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Chrysler and Fiat will bring seven new vehicles to North America under their new alliance, Automotive News said on Monday, citing sources who have seen the product-sharing agreement.

Of the seven vehicles—which will be built at Chrysler plants in North America and sold through select Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships—four will be sold under the Chrysler brand name and three as Fiats or Alfa Romeos, the magazine said.

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Italy's Fiat unveiled a deal last week to take a 35...

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LLC is not actively pushing its dealer consolidation program and is instead focusing on maintaining whatever retail sales volume it can as the industry struggles with crippling sales declines, a top company executive said Saturday.

On the eve of last year's National Automobile Dealers Association annual convention, Chrysler officially announced Project Genesis, a plan to encourage greater dealer consolidation among the company's Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep stores and renew emphasis on...

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How to Get Out of a Car Lease

Many people and businesses have realised the benefits that car leasing has over outright vehicle purchase. Numerous small businesses now lease their commercial vehicles on van leasing contracts enabling them to run top quality vans with fixed, known monthly repayments. Leasing provides many advantages including peace of mind over vehicle maintenance concerns as well as tax advantages.

But what if changes in finances or business mean that you simply can...

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In hard times, you may need to get a handle on your car expenses. And we all need to know the pros and cons of buying from the Detroit makers. Here are some sites with advice on both issues.

Lease trades. The leasing industry took a hit with the credit crisis and the decline in overall auto sales. But there are plenty of ways still to get a leased vehicle, even it if means taking over someone else's lease. This clever site provides a place to get rid of a leased car that you no...

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t’s costly to maintain the Bernard L. Madoff Collection of Fine Cars.

Mr. Madoff’s brokerage firm shelled out $6,238.79 a month for leases on six luxury vehicles, according to an updated court filing on Friday by the trustee overseeing the closed firm’s liquidation. The filing asserts that canceling the leases will save $117,359.

The trustee, Irving Picard, has asked the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan for permission to cancel the leases because the vehicles are not needed...

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In the latest attempt to exploit the Madoff scandal, LeaseTrader.com is sending out press releases offering to help Bernard Madoff unload his leased cars. The New York Times reports the trustee liquidating Madoff's firm's assets wants the leases on six luxury cars cancelled.

Madoff reportedly leases a 2007 Land Rover, a 2008 Cadillac DTS, a 2009 Mercedes S550 (nice!), a 2007 Mercedes S550, a 2008 Mercedes GL450, and 2006 Lexus SUV.

That's a lot of cars for a guy who doesn't live in...

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LeaseTrader.com, the nationwide online marketplace for car lease transfers, has offered to assist in helping the trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff escape the lease contracts of six vehicles his firm had rented. LeaseTrader.com’s online marketplace allows individuals and estate professionals an opportunity to transfer the remaining portion of the lease contract to a credit-qualified individual looking for a short-term lease.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury secretary nominee Timothy Geithner said President Obama will send Congress a sweeping plan in the next few weeks to shore up banks and unlock credit markets, warning it will require action on a scale "not seen in generations" to address the worsening economic crisis.

Geithner and former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, now an Obama adviser, told the Senate Finance Committee that Washington must take bold steps to shore up credit markets, in addition...

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WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration will require substantial changes from the U.S. auto industry and assemble a team of people to oversee the government's rescue package, the nominee for U.S. Treasury secretary told a Senate committee Wednesday.

The question was spurred by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who asked how Fiat SpA could arrange for a large stake in Chrysler LLC without providing any cash. Under the outlines of the agreement announced Monday, Fiat will get 35% of Chrysler...

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The target date for General Motors to get its second installment of government loans passed last week, but a top company executive says he expects the money to arrive in the next several days.

Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, said without the second installment of $5.4 billion, the company would run out of cash long before March 31. In December, the Treasury Department authorized $13.4 billion in loans for GM and another $4 billion for Chrysler to keep...

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General Motors and Chrysler LLC have four weeks to win deep concessions from unions and creditors to prove they are viable, or they risk losing the $17.4 billion in government loans that are keeping them from bankruptcy.

But there are serious questions as to how great that risk is and what exactly GM and Chrysler have to show the government.

The term sheet also says that GM (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler have to reduce unsecured debt by two-thirds, but it is not specified how many...

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The target date for General Motors Corp. to get its second installment of government loans passed last week, but a top company executive says he expects the money to arrive in the next several days.

Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, said without the second installment of $5.4 billion, the company would run out of cash long before March 31.

In December, the Treasury Department authorized $13.4 billion in loans for GM and another $4 billion for Chrysler LLC...

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Industrywide U.S. auto sales have weakened a bit after being relatively strong in the first half of January, Ford Motor's marketing and sales chief said Tuesday.

Farley said that of Tuesday, Ford had enough liquidity to fund its product plans.

