Big Three | featured news

General Motors said its domestic sales in April rose 20% for the four brands the company is keeping thanks to continued strength in crossover vehicles and cars.

"The company has shed dead weight, cut down its debt and slimmed its dealer network in order to be a more healthy business, but those moves have officially knocked The General from the top 10 of Fortune Magazine's fabled 500 list."

Chrysler Group LLC lost a staggering $3.8 billion from the time it left bankruptcy protection June 10 through the end of last year, but the automaker says its fortunes have improved.

Ford said European sales rose sharply in March, lifting its market share to a 12-year high, and the company said it is pressing for continued government incentives for car buying.

General Motors says it will proceed with the shutdown of the HUMMER brand, but TheCarConnection has confirmed that an American company has twice expressed interest in a HUMMER deal--both before and after a failed bid from a Chinese company.

G.M. said Wednesday that it had positive cash flow of $1 billion in the six months after it emerged from bankruptcy protection last July, but that it lost $4.3 billion in that period, mostly because of the cost of settling with the United Auto Workers union over retiree health benefits, one of the burdens that helped bring the company to its knees.

Ford and GM report an increase of 43% for the month. And Honda is up 22% compared with a year ago as automakers keep pace with incentives offered by troubled Toyota.

Chrysler Group LLC Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne reiterated that the auto maker "intends to break even" on an operating basis this year and will hit its target of selling 1.1 million new vehicles in the U.S.

Ford Motor reached an agreement to sell its Volvo subsidiary to a Chinese conglomerate for $1.8 billion.

General Motors Co. will reinstate more than half the dealerships it targeted to drop from its network. GM executives said Friday that about 600 dealerships out of the 1,100 seeking to stay with GM will receive letters giving them the option to remain with the automaker.