Jaguar Land Rover is moving its North American headquarters from Irvine, California to Northern New Jersey, after Ford has completed the sale of the brand to Indian automaker Tata Motors Limited last week.

Tata Motors went on a deal to buy Jaguar Land Rover from Ford on March 26 this year and the purchase of the brand was completed last week. The brand was sold to to Tata by U.S. automaker for a collective $2.3 billion. (more…)

The United Auto Workers’ strike at Detroit-based American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. has not affected the U. S. auto dealers during the bitter three months at all.

The UAW union has ratified a new four-year contract with the American Axle on late Thursday that has ended the three-month long strike. The strike caused the parts shortage for General Motors Corp. and has affected more than 30 GM plants across America. (more…)

Tuesday witnessed a deal between General Motors Corp. and United Auto Workers at Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas, factory that builds GM’s hot-selling Chevrolet Malibu sedan and the Saturn Aura sedan. It is to be believed that the new labor deal will further resume the production of GM’s major vehicles.

GM and the union reached the tentative deal that will clear the way to continue the production of  U.S. automaker’s Chevrolet Malibu sedan. GM has presented the car as a key part of its effort to recapture the buyers who have abandoned its brands because of a concern about styling, quality and fuel economy. The redesigned Chevrolet has received accolades, including “Car of the Year” honors. (more…)

General Motors Corporation plans to restructure measures to deal with the rapidly changing U.S auto market brought on by $4 per gallon gasoline.

GM chairman, CEO Rick Wagoner and top officials are holding the talks on additional restructuring     moves but nothing has been disclosed yet. They will announce details at the automaker’s annual meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 3.
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General Motors Corporation on June 3, has officially announced that it would stop making pickup trucks and big sport utility vehicles at its four North American assembly plants and would consider selling of one of the largest vehicles on U.S. highways, Hummer brand.

The existing Hummer brand would either be sold or get a remake for the U.S market. According to GM CEO, Rick Wagoner, “At this point, we’re considering all options, from a complete revamp of the product lineup to a partial or complete sale of the brand. We’re communicating that to our Hummer dealers today." (more…)

The three-month long UAW strike against American Axle Manufacturing & Holdings Inc. had a deep effect on several General Motors plants across the United States.

It’s been a week that the union and American Axle went on a four-year contract after the long lasting strike. Reportedly, the strike has affected more than 30 GM plants. The new contract brought hopes to resume the production of many motor parts being manufactured by American Axle for GM’s pickup trucks and SUVs. But, still the production at 19 GM plants remain stopped or slowed down. (more…)

GM has doubled the cash incentive for its new line of trucks and SUVs. These cash incentives are expected to be worth $6000 on some models. In the last week of May, GM had posted a a 39.5 % drop in truck sales. In an effort to curb the dropping sales, GM has announced that, it would be offering as much as $4,000 cash back for owners with GM vehicles going back to the 1999 models. The Hybrid versions of  the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs would also be included in the $4000 owner loyalty incentive.

According to John McDonald (Spokesman, GM), “The whole thing’s a hybrid play, What we’re trying to do is raise the awareness level of these hybrids with our loyalty customers."  For the owners of the non-hybrid Tahoe and Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban and Cadillac Escalade SUVs, GM in addition to the ‘owner loyalty incentive’ will also provide a $2000 bonus cash incentive. (more…)

Ford Motor Company plans to conduct involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August 1, 2008.

It has been told by the company officials that, Ford would cut 10 to 12 percent or more than 2,000 employees this summer.

Ford spokesman, Mark Truby said, “We’re not going to comment on internal discussions we’re having with our employees. As soon as we finalize some of these details, we’re going to tell our employees as quickly as we can.”

The J.D. Power and Associates has released its 2008 Initial Quality Study results on June 4. This year has showed the overall quality improvement with 118 problems per 100 vehicles. Last year, the study reported 125 problems per 100 vehicles.

The quality study tallies the problems reported per 100 vehicles by owners of new vehicles, 90 days after purchase. The survey includes design complaints as well as manufacturing defects and the complaints could be a button or a switch on the instrument panel, or an uncomfortable seat.

