O'Sullivan says Mazda poised for healthy growth

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA Jim O'Sullivan, who helped guide Mazda's transition from a Ford-controlled affiliate to independent automaker, says he's leaving the company with the right products in the right segments, and a healthy approach to selling them.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151228/OEM02/312289989/osullivan-says-mazda-poised-for-healthy-growth

How Google could put Ford out front in the race to build self-driving vehicles

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA In the mad rush to build autonomous vehicles, Ford may be set to leapfrog the competition by doing a deal with Google to build a fleet of self-driving cars to the tech giant's specifications.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151226/OEM06/312289979/how-google-could-put-ford-out-front-in-the-race-to-build-self

The biggest auto industry blunders of 2015

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA From Volksagen's diesel emissions scandal to Ford's F-150 crash-test do-over, we look back at the 10 biggest blunders of 2015.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151225/OEM/312289983/the-biggest-auto-industry-blunders-of-2015

Ford recalls 313,000 cars for lighting failures

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA Ford said it will recall 313,000 older cars for headlight failures linked to 11 crashes, as well as 4,700 vans, pick-ups and mid-sized trucks for assorted issues.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151222/OEM11/151229975/ford-recalls-313000-cars-for-lighting-failures

Ford applies for record number of patents as CEO strives for innovation

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA Ford has sought a record number of patents in 2015 as CEO Mark Fields pushes the company toward Silicon Valley-style innovation.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151222/OEM06/151229980/ford-applies-for-record-number-of-patents-as-ceo-strives-for

Ford in talks with Google to build self-driving cars

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA Ford and Google are in talks to have the automaker build Google's next-generation autonomous cars under contract, Automotive News has learned.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM06/151229981/ford-in-talks-with-google-to-build-self-driving-cars

Fuji CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga: As Subaru's sales skyrocket, its parent races to meet demand

Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, CEO of Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries, talks about expanding capacity to meet the brand's breakneck sales growth, plans for a new three-row crossover and other matters in this QandA. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM08/312219984/fuji-ceo-yasuyuki-yoshinaga-as-subarus-sales-skyrocket-its-parent http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Ford CEO Mark Fields: With an eye on the future, the automaker explores new ideas

More than a year into his tenure as CEO of Ford Motor Co., Mark Fields has a redesigned F-150 and two updated SUVs at his disposal just as demand for those types of vehicles is surging. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM08/312219983/ford-ceo-mark-fields-with-an-eye-on-the-future-the-automaker http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Subaru boss: More sales, more output

Years ahead of schedule in achieving his North America sales goal, Subaru's global boss Yasuyuki Yoshinaga says he will raise the target again next spring as demand continues to soar. Any plant expansion will likely take place in Indiana. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM/312219982/subaru-boss-more-sales-more-output http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Kyle Vogt: Turning any car into an autonomous vehicle

A small independent San Francisco team under the leadership of Kyle Vogt, a dropout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has begun marketing the Cruise RP-1, an aftermarket system it claims can be installed on certain Audis as old as 2012... http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219949/kyle-vogt-turning-any-car-into-an-autonomous-vehicle http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Jay Rogers: Crowd-sourcing 3-D printed cars

Jay Rogers of Local Motors wants to revolutionize the auto industry with 3-D-printed, crowdsourced cars. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219947/jay-rogers-crowd-sourcing-3-d-printed-cars http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Vincent Bollore: Billion-dollar investment in EV car-sharing

The French investor and technology provider, with a personal net worth of about $6. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219966/vincent-bollore-billion-dollar-investment-in-ev-car-sharing http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Sergey Brin: Pushing Google's self-driving gambit

Sergey Brin, the billionaire co-founder of Google, thought it important to explain his involvement in the auto industry this year with a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219964/sergey-brin-pushing-googles-self-driving-gambit http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Ernie Garcia Jr.: Pioneering the "used-car vending machine"

The just-opened structure dispenses used cars to customers -- but it also serves as eye candy to an even bigger oddity on today's automotive landscape: Garcia's company is not selling the used cars here at the gumball machine. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219959/ernie-garcia-jr-pioneering-the-used-car-vending-machine http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Erik Day: Bringing FandI in-house

A dealer finance executive proposes a retailer-owned captive finaDay is now finalizing plans for an in-house, dealer-funded finance company at Warren Henry, a Jaguar Land Rover and Infiniti dealer, bringing together funding sources for new- and... http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219961/erik-day-bringing-fi-in-house http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Robert Henrich: Mobility beyond cars

In 2007, former Daimler Financial Services executive Robert Henrich was working in the automaker's newly created Business Innovation Center, pondering how residents of crowded cities of the future were going to drive, park and pay for vehicles. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219957/robert-henrich-mobility-beyond-cars http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Google's Krafcik joins World Congress lineup

John Krafcik will give his first public address as CEO of Google's self-driving-car project at the Automotive News World Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 12. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219968/googles-krafcik-joins-world-congress-lineup http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Travis Kalanick: Rethinking car ownership

To say that Travis Kalanick has upset a few people with his low-fare transportation service Uber is putting it mildly. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219955/travis-kalanick-rethinking-car-ownership http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Sergio Marchionne: Taking on the industry from the top

In April, Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, tossed a lit cherry bomb into the party. He called the industry a destroyer of capital and called for a new plan for how it is run. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219953/sergio-marchionne-taking-on-the-industry-from-the-top http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Jia Yeuting: Raiding Tesla's ranks to build an EV empire