He said he believes the new Obama administration will put in place some type of program to spur consumer demand, whether with a direct stimulus package or some other strategy. Asked about the alliance between Chrysler and Fiat announced...

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Chrysler LLC, rescued last month with $4 billion in federal loans, is trading a 35 percent stake to Italy’s Fiat SpA as the two companies work to create viable carmaking operations.

Cerberus Capital Management LP’s Chrysler, the third- largest U.S. automaker, would get access to Fiat’s small-car lineup and global sales network to wean itself from dependence on trucks and the North American market, while Fiat would expand a U.S. foothold now limited to its luxury brands.

An alliance...

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Utah, Germany win titles

So it's settled — the Utes really did win the national championship.

OK, maybe not completely settled, but ...

Several Austin, Texas, football fans applied the BCS formula for grading teams, factored in bowl results and came up with a predictable result: Utah was No. 1.

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Mid-Michigan auto dealers say it's a little tougher than it was to find financing for new vehicles, but many customers' worries that they can't get loans at all are overblown.

Mid-Michigan banks and credit unions say they continue to have money available to loan to creditworthy customers. In October, several local bankers said their institutions hadn't changed their credit requirements and were weathering the financial storm that affected larger, more aggressive institutions.

The...

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So as the Detroit auto show highlights a new world of hybrids and high-tech battery-powered cars, the major concern for most consumers continues to be last year's pitiful model for auto financing. Can they get a car loan? And if so, how many hoops will they have to jump through to get it?

Credit, while still an issue, appears to loosening up from the extremely tight standards that hit in late '08. Thanks to federal bailout money, GMAC LLC in late December lifted some strict...

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The government expanded its bailout of the nation's troubled auto industry yesterday, announcing a new $1.5 billion loan for Chrysler Financial while Ford Credit said it was in talks to obtain federal aid.

The money for Chrysler Financial will come from the government's $700 billion financial rescue program. Senior officials from the Treasury and Federal Reserve are hoping the assistance, combined with earlier support for General Motors' chief lender GMAC, will keep auto loans...

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Less than a month from today, GM and Chrysler will have to give the federal government an update on how they are doing in restructuring their companies.

The clock is definitely ticking.

The question is whether GM [GM 3.93 0.01 (+0.26%) ] and Chrysler will be ready to answer the bell when it rings in the middle of February? Both companies say yes, they will (what else would you expect them to say?) be ready.

Both claim that they are moving fast to change their companies. And...

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Today's tip is part of our Fiscal Fitness '09 series. Every weekday this month, you'll get help getting fiscally fit as we work toward our goal of saving $2,000 to invest in 3 stocks!

A serious customer with cash to spend can really call the shots these days on everything from electronics to housing to a root canal. Really.

In fact, 90% of customers who negotiated with a salesperson on everything from the price of furniture to medical care got a price break on at least one purchase...

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If you thought the auto industry and economy might be close to bottoming out and getting some traction, think again.

The world's two largest auto makers are sending fresh signs that things will remain as bad, if not worse in 2009.

Get ready for a rocky first quarter of the year.

So what does all of this mean?

Taken as a whole, it tells us the economy and consumer confidence remains weak. And don't expect that to change anytime soon. Sure, congress is passing bills to spark the...

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General Motors said on Thursday it expected U.S. auto sales this year to drop to the lowest level in 27 years, cutting a key planning forecast as it works to cut its debt and labor costs.

GM logo, General Motors logo

GM said it would plan on U.S. auto sales dropping to near 10.5 million units in 2009.

That would be the lowest level of auto sales in the world's largest vehicle market since 1982. It also marks a sharp downward revision from GM's earlier assumption of sales of 12...

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Hyundai Motor has put its only U.S. manufacturing plant on a three-day work week schedule for the month of January in response to lower consumer demand, people with direct knowledge of the situation said on Wednesday.

The production cut comes at a time when major automakers are scrambling to reduce a glut of unsold cars and trucks in the face of a plunge in global auto demand.

Hyundai declined to comment on the specific changes to production schedules at its plant near Montgomery...

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MIAMI – (January 14, 2009) – Through an online customer poll, LeaseTrader.com has found that 18 percent of women now prefer to drive on the first date – an increase from 12 percent from a year earlier. A nationwide online marketplace for Car Lease transfers, LeaseTrader.com polled roughly 500 women across the country in time for Valentine’s Day.

LeaseTrader.com has a large customer base of women drivers all over the country. These women take great pride in the vehicle they drive and...

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MIAMI – (January 14, 2009) – LeaseTrader.com is America’s favorite car cupid this year, playing matchmaker to people all over the country that want to fall in love with their next car, or get a car as a gift for special someone.

