GENERAL MOTORS

A surprising sales gain by General Motors Co and strong performances by Ford Motor Co and others helped put U.S. February auto sales on track for their highest annual sales rate in nearly four years.

Ford Motor Co. could lose between $500 million and $600 million in Europe this year, another inclination of automakers struggles in a region plighted by an ongoing debt crisis and crawling with competition.

New car sales grew at a better than expected pace, continuing automakers' steady revival in 2011 and the early months of 2012 and forcing many analysts to revise year-long sales forecasts above a benchmark 14 million mark.

Major automakers including General Motors Co posted a rise in auto sales for the month of February, helped by American drivers' need to replace aging cars and trucks despite the rise in fuel prices.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to a higher opening Thursday ahead of a wave of economic data including ISM manufacturing index and key weekly jobless claims.

General Motors Co. said Wednesday that the company has entered into a long-term and broad-scale alliance with French automaker PSA Peugeot Citreon to share vehicle platforms, components and modules and jointly purchase goods and services from suppliers. As part of the agreement, GM will purchase a 7 percent stake in Peugeot.

PSA Peugeot Citroen has agreed to form an alliance with General Motors targeting $2 billion in savings, sources with knowledge of the discussions said on Wednesday.

French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen's alliance talks with General Motors may yet fail as the U.S. automaker hesitates over criticism from investors, a source with knowledge of the discussions said.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday hit Republican presidential challengers hard during a speech at the United Auto Workers conference in Washington, most notably lashing out at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for his views on the auto bailout.

General Motors Co. will take up to a 7 percent stake in France's PSA Peugeot Citroen as the two automakers discuss an engineering and development partnership to boost both of their struggling European operations.

Seventy-five years ago, Mopar began as a name for an antifreeze product. That antifreeze brand has grown into the global automobile parts and service arm of Chrysler Group LLC, and its latest announcement further expands its global footprint.

First, Mitt Romney gaffed in admitting he was not worried about the very poor. Then, he admitted he only paid about a 15 percent tax rate. Now, his ad-libbing in Detroit led him to a flub about his wife Ann's Cadillacs.

Some descriptions of Mitt Romney's auto bailout position from former Obama car czar Steven Rattner: dead wrong, utter fantasy, has delusions, and hasn't felt a need to be consistent.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) opened its fourth automobile assembly plant Friday in China, as it seeks to expand its presence in the country.

General Motors Co. said Thursday it has begun shipping low-emission Chevrolet Volt models to California that qualify for a $1,500 state rebate and allow drivers to travel in the state's carpool lanes.

Republican presidential candidates revved up discussion Wednesday night of the 2008 and 2009 auto bailouts of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC during the 20th, and perhaps final, Republican debate in Arizona.

The Arizona CNN Republican debate, perhaps the last in the roller-coaster campaign to challenge President Barack Obama, saw rivals piling criticism on Rick Santorum, who was apparently trying to build on his surprise rise in recent polls.

A super PAC supporting President Barack Obama in his re-election campaign released its first ad Wednesday, blasting Republican Mitt Romney for his opposition to the program of government loans to rescue General Motors and Chrysler.

In this election season, the auto industry is one big political football. General Motors Co., however, wants to get out of that mix. So when Newt Gingrich attacked GM's Chevrolet Volt as an Obama car in a stump speech last weekend because you can't put a gun rack in it, GM fired back on Tuesday.

The four words that envelop the headline nag along behind Mitt Romney wherever he campaigns on stops in Michigan. Let Detroit Go Bankrupt. These were the four words that served as the theme and message of an opinion-editorial Romney penned more than three years ago for The New York Times. It came in the midst of bipartisan bailouts to the swooning auto industry, in a time of debate over how to save what was once Michigan's most prestigious industry in its most prestigious city.

Back to the administration of Woodrow Wilson and today with the administration of Barack Obama, the General Motors Co. Cadillac has always been a staple of iconic presidential images and moments -- along with Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln brand.