Faraday Future, a Los Angeles enterprise financed by Beijing media mogul Jia Yueting, is determined to get up and running in the electric-vehicle market with autonomous-drive technology as quickly as possible. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219943/jia-yeuting-raiding-teslas-ranks-to-build-an-ev-empire http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Jen-Hsun Huang: Building the brains of self-driving cars

Nvidia -- a company created in 1993 to put cool graphics into video games -- this year unveiled a vastly more powerful "deep learning" automotive device called the Drive PX, leaving last year's Jetson cards to retail to hobbyists on Amazon. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219945/jen-hsun-huang-building-the-brains-of-self-driving-cars http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Elon Musk: Challenging the franchise system

When Elon Musk laid out his blueprint for electric vehicle-maker Tesla Motors in 2004, he proposed many approaches that ran counter to accepted car business practices. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219951/elon-musk-challenging-the-franchise-system http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Ghosn: Nissan, Renault each need CEOs after him

Carlos Ghosn, joint CEO of Nissan and Renault, will ramp up integration of the companies next year by focusing on a new area of operation. But he says there is one are where he eventually wants to decouple the partners: the CEO suite. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219985/ghosn-nissan-renault-each-need-ceos-after-him http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

VW appoints 5 new group leaders

Volkswagen appointed five executives to key groupwide positions last week after being widely expected to eliminate several multibrand functions in the wake of the diesel test-rigging scandal. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM02/312219987/vw-appoints-5-new-group-leaders http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Ford CEO Mark Fields: With an eye on the future, the automaker explores new ideas

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA More than a year into his tenure as CEO of Ford Motor Co., Mark Fields has a redesigned F-150 and two updated SUVs at his disposal just as demand for those types of vehicles is surging.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151221/OEM08/312219983/ford-ceo-mark-fields-with-an-eye-on-the-future-the-automaker

Can a former GM exec chart VW's brand course?

Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Mueller has a big challenge for former GM executive Thomas Sedran -- figure out where the embattled automaker and its 12 brands need to be in 2025 and create a road map to get there. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151219/OEM02/312219990/can-a-former-gm-exec-chart-vws-brand-course http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Lincoln's 2017 Continental takes shape

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA The clearest pictures yet of the 2017 Lincoln Continental emerged this week as a spy photographer caught a test mule leaving Ford Motor Co.'s product development center in Dearborn, Mich.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151216/OEM04/151219894/lincolns-2017-continental-takes-shape

Ford gets California approval for testing self-driving cars on roads

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA Ford said it secured a permit from California to begin testing its self-driving car on public roads from next year.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151216/OEM06/151219898/ford-gets-california-approval-for-testing-self-driving-cars-on-roads

Ram 1500 retains 4-star NHTSA safety rating

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA The 2016 Ram 1500 pickup has received a four-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration -- one star less than competitive pickups at General Motors and Ford.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151215/OEM11/151219923/ram-1500-retains-4-star-nhtsa-safety-rating

Fields: Why electrified models are a good bet

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA In an interview with Automotive News, Ford CEO Mark Fields spells out why the automaker is making a $4.5 billion investment to develop more than a dozen electrified vehicles that it knows few consumers want to buy right now.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/OEM05/312149945/fields-why-electrified-models-are-a-good-bet

GM, Ford cut back on rental sales; Asians pick up the slack

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA Over the past few years, General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have become less reliant on the profit-eroding habit of dumping cars onto the rental-car market, according to a review of industrywide rental sales data by Automotive News.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/RETAIL01/312149962/gm-ford-cut-back-on-rental-sales-asians-pick-up-the-slack

Store gives rapid response, round the clock

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/autonews/BreakingNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA At Keller Bros. Ford in Pennsylvania, staffers often respond to Internet leads around the clock, seven days a week, and within 5 minutes during business hours. The approach has helped produce record sales for two consecutive years.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/RETAIL07/312149967/store-gives-rapid-response-round-the-clock

Fields: Why electrified models are a good bet

In an interview with Automotive News, Ford CEO Mark Fields spells out why the automaker is making a $4.5 billion investment to develop more than a dozen electrified vehicles that it knows few consumers want to buy right now. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/OEM05/312149945/fields-why-electrified-models-are-a-good-bet http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Baby Max makes impression at Nissan

Nissan product managers were impressed that Facebook founder and zillionaire Mark Zuckerberg publicly pledged to his newborn daughter, Max, that he will give 99 percent of their $46 billion family fortune to charity over the course of his life. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/OEM02/312149949/baby-max-makes-impression-at-nissan http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

AutoNation CEO Jackson joins World Congress

AutoNation Inc. CEO Mike Jackson, who this year defied both the National Automobile Dealers Association and TrueCar Inc., will speak at the Automotive News World Congress on Jan. 12. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/OEM09/312149955/autonation-ceo-jackson-joins-world-congress http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

Diaz has been down this road before

Last week, Fred Diaz, 49, went from senior vice president for U.S. sales and marketing and operations at Nissan North America to a newly created position - vice president for truck sales. Why does this sound so familiar? http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/OEM02/312149952/diaz-has-been-down-this-road-before http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

WWII vet and dealer Robert Burd passes at 90

Former dealer Robert Burd died Oct. 31. http://www.autonews.com/article/20151214/OEM02/312149958/wwii-vet-and-dealer-robert-burd-passes-at-90 http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png