LeaseTrader.com plays cupid to match two people that want to transfer an existing Car Lease. Through LeaseTrader’s Takeover Program, car shoppers avoid paying a down payment and only drive the vehicle for whatever time remains on the lease contract. The...

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Show Your Unconditional Love With A Digital Photo Keychain or Ionic Car Purifier

MIAMI – (January 14, 2009) – LeaseTrader.com, the nation’s online marketplace for Car Lease transfers, announces this year’s list of the top car gifts and gadgets for Valentine’s Day, according to a user poll on LeaseTrader.com.

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MIAMI – (January 14, 2009) – Through an online customer poll, LeaseTrader.com has found that 18 percent of women now prefer to drive on the first date – an increase from 12 percent from a year earlier. A nationwide online marketplace for Car Lease transfers, LeaseTrader.com polled roughly 500 women across the country in time for Valentine’s Day.

LeaseTrader.com has a large customer base of women drivers all over the country. These women take great pride in the vehicle they drive and...

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Rod Lache, the Deutsche Bank automotive analyst who set the target price for GM shares at zero, told the Society of Automotive Analysts that GM might have to consider bankruptcy given complications that arose with the rescue of GM's minority-owned financial arm, GMAC.

Lache's remarks were made at the Society of Automotive Analysts' annual Automotive Outlook Conference, which is usually held during the Detroit auto show. This year's event was held at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance...

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DETROIT — The auto industry is warming up to the idea of higher taxes on gasoline to force buyers to keep considering fuel-efficient and small cars.

Automakers have shifted dramatically to production of small cars and expensive fuel-saving technologies partly to meet looming stricter government fuel-economy regulations.

The carmakers acknowledge that raising the gas tax is an unpopular idea, but they also saw how fast consumer preference shifted toward small cars when gasoline...

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Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in an interview the state is looking to offer big incentives to car-battery companies and other suppliers to that industry to locate in her state. Ms. Granholm said that as much as $2 billion in aid to the battery industry could be included in a stimulus package from the Obama administration.

Mr. Wagoner said GM has committed more than $1 billion to the Volt. He sought to tamp down uncertainty over the product's future that emerged in mid...

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When my husband and I went to trade in our car a year ago, the salesman talked us into leasing a car instead. He said leasing was better for us because we're retired and don't drive a lot. But we don't like this car. Can we get out of the lease and get another car? — Estelle Just, Pembroke Pines

A vehicle lease is a legally binding contract that, as you are discovering, can be hard to break.

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Bank of America posted its first quarterly loss in 17 years Friday and slashed its dividend, hours after winning a multibillion-dollar lifeline from the U.S. government to help absorb Merrill Lynch, which lost a record $15.31 billion in the quarter.

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You may know that you need to buy a company car for an employee, but if that's all you know, don't beat yourself up about it.

After all, there are so many makes and models out there, not to mention amenities for automobiles, making it easy to feel stuck in park long before you start shopping around. And if you're any sort of conscientious employer, you're going to wonder: what do employees want these days, anyway? Power windows and power brakes are probably a given. If you don't...

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Auto executives across the globe are increasingly pessimistic about their industry, and only a small number expect their companies' profits to rise in the next five years, according to an annual survey.

The survey of 200 senior executives worldwide painted a bleak picture for the industry, with most predicting continued restructuring and too much factory capacity across the globe, according to the survey conducted by the accounting and advisory firm KPMG LLP.

Many expected Detroit...

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Democrats and environmental groups had mixed reactions, on the one hand criticizing the Bush administration for dragging its feet while on the other welcoming the chance for the new administration to set its own guidelines.

The guidelines must be issued no later than April 1 so auto companies have time to engineer 2011 models. "Now more than ever automakers need certainty, and this decision only further delays their ability to finalize future product plans," said Charles Territo, a...

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Few things are worse than coming back to your car, dying of thirst, only to take a nice long sip of warm water or soda. Just the thought of it makes you go "blech!" to try to get the imaginary taste out of your mouth.

Behold, the Car Mini Fridge from ThinkGeek.com.

The car fridge, along with the car coffee maker and car wi-fi were cited as some of the hottest car gadgets in a men's poll by LeaseTrader.com.

You just plug it into the cigarette lighter, set the temperature and go. The...

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Detroit automakers are no longer in the driver's seat when it comes to their own recovery. The U.S. economy is.

No matter what further concessions the United Auto Workers union makes, what debt relief the automakers win in talks with creditors and what kind of additional federal help is made available, U.S. consumers have to start buying cars again.

And a rebound in sales will be difficult, if not impossible, to come by for General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), Ford Motor (F, Fortune...

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The historic collapse of the new-car market dragged on in December, raising questions of whether the auto industry will ever again have sales levels that it took for granted just a few years ago.

G.M. and Chrysler received emergency federal loans last week to stave off bankruptcy while they accelerated their reorganization efforts.

