At the request of General Motors' new chairman, Ed Whitacre, the automaker's top engineers are calling the couple hundred customers who are returning or exchanging their GM cars under the 60-day money-back guarantee policy to find out why. Mark Reuss, GM's recently appointed vice president of global engineering, told reporters Thursday that he personally is calling customers. This evening, Reuss will call a customer who was dissatisfied with and returned a Chevrolet Malibu under the program. And he will

In order to prod soccer moms across the nation to plug a visit to the BMW dealership into their Blackberrys, BMW North America Inc. this week nonchalantly announced the price for its first “full” hybrid-electric vehicle, the ActiveHybrid X6: $89,725. Welcome to hybridization as seen by German luxury marques, who, given their choices for showcasing hybrid technology, seem to be more intent on using their new hybrids to prove why their diesel-powered models make much more sense in terms of actually appealing to consumers. At nearly $90,000, the ActiveHybrid X6 has a total of 485 horsepower, weighs more than 5,600 pounds and still has plenty of extra-price options. In the spring, BMW will follow up with the ActiveHybrid 7, the hybridized version of its 7-Series flagship. The car is certain to crack the 6-figure price barrier.

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Latest Hybrids Probably Won’t Help Build the Market

More than 65,000 job seekers submitted applications to work at Volkswagen's new plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., the local newspaper there reported. The plant intends to hire 2,000 workers total; the first will be come onboard in the spring with hiring extending

Dieter Zetsche, Daimler AG chairman and head of the German automaker's Mercedes-Benz passenger-car division, said yesterday in a media conference in New York that it “remains to be seen” if the U.S. economy really is improving, adding that “there is some (economic) data causing concern.”

General Motors Co.'s Buick division today released images and information for the 2011 Buick Regal and is openly billing the new-age Buick as a sport sedan. Given the new Regal's origins with GM's second-generation global midsize chassis that was engineered by Adam Opel AG – the Germany-based European division GM just retrieved from the clutches of mega-supplier Magna and Russia's Sberbank – there might be reasonable credibility for the sport-sedan claim. In addition to being based on the German-engineered Epsilon II architecture also used by the well-regarded new Opel Insignia (not to mention Buick's new LaCrosse sedan), the 2011 Regal also will be built in Germany at Opel's Russelsheim assembly plant. The Regal's lines may be some of the crispest ever to be seen in a Buick showroom and GM is calling out the Acura TSX, Volkswagen Passat, Mazda6 and even the Volvo S60 as competitors. The Regal goes on sale in the second quarter next year – and in a significant sign of the times, only 4-cylinder power will be on offer.

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New-Gen Buick Midsizer Flaunts German DNA

The distractions for much of the year surrounding the Volkswagen Group's ownership tussle with Porsche AG didn't stop VW from achieving a significant global milestone: VW this month surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. as the world's largest vehicle manufacturer. The United Kingdom's Guardian newspaper reports

General Motors will invest nearly $100 million in a Canadian plant and call back all laid-off workers to boost production of its Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports. The investment will be made in CAMI Automotive Inc., a joint venture between GM and Suzuki Motor Corp. in Ingersoll, Ontario, near Toronto. The plant will call back 150 laid off workers, which means the plant will have no employees on layoff. Photo by GM 2010 Chevrolet Equinox

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GM Invests to Boost Equinox, Terrain Production

The chief of General Motors European operations, Carl-Peter Forster, plans to leave the

At Chrysler Group LLC's unveiling of its 5-year business plan at its headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI, today, CEO Sergio Marchionne laid to rest a few rumors about the new joining of Chrysler and Fiat S.p.A. One of them was the long-rumored ambition for Fiat to use the alliance to distribute its Alfa Romeo brand in Chrysler's U.S. dealerships. There is no current plan to sell Alfas in Chrysler dealerships, said Marchionne. In wearing his Chrysler hat (he also is Fiat's CEO) Marchionne insisted that Alfa Romeo would have to “make a convincing case” about

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Marchionne Disarms Alfa-In-U.S. Speculation, Calls Cost of Coming 300 Platform ‘Shocking’

Outlining a 5-year plan to move Chrysler forward, managing partner Fiat S.p.A. will couple the Chrysler brand with Fiat's premium Lancia cars in some international markets. “Lancia and Chrysler have many things in common,” said Michael Manley, Chrysler's president and CEO, Jeep brand and lead executive for international organization, said at Chrysler's presentation of its 5-year business plan Wednesday. Lancia, he said, has little exposure outside Italy. And most of Chrysler's brands have marginal impact in international markets. But Lancias definitely are Fiat's largest models and also most luxury-oriented, so are most closely aligned with Chrysler.