- The potential merits of Volkswagen buying Fiat, Chrysler and Alfa – Autocar: Fiat has denied rumours that it’s been in discussions with VW about the sale of Fiat, Chrysler and Alfa, but such a plan could benefit all involved. Interesting news has been emerging, from Germany’s Manager Magazin, that the VW Group has been talking to Fiat about buying Fiat, Chrysler and Alfa. Firstly let’s be clear that Fiat has flatly denied it and company boss Sergio Marchionne has mentioned to us many times that ‘he talks to other car companies all of the time’.
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Electric cars: BMW versus Tesla – FT: As BMW, Porsche and others move further into electric car production, can Tesla afford to share the road with these upscale automakers?
- LG Chem to supply batteries for 200-mile electric cars in 2016-CFO – Reuters: South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd plans to supply batteries for electric vehicles that can travel more than 200 miles (321 kilometers) per charge in 2016, its chief financial officer said on Friday.
- Truck Maker Volvo’s Order Intake Falls – WSJ: Swedish truck maker Volvo said European demand is recovering more slowly than expected and order intake dropped 6% during the second quarter, overshadowing positive trends in Japan and North America.
- Embattled legal chief tests GM’s culture of loyalty – DetN: Score two for the Senate in the deadly ignition-switch recall case of prosecutors-turned-senators vs. GM’s chief lawyer.
- Senator: ‘How in the world’ did top GM lawyer keep job? – DetN: General Motors top lawyer came under harsh criticism as the head of a Senate panel investigating GM’s ignition switch recall questioned why he wasn’t fired.
- At Hearing on G.M. Recall, Mary Barra Gives Little Ground – NY Times: As senator after senator offered more criticism of General Motors, Ms. Barra, G.M.’s chief executive, signaled that there were limits to what the company would do.
- Senate panel praises GM CEO Barra for handling of recall crisis – DetN: General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra, who was grilled during her first Senate appearance earlier this year on the ignition switch recall, faced a less contentious panel Thursday, as several senators praised her for stepping up and dealing with the crisis.
- Lexus considers a smaller SUV below the new NX – Autocar: Japanese company’s plans to downsize current model range could lead to a new sports-utility vehicle below the mid-sized NX. Lexus could launch an SUV smaller than the new NX as it looks to downsize its model range, the firm’s European vice president Alain Uyttenhoven has revealed. Uyttenhoven said the launch of a small SUV was “not impossible” for Lexus and such a model “made sense” for the brand, but he stopped short of confirming it for production.
- Study: Ford’s new aluminum F-150 piques truck drivers’ interest – DetN: A new study says most pickup owners don’t care whether their truck is made of aluminum or steel, but there is great interest in Ford Motor Co.’s new aluminum F-150.
- Daimler Announces Details for 2016 Smart Fortwo and the Forfour – NY Times: The 2016 Smart Fortwo is due in dealerships in the United States by fall of next year; no announcement has been made regarding when the Forfour will arrive in the United States.
- VW says acquisitions not on agenda as Fiat denies talks report – DetN: Volkswagen AG said takeovers aren’t on the agenda at the moment after both Fiat SpA and its biggest investor denied a magazine report that Europe’s largest carmaker made an approach to buy all or part of the Italian competitor.
- Fiat, VW Deny Merger Talks – thedetroitbureau.com: VW has had a voracious appetite for acquisitions, snapping up everything from Bentley to Porsche. So, there was a flurry of interest when a major German business magazine reported VW was seeking to take over Fiat Chrysler. But both makers are denying the story.
- Senators to GM: Why wasn’t top lawyer fired? – Reuters: Senators on Thursday demanded to know why General Motors Co did not fire its top lawyer after it was revealed this year that the automaker’s litigation department knew of a widespread and deadly ignition flaw but failed to escalate the safety issue.
- ’15 Ford Mustang V-8 to pump out 435 hp – Automotive News: The 5.0-liter V-8 engine in the 2015 Ford Mustang will crank out 435 hp, up from 420 hp, and provide torque of 400 pounds-feet, up from 390 on the current model, the company said today.
- GM, Delphi Testify on Ignition Switch; Industry Issue May Exist – Wards: Delphi CEO Rodney O’Neal, supplier of the ignition switch, reveals that of the 120,000 engineering changes requested by automakers last year only 40% included an updated part number.
- Senators Introduce Bill to Fine Auto Executives Over Recalls – Via Google News: Two U.S. Senators introduced a bill that would give fines or prison sentences to executives at automakers who hide safety problems or recalls.
- General Motors legal team comes under fire at Senate hearing – Washington Post: General Motors chief executive Mary Barra on Thursday defended her efforts to transform the automaker’s internal culture amid a mounting safety crisis, rebuffing calls from several senators that she fire her top lawyer for his role in the company’s failure to respond to a deadly ignition switch defect for more than a decade.
- Senator accuses GM of ‘stunning’ failure – FT: Legal department failed to alert senior execs of four separate instances where lawyers warned the carmaker could face punitive damages over crashes