But unless consumers change course and return to vehicle showrooms, the entire industry will be forced to make sweeping adjustments to cope with...

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What American needs the most right now is a responsible Congress whose members put aside their own well being and those of their narrow constituencies for the collective good. But, hey, don't hold your breath, especially if you're Barack Obama and you have big plans to create three million new jobs and spend nearly a trillion dollars doing so.

The president-elect in whom so much hope is placed will find out quickly enough if he doesn't already know that even with his own party in...

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MIAMI, FL - LeaseTrader.com, the nationwide online marketplace for Car Lease transfers, today announced it has bucked the trend in automotive market liquidity with a 28 percent rise in lease transfer transactions in December 2008. Vehicle lease holders are increasingly exercising the option of transferring their lease to a credit-qualified shopper in the market for a short-term lease.

Like the housing market, no liquidity is a leading reason why the auto market suffered through one...

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January 6, 2009 - MIAMI – Luxury vehicle drivers get bored with their car at a faster rate than other drivers. Realizing this trend, LeaseTrader.com has introduced a new VIP Concierge Service to its exclusive vehicle lease transfer program, making it even easier for affluent car enthusiasts to escape their lease so they can get a newer, trendier vehicle.

Affluent drivers like to change vehicles every 12-14 months, compared to the rest of the population, which changes every 24-26...

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MIAMI, FL, Jan 06, 2009 - LeaseTrader.com, the nationwide online marketplace for Car Lease transfers, today announced it has bucked the trend in automotive market liquidity with a 28 percent rise in lease transfer transactions in December 2008. Vehicle lease holders are increasingly exercising the option of transferring their lease to a credit-qualified shopper in the market for a short-term lease.

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After a year in which U.S. auto sales tumbled 18 percent and GM had its worst year in nearly a half-century amid slack demand fueled by a terrible economic outlook and growing job worries, automakers are reluctant to predict when a recovery might occur.

An even sharper sales decline in December alone means that record high rebates and low-interest financing deals will stick around until at least February. But those deals will likely disappear as the remaining 2008 models are sold...

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With no extra charge to the sticker price, the program pays the difference between the car's trade-in value at the time the owner files a claim and any remaining balance on the loan up to a maximum of $7,500.

Hyundai is offering the program because its own market research showed car shoppers weren't attracted by rebates and other more normal incentives, said Joel Ewanick, Hyundai America's vice president for marketing. People are simply too worried about making payments no matter how ...

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The decline means Ford’s sales fell 20.7 percent, a difference of more than 500,000 vehicles, for all of 2008.

Other major automakers, including foreign and domestic brands, are expected to say that their sales fell at least 38 percent in December, according to projections by Edmunds.com. The most dismal reports will probably come from General Motors and Chrysler, which both received $4 billion in loans from the federal government at the end of December to help them remain solve...

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Q I leased a 2006 Lincoln LS. I am upside down around $12,000. I want to terminate the lease. Can't trade, can't sell. We are seniors and are not worried about our credit. Right now it is stellar, but I think we were hoodwinked on this car deal. Will a repossession do anything except ruin our credit? Will they sue? We are having a hard time making payments but have continued to do so. Thanks. 

A You will need to read your lease agreement to determine what is involved with...

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Boeckmann señala que las ofertas son mejores ahora que a principios de la década cuando se lanzó la campaña de 0% de interés en financiación, y sustanciosas rebajas.

Las pickups de Ford, verán, según Boeckman una buena temporada el próximo año, cuando el miedo haya cedido entre los compradores, animados también por el costo más bajo de la gasolina. "Pero los tres primeros meses serán flojos...

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Auto sales likely dropped a breathtaking 3 million vehicles in 2008, the largest decline since 1974, said Ford Motor's head of sales analysis Friday.

The last time sales fell that much, the country was embroiled in the 1973 to 1974 oil embargo crisis, with drivers lining up outside gas station waiting for fuel.

The 2008 forecast Friday from George Pipas, manager of sales analysis for Ford Motor (F), comes just days before the auto industry is set to release December sales figu...

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Consumers in the market for a new car this year may be able to drive some hard bargains.

With car sales down this year, many dealerships will be desperate for any sale they can get, said Danny Chan, CEO of AutoBrag.com, a Web site that compiles price data from no-haggle dealerships.

That said, they may be willing to accept better deals and lower margins on sales, while heavily promoting their service departments.

That said, here are five tips on how to get a deal on yo...

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The U.S. Treasury threw the door open to taxpayer financing for more companies and industries by drafting broad guidelines on auto industry aid.

The guidelines, published Wednesday, would let officials provide funds to any company they deem important to making or financing cars. That leaves room to provide money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program beyond loans already committed to General Motors (GM), GMAC and Chrysler.

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