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Ford, Toyota, Subaru and Hyundai Group spurred a year-end U.S. sales rally that took some sting out of a painful year. Overall, December light vehicle sales rose 15 percent from a year earlier, while full-year volume fell 21 percent.

Tags: Ford, Ford Toyota, Hyundai, Hyundai Group, Lead, Light Vehicle Sales, Rally, Rose, S Sales, Sting, Subaru, Toyota, United States, Year End

General Motors Co. has and#8220;narrowed the fieldand#8221; to two possible candidates to replace CFO Ray Young and may make a decision by year end, Bloomberg News reported, citing two people close to the matter.

Tags: Bloomberg, Bloomberg News, General Motors, General Motors Co., Gm, People, Ray Young, Year End

GM will announce today 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.

Tags: Gm, Government Loan, Improvements, Loan Source, U S Treasury, U.S. government, U.S. Treasury, United States, USD, Year End

Beijing Auto and its Swedish partner still aim to finalize plans to buy Saab by the end of the year, an executive of the Chinese carmaker said. Beijing Auto plans to take a minority stake in Koenigsegg, which is buying Saab from GM.

Tags: Aim, Carmaker, China, China Beijing, Gm, Koenigsegg, Minority Stake, Partner, Saab, Year End

Beijing Auto and its Swedish partner still aim to finalize plans to buy Saab by the end of the year, an executive of the Chinese carmaker said. Beijing Auto plans to take a minority stake in Koenigsegg, which is buying Saab from GM.

Tags: Aim, Beijing, Carmaker, Gm, Koenigsegg, Minority Stake, Partner, Saab, Year End

Fisker Automotive, a California-based start-up car company, expects to complete a deal with the UAW before year-end for the union to represent workers at an old General Motors plant Fisker is acquiring.

Tags: Aim, California, car, Car Company, Car Deal, Fisker, Fisker Automotive, General Motors, Labor Deal, Motors Plant, UAW, Year End

Jill Lajdziak, who joined Saturn before its first car was sold and led the division through its demise last month, will retire from General Motors Co. at the end of the year.

Tags: Demise, First Car, General Motors, General Motors Co., Jill Lajdziak, Saturn, Year End

Jill Lajdziak, who joined Saturn before its first car was sold and led the division through its demise last month, will retire from General Motors Co. at the end of the year.

Tags: Demise, First Car, General Motors, General Motors Co., Jill Lajdziak, Saturn, Year End

Ford Motor Co.’s Volvo Car Corp. denied a Swedish newspaper report today that claims Volvo CEO Stephen Odell will leave the company by the end of the year. Ford dismissed the article as “pure speculation.”

Tags: Ceo, Ford, Ford Motor, Ford Motor Co., Newspaper Report, Odell, Speculation, Stephen Odell, Volvo, Volvo Car, Volvo Car Corp., Volvo Cars, Year End

Subaru of America Inc., which in August posted its best U.S. sales month ever, plans to increase its U.S. zone offices from three now to 12 by year end. The automaker will open offices in Philadelphia; Atlanta; Orlando, Fla.

Tags: Automaker, Orlando Fla, Philadelphia, S Sales, Subaru, Subaru Of America, Subaru Of America Inc, Year End, Zone Offices

Continental AG’s U.S. subsidiary announced today that it will close its Huntsville, Ala., electronics plant by year end 2010 because the UAW failed to give contract concessions.

Tags: Alabama, close electronics, Continental, Continental Ag, Continental Electronics, Contract Concessions, electronics, Huntsville, Huntsville Ala, Subsidiary, UAW, United States, Year End

Continental AG’s U.S. subsidiary announced today that it will close its Huntsville, Ala., electronics plant by year end 2010 after the UAW failed to give contract concessions.

Tags: Continental, Continental Ag, Continental Electronics, Contract Concessions, Huntsville Ala, Subsidiary, UAW, Year End

Continental AG’s U.S. subsidiary announced today that it will close its Huntsville, Ala., electronics plant by year end 2010 because the UAW failed to give contract concessions.

