May U.S. auto sales are expected to rebound from an April slowdown, easing concerns of another spring swoon, forecasters said. The light-vehicle seasonally adjusted annual selling rate for this month will be 15.2 million, both LMC Automotive/J.D. Power and Associates and TrueCar.com predicted ...

FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- Shares in Volkswagen, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and Renault, Europe's three largest carmakers, all dropped 5 percent or more after preliminary data showed manufacturing in China is unexpectedly contracting. PSA declined as much as 7.5 percent, VW fell as much as 5.3 percent and

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Bloomberg) -- Ally Financial Inc., the auto lender majority-owned by the U.S. government, agreed to pay $2.1 billion to avoid lawsuits related to its bankrupt mortgage unit, Residential Capital LLC. Under the settlement, Ally will pay $1.95 billion in cash to the ResCap ...

AutoNation Inc.'s lead-referral subsidiary has unveiled an online service that lets consumers search dealership Web sites for new and used vehicles based on monthly payments. When a consumer chooses the desired payment a sales lead is sent to the dealership. The service, Shop-By-Payment, is offered

WASHINGTON -- Two executives at Toyota-affiliated supplier Denso Corp. have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix prices and have agreed to cooperate with a major ongoing criminal investigation of the automotive supply chain, the U.S. Justice Department said. The executives, Yuji Suzuki and

DETROIT (Reuters) -- A boutique automaker led by former General Motors executive Bob Lutz and China's largest auto parts supplier submitted an offer to buy cash-strapped automaker Fisker Automotive, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. VL Automotive and China's Wanxiang Group made an offer

WASHINGTON -- Volkswagen plans to refit more than a quarter million 2009-12 diesel cars to prevent North American customers from mistakenly pumping gasoline into the fuel tanks. The service action covers 209,500 cars in the United States and 51,600 in Canada. Affected models are the TDI versions of

DEL MAR, Calif. -- Kia's first-ever offer of free scheduled maintenance, on the new 2014 Cadenza, shouldn't affect dealership sales of extended-service contracts, the carmaker says. "Overall, the feedback from the dealers has been very positive," said Tom Loveless, executive vice president of sales

Michael Stanton, a longtime lobbyist and a driving force for automakers in public policy, will retire as president and CEO of the Association of Global Automakers in early 2014. Stanton, 68, has represented automakers in Washington and state capitals across the country for more than 35 years, ...

Can the coattails of Fast and Furious 6 and its young, devoted male fans give a boost to Dodge Dart sales? Chrysler Group is counting on it. The Dart doesn't have a role in the action-thriller opening nationwide on Friday, but Dodge is betting a Fast and Furious -like commercial and other marketing

Gentex Corp., a maker of rearview mirrors and electronics parts, said its CFO and vice president of finance has left the company but will remain a consultant with the supplier. Steve Dykman, 47, had been vice president of finance since 2006 and CFO since 2007. He had been with Gentex for nearly 20

For lenders, the average loss for bad auto loans rose in the first quarter, reflecting factors that directly affect dealerships: easier credit and softer used-vehicle prices. "The increase in charge-offs definitely ties to the shift in wholesale values. But it's also because the average amount ...

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) -- Tesla Motors Inc. said it paid off the entire balance of its U.S. government loan given as part of a Department of Energy program to spur development of alternative energy vehicles. "In addition to payments made in 2012 and Q1 2013, today's wire of almost half a billion ...

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- A Swedish prosecutor wants to question former Saab Automobile Chairman Victor Muller as part of an inquiry into suspected tax offenses at the automaker, a Swedish newspaper reported. Earlier this week Jan-Ake Jonsson, Saab's former CEO, ex-Chief Financial Officer Karl-Gustav

(Bloomberg) -- Lamborghini's Egoista concept, unveiled earlier this month at the company's 50th anniversary celebration in Bologna, Italy, isn't planned for production, but it does have a purpose: countering critics who think the automaker has lost some of its design edginess. The one-seat ...

MILAN (Bloomberg) -- The Italian government plans to press Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne over concerns he's shifting the carmaker and heavy truck manufacturer Fiat Industrial away from the country. Industry Minister Flavio Zanonato told newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that he will meet with the CEO next week

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group are scaling back annual summer production shutdowns this year in hopes of boosting output of key models in North America. General Motors declined to disclose specific summer plans. Ford said today it is reducing annual summer shutdowns to one week from

Experian has named John Gray president of its automotive business unit, effective immediately, with responsibility for the strategic direction, leadership and overall growth of the business. Gray, 56, joined the company in 2006 as vice president of sales and client services. He was promoted to ...

DETROIT -- General Motors will price its new Chevrolet Spark electric vehicle at $27,495, including destination charges and before federal tax credits, placing it among the cheapest EVs on the market. GM said today that it kept the sticker price at less than $20,000 after a $7,500 federal tax ...

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen will shut a French research and development facility as part of a program to reduce spending. No jobs will be eliminated in the closing of the complex in the Paris suburb of Meudon-la-Foret, PSA spokeswoman Cecile Damide said today. "We are consolidating our industrial sites so