Ford, Carmaker | featured news

October was a relatively good month for the auto industry, which is trying to build momentum in what has been a slow recovery.

The most problem-free cars and trucks are made by Honda and Toyota, but Ford is closing in fast and General Motors is making big quality improvements, according to Consumer Reports magazine's 2010 reliability rankings.

Ford Motor Co. is on a roll. Its popular new cars and trucks are grabbing a bigger share of the U.S. market. It's about to erase a big portion of its health care debts. And Ford is adding a significant number of jobs for the first time in years.

General Motors and Chrysler are beginning to make some headway after getting a financial and operational overhaul compliments of the U.S. bankruptcy court.

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

Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy court, clawed its way to a $2.7 billion profit in 2009 and expects to stay in the black in 2010. It was the automaker's first annual profit in four years.

Automaker says earnings were fueled by cost cuts and Cash for Clunkers rebates.

Changes to the workers’ contract that would have allowed cuts appeared headed for certain defeat.

One-time restructuring gains gave Ford a quarterly profit of $2.3 billion, despite a loss at its automotive operations.