CHRYSLER

U.S. factory workers at Ford Motor Co overwhelmingly rejected proposed concessions it has said it needs to stay competitive, while union workers in Canada on Sunday accepted cuts aimed at retaining jobs.

Ford Motor Co is expected to post a narrower quarterly loss with support from the U.S. government cash for clunkers program, but the focus will be on the outlook for the U.S. economy and auto industry sales.

Major U.S. auto dealerships see only a grudging recovery in demand in 2011, a cautious outlook at odds with the consensus view that the battered industry could see a double-digit percentage rebound.

AutoNation Inc, the largest U.S. auto retailer, posted a quarterly profit thanks to cost-cutting and the government's Cash for Clunkers incentive program and said it would target dealership acquisitions as the market recovers.

China has told the United States that it plans to formally launch an investigation that could lead to new import duties on autos and sports utility vehicles made by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, a U.S. industry official said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Treasury and GMAC Financial Services are in advanced talks to prop up the lender with a third tranche of taxpayer-backed funding, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The bankrupt shell of carmaker General Motors Co is making its first major asset sale, selling a Delaware manufacturing plant to Fisker Automotive, which will make plug-in hybrid electric cars beginning in 2012.

Ford Motor Co has made the most progress in improving vehicle quality among major automakers, while Chrysler ranks at the bottom of the industry for reliability, according to an annual Consumer Reports survey released on Tuesday.

Workers at five Ford Motor Co U.S. plants represented by the United Auto Workers have backed a contract aimed at bringing the automaker's labor costs in line with rivals General Motors Co and Chrysler.

Overcoming an entrenched corporate culture is the biggest question mark for General Motors Co management as it tries to maintain viability following its near failure this year, the former chief of the Obama administration's autos task force said on Wednesday.

The Obama administration plans to order that the top earners at firms which received billions of dollars in government bailouts will see their cash payouts cut by an average of about 90 percent from last year, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The Obama administration was deeply divided over whether to fund Chrysler's restructuring in bankruptcy and whether the automaker could survive to repay the investment, according to a former senior official.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc (DTG.N) said on Monday it would slash its 2010 car rental purchases from Chrysler and that its average fleet costs had stabilized at levels it hoped to maintain next year.

The auto boom came fast to this harbor town on Lake Michigan where Ramblers first rolled off the line a century ago.

Kenosha, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan has a long history in automotive history that will die if a Chrysler engine plant is shut as planned next year.

General Motors Co is on track to complete a wrenching cost-cutting but faces risks from an uncertain U.S. economy and rising unemployment as it tries to win back consumers, the automaker said on Wednesday.

The world's biggest truckmaker, Daimler AG , is seeing evidence the U.S. truck market has bottomed, but it remains cautious about the pace of any recovery, the head of Daimler's truck division said on Wednesday.

U.S. auto parts maker Delphi ended four years in bankruptcy on Tuesday, emerging from Chapter 11 as a private company and removing a major uncertainty for former parent General Motors Co [GM.UL].

The Obama administration's pay czar plans to cut the cash salaries of the top employees at seven firms that have received large sums of government aid, in a bid to reshape their compensation packages, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chrysler Group LLC has created a separate Ram brand for its Dodge pickup trucks and replaced the heads of two car brands as the automaker rushes to complete a critical long-term business plan.

A U.S.-led group has entered the race to buy Ford Motor Co's Volvo cars unit, the Financial Times reported, in a challenge to China's Geely Automotive which last month confirmed its interest in the loss-making Swedish carmaker.