General Motors, Automaker | featured news

March is turning out to be the best month for auto sales in at least six years. Major automakers including Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, General Motors and Nissan all reported increases, with some reporting their best monthly totals since the start of the Great Recession in December of 2007.

Toyota has once again dethroned General Motors as the world's top-selling automaker. The Japanese company sold 9.7 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, although it's still counting. GM sold 9.29 million.

The U.S. government's short stint in the auto business is coming to an end. The Treasury Department said Wednesday that it will sell its remaining stake in General Motors by early 2014, writing the final chapter of a $50 billion bailout that saved the auto giant but stoked a heated national debate about the government's role in private industry.

General Motors' Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car topped Consumer Reports' annual owner-satisfaction survey for the second straight year. Ninety-two percent of Volt owners surveyed said they would definitely buy the Volt again.

General Motors Co on Wednesday posted a far stronger-than-expected profit and said it was targeting a return to break-even levels in its money-losing European operations by mid-decade after a loss of as much as $1.8 billion in that region this year.

General Motors Co. announced on Friday a big recall of Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn mid-size sedans to fix a transmission problem that could cause the cars to roll away after the driver has left the vehicle.

Strong pickup demand fueled a big jump in U.S. auto sales last month. GM's August U.S. sales rose 10 percent compared with a year earlier, while Ford's rose 13 percent and Chrysler's 14 percent. Most automakers reported strong gains as Americans flowed into dealer showrooms, drawn by model-year closeouts, low-interest financing and appealing new models. Analysts expect overall sales to rise around 20 percent when companies finish reported later Tuesday.

Dutch sportscar maker Spyker said on Wednesday that General Motors has been served with the complaint that Spyker filed against it earlier this week and that GM is due to respond by August 28.

Dutch sportscar maker Spyker is suing General Motors for $3 billion on behalf of its subsidiary Saab, accusing the U.S. automaker of deliberately bankrupting the Swedish group by blocking a deal with a Chinese investor.

General Motors said Thursday that its second-quarter profit fell 41 percent as losses in Europe and South America cut into strong North American earnings.