Auto Industry, Automaker | featured news

Despite an unexpected slowdown in sales earlier this year, the Chinese auto market is expected to hit an industry-record 20 million vehicles this year – prompting manufacturers to announce billions of dollars in new factory investments designed to keep up with booming demand.

GM (GM) posted a profit of $1 billion in the first quarter, beating Wall Street expectations on strong demand in its key North American market. GM also said the U.S. economy was improving and it expected its core North American results in the second and third quarters to largely match the first quarter due to scheduled downtime at its large truck plants.

In seeking support in Michigan, Obama speaks frequently about how the federal bailout of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group led to GM's resurgence as the world's No. 1 automaker and 32,000 more auto-related jobs in the state since the companies emerged from their 2009 managed bankruptcies. Romney opposed the move, even writing a New York Times opinion piece in 2008 that carried the headline "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."

After several years of heavily discounting their products, automakers are finding themselves back in the driver’s seat – pushing prices to record levels.

Saab Automobile left behind debts of $2 billion backed by assets of just $500 million, a final indication of the scale of the defunct company's collapse last December.

The jobs were there, more than 1,000, with everyone from the Detroit automakers to Korea’s Hyundai looking to hire. What was missing were the job-seekers.

The auto industry looks set to ride the appeal of smaller cars to its best monthly performance since 2008. Chrysler reported a 34 percent increase in March auto sales.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it is recalling more than 681,000 cars and trucks in the U.S. market to address potential problems.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally netted $34.5 million worth of company shares as a reward for leading the auto maker's turnaround.

General Motors will halt production of the Chevrolet Volt.The automaker has told 1,300 workers at its Detroit Hamtramck plant that they will be out of work for about five weeks.