Nissan halves profit outlook, trims production and workforce
queryvar=”nissan,halves,profit,outlook,trims,production,and,workforce”;

Hans Greimel
Automotive News | October 31, 2008 – 8:10 am EST
 
 
TOKYO — Nissan Motor Co. was the latest automaker to slash its earnings outlook, saying it will cut output and its workforce to bring inventory into line with tumbling U.S. demand.
The company halved its earlier profit forecasts [...]

 
Nissan offers 0%, lease initiatives
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Lindsay Chappell
Automotive News | October 31, 2008 – 8:15 am EST

ENLARGE

Nissan is offering 0% financing on the Rogue and other vehicles.

 
NASHVILLE — Nissan North America is [...]

Friday, October 31, 2008
Chrysler sues Johnson Controls for leaving lead out of batteries
Associated Press
DETROIT – Chrysler LLC is suing its battery supplier for millions of dollars. The issue? Lead.
Chrysler says Johnson Controls Inc. has been charging it for lead that doesn’t end up in the batteries.
The Auburn Hills-based car company says it became suspicious last [...]

Friday, October 31, 2008
GM readjusts Flint plant production
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. will idle workers who produce medium-duty commercial trucks at the Flint Assembly plant for two weeks in January, the company said today.
Meanwhile, the automaker also has announced two days of overtime in December for workers on two shifts at the [...]

Friday, October 31, 2008
Michigan cancels meeting on GM-Chrysler deal
Associated Press
WARREN – Michigan has canceled a meeting of local governments to discuss the possible merger of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.
The Michigan Economic Development Corp. said Friday’s planned meeting at Warren City Hall will be rescheduled.
Officials from cities with Chrysler or GM facilities within their [...]

Friday, October 31, 2008
Nissan reports 39 percent drop in quarterly profit
Yuri Kageyama / Associated Press
TOKYO – Nissan reported a 39 percent drop in fiscal second quarter profit Friday, as a strong yen and a contraction in the U.S. market combined to batter earnings at Japan’s No. 3 automaker.
Japanese automakers have been more resilient in avoiding [...]

Thursday, October 30, 2008
Obama: I’ll meet with Detroit automakers immediately
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Thursday he would immediately meet with the heads of Detroit’s automakers and union once he takes office, telling NBC News, "We do need American cars."
Obama’s comments came in an interview with anchor Brian Williams [...]

Govs push fed aid for Big 3
Granholm, five others lobby for quick funding; Obama says he’ll be personally involved in helping industry if elected.
Robert Snell, Mark Hornbeck and Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and five other governors called on Washington on Thursday to take "immediate action" to help the country’s struggling auto [...]

Sources: GM, Chrysler merger on hold
queryvar=”sources:,gm,chrysler,merger,on,hold”;

Automotive News
October 31, 2008 – 1:00 am ET

 
DETROIT (Reuters) — A deal to merge General Motors and Chrysler has hit an impasse after the Bush administration ruled out funding for it, three people with direct knowledge of the talks said.
This puts any merger of the struggling automakers on hold [...]

U.S. Treasury not negotiating aid for GM merger
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Automotive News | October 30, 2008 – 6:45 pm EST

 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. Treasury Department is not negotiating with General Motors and the owners of Chrysler LLC on a request to provide direct government aid to their proposed merger, a Bush administration official said today.
Instead, the administration [...]

Thursday, October 30, 2008
Daniel Howes
Chrysler workers in limbo

Kenneth Mefford isn’t the only autoworker toiling in the plants of Detroit’s diminishing three who’s unsure what the most perilous times in generations will bring.
There are thousands more — too young to retire, too old to want to start over and unable to control the unfurling economic forces [...]

Thursday, October 30, 2008
Lease perks anger workers
Despite cutbacks, automakers continue to offer subsidized vehicles for many of their managers.
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
As Detroit’s Big Three shutter factories, slash jobs and trim benefits, one executive perk remains: subsidized cars and trucks for management, often with insurance, maintenance and gasoline included.
Bonuses have been frozen, [...]

Thursday, October 30, 2008
Investors warm up to GM-Chrysler
Securing fed aid could pave way for private financing of complex deal.
Christine Tierney and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Private investors have shown interest in General Motors Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Chrysler LLC and may help finance the deal if the U.S. government agrees to provide funds, sources [...]

Posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 11:52AM by

 
Janice Putman
After the smoke clears, it’s time for America, Inc.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit.
By now it should be obvious to even the most casual observers that the domestic automobile industry is on the verge of total collapse. Already reeling from the gas spike earlier in the [...]

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
GM falls further behind Toyota
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
DETROIT – General Motors Corp. reported this morning it sold more than 2.1 million vehicles globally during the third quarter, down 11.4 percent from last year.
Through September, GM sold 6.7 million vehicles compared with 7.051 million for Toyota, which expanded its lead in [...]