wants to acquire Saturn's retail operations and provide dealers with vehicles from General Motors through 2011 and from mostly overseas manufacturers thereafter. Full story...

Los Angeles dealer Viken Keuylian once sold 5 percent of the world's Lamborghinis to a star-studded clientele that included the likes of NBA star Kobe Bryant. Full story...

Tired of reading just the headlines on your weekly Automotive News e-mail newsletter? Can't seem to wrestle the office copy away from the honchos? This week is all about you. Usually our Web site is fully accessible only to paid subscribers. Full story...

The credit crisis and other financial problems are accelerating General Motors and Chrysler LLC dealership closings. Full story...

The growing likelihood that General Motors and Chrysler LLC will land in Bankruptcy Court has sent a wave of fear through U.S. auto dealers. Many GM and Chrysler dealers are protecting themselves by cutting inventory and factory orders. Full story...

Today on Parliament Hill, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) renewed its call for the implementation of a robust vehicle scrappage program at the federal level. Since November of last year, vehicle sales have been in steep decline in Canada and all of the other measures taken in support of the auto industry to date could be for naught if the demand side of the issue is not addressed. A fleet renewal program that is more signifigant than the current $300 program would do much to stimulate sales in Canada. Full story...

On Monday, the FIA backed team Williams Adam Parr's claim that Ferrari said it fielded technically illegal cars in formula one. Full story...

The entry list for the next Indianapolis 500 includes a total of 40 cars that will fight to get into one of the 33 grid positions. Full story...