Auto Industry, Carmaker | featured news

Ford's market analyst said U.S. auto sales are running at the strongest pace since April as vehicle inventories recover for Toyota and Honda.

General Motors said its sales increased 7.6 percent from a year ago. Ford’s were up 6.1 percent and Chrysler’s rose 20.1 percent.

Ford Motor Co plans to build a $900 million production plant in India, doubling its investment in the country, as the U.S. carmaker seeks to catch up with rivals in the second-fastest growing auto market in the world.

To help American carmakers stay in business, autoworkers grudgingly gave up pay raises and some benefits four years ago.

General Motors' sales in China increased 28.8% in 2010 while U.S. sales rose just 6.3%. GM is one of the best-positioned automakers in emerging markets, even better than Toyota, says one expert. General Motors Co. sold more vehicles in China than it did in the U.S.

Investor demand for General Motors stock has been so strong that the company will expand its initial public offering by 31 percent, to 478 million common shares, a person briefed on the sale said Tuesday.

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

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.

While sales were up, overall demand continued to be lower than automakers had expected it to be at this point in the economic recovery.