U.S. electric sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, two sources familiar with the matter said, amid growing interest in green technology and battery-powered vehicles.

Ford Motor Co plans to invest 4 billion reais ($2.26 billion) in Brazil to boost output as record-low borrowing costs and a recovery in Latin America's largest economy stoke demand for new cars, Mark Fields, the company's president for the Americas, said on Friday.

Spain's industry minister on Friday said after meeting with a top General Motors executive that no more jobs would be cut at a GM Opel plant near Zaragoza than previously agreed with former prospective buyer Magna.

The supervisory board of indebted automotive holding Porsche SE signed off on a contract to merge with its majority-owned, cash-rich subsidiary Volkswagen by 2011, Porsche said on Friday.

Chrysler Group LLC on Friday launched a year-end sale for nearly all of its 2010 model year vehicles with zero percent financing or up to $4,000 cash to draw customers during the typically slower winter months.

Fiat SpA may have to close factories in Italy, given sharp falls in auto sales which have changed the sector dramatically, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday.

Ford Motor Co, the No. 2 U.S.-based automaker, plans to invest 2.8 billion reais ($1.61 billion) in Brazil to boost output at two plants by 20 percent, a top company executive said on Friday.

Former major league manager Davey Johnson has been named senior advisor to Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo, the team said Wednesday in a statement.

General Motors Co posted a quarterly loss on Monday but said stabilizing sales since its bankruptcy would allow it to begin paying down $8.1 billion in debt to the United States and Canada next month.

The supervisory board of Volkswagen is set to approve on Thursday contracts drafted for a merger with indebted parent Porsche SE and the partial acquisition of Porsche's sports car business, sources close to the matter told Reuters.

General Motors Co. will announce on Monday it plans to start repaying a $6.7 billion loan to the U.S. Treasury by year-end due to modest operating improvements, a source knowledgeable about the situation said.

Japan's Honda Motor Co will halt output of motorcycles in Spain at the end of March reflecting steep downturn in Europe, with bike output in Europe to move to Italy, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

Swedish carmaker Koenigsegg will terminate more than a third of U.S. Saab dealers when it completes its purchase of the premium brand from General Motors Co, GM said in a letter to dealers on Thursday.

EU ambassadors failed to approve a genetically-modified maize made by Swiss firm Syngenta in talks on Friday, meaning the application will now be sent to EU ministers for a decision next week.

Toyota Motor Corp will soon offer to fix the accelerator pedals of up to 4 million vehicles in the United States that are subject to the company's largest ever safety recall, Kyodo News reported on Saturday.

U.S. auto sales in November will not fall back below levels seen in October, the chief U.S. sales analyst for Ford Motor Co said on Friday.

German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said on Thursday U.S. carmaker General Motors Co does not need state aid for its European unit Opel because the company can shoulder the cost of restructuring by itself.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, but forecast earnings during the key holiday quarter that could miss Wall Street estimates as its customers face rising unemployment.

BMW and its partner, the state parent of Brilliance China Automotive, will invest $735 million to expand their capacity in the world's largest vehicle market.