Big Three, Auto Industry | featured news

The Treasury department said on Tuesday that automaker Chrysler Group LLC has repaid $5.1 billion in bailout loans and ended its ability to draw a remaining $2.1 billion.

Chrysler Group LLC is expected to announce today that it will repay about $7.5 billion in U.S. and Canadian government loans on May 24 -- about a month earlier than it recently said, and years ahead of the original schedule.

General Motors on Tuesday reported that U.S. sales jumped 49 percent last month, aided by sweeter financing and lease deals that drew a response from other major automakers.

Sixty-four former Chrysler dealers sued the U.S. government on Thursday, saying the Obama administration violated their rights by closing their stores during the automaker's bankruptcy without compensation.

General Motors said the payments, worth “upwards of $4,000” for hourly workers, were the largest profit-sharing checks in the automaker’s history.

Sunday’s Super Bowl game saw a powerful ad air for U.S. automaker Chrysler — a company desperately in need of some serious buzz.

General Motors is planning to pay its hourly workers in the U.S. at least $3,000 each under a profit-sharing provision in its UAW contract.

General Motors said that 90% of GM dealers are reporting profits, up from 40% at the end of 2009.

An optimistic Chrysler narrowed its net loss significantly in the fourth quarter and forecast a net profit for 2011 as it continued a comeback from bankruptcy protection.

Ford earned its largest profit in more than a decade in 2010, as demand for its cars and trucks rose and it benefited from years of restructuring.