Eyeing US Market, VW Plans Tenn. Plant

2011 disasters knock Toyota into 3rd place

(NEWSER) - General Motors is back on top of the world less than three years after its bankruptcy and restructuring. The company is once again the world's top-selling automaker, with 9 million sales worldwide in 2011, almost a million more than second-placed Volkswagen. Toyota, which took top spot from GM in 2008, fell into third place after production cuts caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand. More»

Chrysler, VW saw huge gains

(NEWSER) - Americans may be worried about the economy, but they still need to get where they’re going. Auto sales beat expectations last month, rising 14% to 994,721, their fastest sales pace since August 2009, reports the AP . Chrysler led the pack: The automaker’s sales jumped 45%, Reuters reports. Close behind was Volkswagen, whose sales soared 41%; Hyundai, Nissan, and Ford also saw double-digit gains. More»

VW acquisition would create Europe's biggest car & truck company

(NEWSER) - The map of Europe's car and truck industry is set to be redrawn with Porsche's likely takeover of Volkswagen, the Financial Times reports. Porsche's board voted to boost the sports car manufacturer's stake in Volkswagen to more than 50% yesterday, only hours after Volkswagen said it would buy a controlling interest in Swedish truck company Scania. The combined $225 billion company would be the biggest car and truck firm in Europe. More»

Net earnings more than double

(NEWSER) - Volkswagen reported a record annual profit today, as its net income more than doubled last year. The company sold 8 million vehicles for the first time in its 75-year history, the New York Times reports. While its full report won't be out until March 12, initial numbers released today show Volkswagen's pretax profit rising to a record $25.3 billion, with unit sales up almost 15% from 2010. And 2012 is looking good, too: January sales were up 1.3% from a year earlier. More»

Honda's Acura makes the list twice

(NEWSER) - Autoblog runs down the list of the 10 worst-selling cars of 2011, including:

1. Honda's Acura RL ($47,700): 1,096 sold
2. Hyundai Azera ($25,495): 1,524 sold
3. Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback ($18,395): 1,548 sold
4. Acura ZDX ($46,020): 1,564 sold
5. Toyota Land Cruiser ($68,920): 1,662 sold