Tags: Alabama, close electronics, Continental, Continental Ag, Continental Electronics, Contract Concessions, electronics, Huntsville, Huntsville Ala, Subsidiary, UAW, United States, Year End

Canada’s Saturn stores will wind down by the end of the year as a result of automotive entrepreneur Roger Penske’s purchase of the brand, General Motors Co. spokesman Stew Low said today.

Tags: Canada, Canada Stores, Entrepreneur, General Motors, General Motors Co., Gm, Gm Saturn, Roger Penske, Saturn, Saturn Canada, Saturn Stores, Spokesman, Stew Low, Year End

Chrysler Group Deputy CEO Jim Press is planning to leave the company before the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing three people who have been informed of the plan.

Tags: Ceo Jim, Chrysler, Chrysler Group, Deputy Ceo, Group Deputy, Jim Press, the Wall Street Journal, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal, Year End

General Motors Co. said today that six executives with more than 180 years of combined service to the company will leave by year end. Here are biographies:

Tags: Combined Service, Cowger, General Motors, Gm, Gm Clarke, Gm Motors, Kempston, Year End

As part of its restructuring under U.S. bankruptcy protection, General Motors today unveiled the 14 production facilities slated to idle or close by year-end 2010. Four assembly plants will close or idle: Wilmington, Del.; Pontiac, Mich.

Tags: Assembly Plants, Bankruptcy Protection, Delaware, General Motors, Gm, Michigan, Pontiac, Restructuring, United States, Wilmington, Year End

Dealers and analysts sound off on Bob Lutz’s decision to leave General Motors after almost eight years as its product development chief. GM announced today that Lutz, 76, will become an adviser on April 1and retire by year end.

Tags: Adviser, April, Bob Lutz, General Motors, Gm, Retirement, Year End

General Motors product czar and often colorful spokesman, Bob Lutz, will retire at the end of this year. Lutz, 76, is currently GM’s vice chairman of global product development.

Tags: Bob Lutz, Czar, General Motors, Global Product, Gm, GM's, Spokesman, Vice Chairman, Year End

General Motors pulled its tooling from 50 parts makers during the year-end holiday shutdown in a series of unusual moves that highlight the turmoil in the automotive parts supply chain.

Tags: Automotive Parts, automotive parts supply chain, Automotive Supply, General Motors, Gm, Gm Tools, Holiday Shutdown, parts makers, supply chain, Turmoil, Year End

After months of talks that have forced it to postpone a crucial capital increase, Italy’s Pininfarina said today it still expected to reach a deal with its creditors to reschedule its debt by year-end.

Tags: Capital Increase, Creditors, Debt Deal, Italy, Pininfarina, Year End

General Motors, which is seeking a government bailout, paid up to $700 in year-end inflation adjustments to each of its 284,000 hourly retirees on Monday, said GM spokesman Tony Sapienza.

Tags: Bailout, General Motors, Gm, Gm Retirees, Gm Spokesman, Inflation Adjustments, Sapienza, Tony Sapienza, Uaw Retirees, USD, Year End

TOKYO (Reuters) — Honda Motor Co. has moved up its year-end news conference by two days to tomorrow, Dec. 17, raising the possibility that the automaker could issue its third profit warning this year.

Tags: Auto Honda, Auto Sales, Automaker, Earnings, Honda, Honda Motor, Honda Motor Co., News Conference, Reuters, TOKYO, Year End

Late last week, less than six weeks before the end of his administration, President Bush confronted the reality that both General Motors and Chrysler LLC could collapse by year end and#x2014; and that no one else could prevent it.

Tags: Bush Late, Chrysler, Chrysler LLC, General Motors, President Bush, Roller Coaster, Six Weeks, Year End

Supplier BorgWarner Inc. expects to cut 2,900 workers from its global work force by year end and says it will slow operations in North America and Europe.

Tags: Borgwarner, Borgwarner Inc, Europe, Global Work Force, Jobs, North America, Supplier BorgWarner Inc., Year End