According to the report, the Ford and Mercury brands jumped two positions and were the shining stars at the quality study. Both the brands cracked the top eight rankings in the latest study. Ford Motor’s eleven nameplates out of fourteen have showed the significant improvement.

However, Ford’s Lincoln dropped drastically to number 15, from its number 3 spot in 2007. Global manager of quality data at Ford, Mike Hardie said that the navigation and voice command issues were to blame for Lincoln’s falter. He further added, “We’re taking a look right now to resolve those issues to mitigate those for customers in the future.”

Audi has posted the largest improvement in the latest ranking, moving from bottom fourth rankings in 2007 to number 10 this year. It has shed 23 defects as compared to the last year.

Porsche held on to its number 1 spot followed by Infiniti and Lexus. The Porsche 911 has the fewest quality problems in the industry, with just 67 problems per 100 vehicles. For the third consecutive year, Porsche tops the overall nameplate rankings.

Infiniti improved from 9th position in the last year to 2nd position in 2008. Toyota tied with Mercedes-Benz at number 4 position.

GM could not make it to the top 10 with any of its brands. However, its four brands such as Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and Pontiac- all rose from below average last year to above average in the 2008 study.

General Motors’ Chevrolet Malibu sedan has collected the top award in the mid-sized car segment.

According to GM’s top quality executive, Jamie Hresko “When the customer spoke here, it validated that we are doing all right.” The executive further said, “I think one of the big keys was that our launches are helping us, not hurting us. I’m not sure it’s a grand slam, but we did very well.”

Interestingly, one of the U.S. notable automakers, Chrysler LLC’s brands remained at below the industry average in the ratings. Jeep was the industry’s worst at 167 problems. Dodge and Chrysler placed in the 28th and 29th position, or in the bottom fourth of all brands in the rankings.

Honda models capture three segment awards, more than any other nameplate in the 2008 study for the Civic, CR-V and Fit. Garnering two segment awards each were Chevrolet with Malibu and Silverado LD; Dodge with Dakota and Durango; Infiniti with EX-Series and M-Series; Lexus with LS and RX; and Mercedes-Benz with CLK-Class and E-Class.

Ford Motor Company plans to conduct involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August 1, 2008.

It has been told by the company officials that, Ford would cut 10 to 12 percent or more than 2,000 employees this summer.

Ford spokesman, Mark Truby said, “We’re not going to comment on internal discussions we’re having with our employees. As soon as we finalize some of these details, we’re going to tell our employees as quickly as we can.”

The severe cut in Ford’s production that has been lowering its 2009 profitability goal, has finally compelled the automaker to reach such a tough decision. The sales have slumped severely, especially for large pickups and SUVs.

With the cuts in work force, the company is expecting to restructure the slumped sales, which is mainly struggling due to high gas and raw material prices.

In the second quarter of 2008, Ford has reduced its production by 15 percent as compared to the same quarter last year. It has been expected that, the third and fourth quarter will account for a fall in production as much as 20 percent and 8 percent respectively.

The employees who will be terminated, would not be offered voluntary buyout packages with financial or early retirement incentives.

Earlier, Ford had terminated 11,000 salaried workers in North America since the end of 2005, by offering voluntary buyouts and early retirement incentives. Ford had a total of 23,700 salaried workers at the end of 2007. The large number of cut has reduced its full-time salaried workers.

Ford Motor Company is all set to build its new global car in Mexico for the United States market. The company has confirmed the name of the new model, the Fiesta.

But the company’s officials stayed away from commenting on the news except to say they are planning to bring the car to North America by 2010. They have not confirmed where the car will build in the United States.

Reportedly, the new three and five-door hatchback version will hit the markets in Europe and China by the end of this year.

According to Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally, “With the all-new Fiesta, we want to create a world standard for small car quality, design and comfort in a vehicle that is as exciting to drive as it is to look at. We believe this all-new model will attract a whole new generation of small car buyers.” 

Other versions of Fiesta, including a four-door sedan, will also reach the auto markets in North America, Asia, South Africa and Australia by 2010.

The company has sold a total of 12 million of its original Ford Fiesta since the vehicle was introduced in 1976. It was only sold in the U.S. from 1978 to 1980. Ford Fiesta has been a familiar name in the European, Asian and South African markets.