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Chrysler held an impromptu press conference Wednesday morning to debunk rumors that it is discussing the sale of its brands, selling off its plants or going out of business. But being sold off as an entire company remains a possibility. This was in reaction to a report that Chrysler is in talks to sell off parts of the company, including the PT Cruiser brand to a Chinese company...

Guess who's coming to the Detroit Auto Show today? Senator Bob Corker, one of the most vocal opponents of the automotive bailout/bridge loan is expected to visit the show this afternoon. Not to be cynical, but I have to wonder what his motive for the visit is...

As the white rabbit sang... I'm late, I'm late for A very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late It's getting to be crunch time for reworking the contract between the automakers and the UAW.  While the loan deal gives GM and Chrysler until March 31 to finalize changes to the labor contract and get them approved by UAW members, the companies are required to present key elements on Feb...

UAW negotiators from factories across America will begin arriving in Detroit on Wednesday to begin preparing for negotiations with Detroit's automakers, which are under pressure from Congress to bring their labor costs in line with those of foreign automakers in return for federal aid. The UAW stopped short of saying it is reopening contract agreements reached with the Detroit Three a little over a year ago. Everything is supposedly on the table according to someone familiar with the union's planning, but it's not a reopening of the contract?..

At times I'm accused of wearing rose-colored glasses, but that has to be a better way to approach things than the way people constantly look for ways to make things look as bad as possible, especially the media. For example, take the story I read this morning about auto sales in Japan with the headline that includes, "Worst December Ever". While it is true that auto sales in Japan are off as they are elsewhere, the headline is only possible when sales of minivehicles, one of the growing segments of auto sales in Japan, are excluded...

Looking forward to the future is a good thing generally, although you have to love the way that some try to tie those looks at the future to present problems. Consider the opening paragraph of this story on Toyota developing a solar-powered car: TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car, a top business daily reported Thursday...

Leave it to the law of unintened consequences, it will get you every time. We decided to do "bridge loans to the automakers, just to tide them over until they magically turn profitable. And the best part was that this was all the money we were going to have to give them...

It's amazing that it's being reported that GM is "no longer teetering on the brink of bankruptcy". It's almost as if someone thinks that the rescue is a one time lifeline. Let's hope that's the case and we stick to our guns...

Today is payday for two of Detroit's Big Three automakers, due to receive over $13 billion in taxpayer funds to keep the American auto industry running. So this is going to fix everything, right? Some are sounding some warning bells...

The end of the rope is coming fast and it's up in the air whether the UAW is going to hold onto it or not. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said Monday that the union was shut out of discussions between the Bush administration and the companies over federal loans. The provision that requires the car companies to match wages at their Japanese rivals is the sticking point...