Brett LoGiurato

French oil giant Total has acquired a $2.32 billion stake in Chesapeake Energy Corporation's Utica shale region in Ohio, a move that signifies an increasing shift toward new energy sources as crude oil prices continue to rise.

Only a day after announcing it would impose a $2 fee for one-time online and telephone bill payments, Verizon Wireless on Friday scrapped the plan because of consumer backlash.

Ford Motor Co. said Friday that vehicle sales of its brand topped the 2 million mark, making Ford the first automotive brand to reach the milestone since 2007.

A large part of Jesse Toprak's job as the chief automotive industry analyst for TrueCar.com is to advise consumers on which cars to target -- and the clunkers to avoid. In 2011, though, something changed within the United States automotive industry. There are very few, if any, clunkers.

Chrysler has officially ended production of the Dodge Caliber, the company said last week, ending the line's rocky run and paving the way for the Fiat SpA-designed Dodge Dart.

Via Motors spokesman David West offers a bold comparison for his company's latest line of electric vehicles: the iPhone.

On Wednesday, Lexus released an official teaser photo of its sporty concept LF-LC car, which it will introduce on Jan. 9 at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show. Reports say the concept vehicle could be a hybrid.

Best Buy has notified some online customers that it cannot complete their online orders, just three days before Christmas and already into the Hanukkah season. Some of the orders were placed in November.

More and more automakers find themselves strapped for cash, picking and choosing which shows to exhibit their new products. This year, Jaguar and Land Rover, both owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Motors, said they will both skip the Detroit Auto Show in favor of the Auto Expo in New Delhi, India, next month.

Amp Electric Vehicles will introduce a converted electric version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee next month at the Detroit Auto Show.

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 caused a drastic drop in vehicle production and a near-6 percent rise in vehicle pricing for a key Honda model. That's according to analysis from ALG, a leading automotive residual values and analytical data products source.

Nissan expanded Tuesday on last week's announcement of a Nissan Pathfinder Concept that will be introduced at the 2012 North American International Auto Show next month in Detroit

Taking its turn in the deluge of announcements leading up to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Toyota on Tuesday said it would reveal two new Toyota vehicles at the January event -- the Prius c and the Plug-In Hybrid Concept.

Joe Wiesenfelder doesn't blame General Motors for Saab Automobiles' bankruptcy filing. Wiesenfelder, a Cars.com analyst who has been covering the ups and downs of Saab for more than a decade, can understand the backlash, though.

Steven Rattner, the former head of the United States auto task force, attempted to clarify remarks about the salary of United Auto Workers members that he made last Thursday in speaking before the Detroit Economic Club.

Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it will begin conducting a voluntary recall of more than 50,000 Sentra vehicles, fearing that a faulty positive battery terminal could stall the vehicles while in motion.

General Motors announced Monday that it will unveil a new 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS next month, hoping to attract a new, younger generation of drivers to what the company calls a youthful style and driving experience.

The first thing that jumps out about the three finalists for the North American Truck of the Year Award is that they don't quite fall into the conventional definition of truck.

Seventeen North American Car of the Year finalists entered. Three remain.

Steven Rattner, the former head of the United States auto task force and dubbed President Barack Obama's car czar, called the auto industry's 2009 bailout an unambiguous success Thursday. But he acknowledged that taxpayers, footing the $82 billion bill to bail out Chrysler, General Motors and Ally Financial, will lose about $14 billion of their investment.

Nissan said Thursday it will unveil two concept vehicles -- an electric van and a new Nissan Pathfinder -- next month in Detroit at the 2012 North American International Auto Show.

General Motors said Thursday that a new high-performance turbocharged, four-cylinder engine that will debut in Cadillac's new 2013 ATS compact luxury sedan. GM will unveil the ATS sedan at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month.

General Motors confirmed the addition of a 2013 Buick Encore on Thursday morning, a brand-new crossover addition to the Buick lineup.

Ford is using a smartphone and tablet app to draw interest to its new Ford Fusion that it will unveil in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Ford will begin production of the 2012 Focus Electric, the first five-passenger electric car to average more than 100 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) on the fuel efficiency scale.

Acura said Monday it would unveil three brand new vehicles at next month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, an aggressive push for a brand looking to climb in the luxury-vehicle market.

Chrysler released an interior preview Tuesday of its 2013 Dodge Dart, the car the company hopes will help reinvigorate its standing in the compact-car market.

Diamond Foods said Tuesday that it would miss its fiscal first-quarter filing deadline because of an ongoing investigation by its own audit committee into how the company accounted for payments to walnut growers.

Lexus announced Monday that it will introduce a new concept vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this January.