Ford Motor and Volkswagen  are joining hands to build commercial vans and medium-sized pickup trucks as early as 2022. The partnership, announced Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, is expected to bolster annual pre-tax operating results for both companies from 2023.Additionally, the automakers inked a "memorandum of understanding" to collaborate on self-driving vehicle research. But the two firms will not buy ownership stakes in each other. Ford CEO Jim Hackett said, "Ford and Volkswagen will continue operating as two separate and competitive entities".

Ford Motor is gearing up to launch new electric cars as soon as next year, CEO Jim Hackett told CNBC on Sunday. Ford has previously announced its plans to invest $11 billion in electric vehicles by 2022 and produce 40 hybrid and fully electric cars, in a plan to revive its slowing business.READ MORE...

With a growing number of long-range battery-cars coming to market, Nissan's own electric vehicle, the Leaf, has been in danger of coming unplugged. Read More...

The amount was disclosed by a person familiar with the details, according to CNN.  The settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing by the automaker, though. According to the source, fines of about $305 million would be split among the US Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board.Fiat Chrysler will make payments of up to $2,800 per vehicle to the owners of 100,000 diesel-powered Jeep SUVs and Ram pickup. Two years ago, regulators accused that Fiat Chrysler had installed software on 100,000 diesel-powered cars and trucks as a way to cheat on diesel emissions tests.

Ford Motor is slashing thousands of jobs in Europe, as the carmaker embarks on closing a plant and terminating production of some unprofitable models in the continent – as part of a restructuring plan.In July, the company had indicated its intent to spend $11 billion over the next three to five years towards shuffling its global business. In its announcement on Thursday, Ford mentioned that it will be ending production of the C-Max compact car in Germany, and that it wants to shutter a transmissions plant in France.

Century-old American multinational, General Motors, announced its plans to introduce a record 20+ new and refreshed models in China in 2019, in an effort to maintain its growth momentum in the world’s largest vehicle market and to tap emerging opportunities in new energy vehicles (NEVs). According to the company, nearly half of the models that are planned for introduction in 2019 will bear new nameplates for GM’s China portfolio, developed by leveraging GM’s global expertise and vehicle design and engineering resources. China has been the largest retail sales market for GM since 2012, but the recent decline in auto sales in China has become an area of concern for the US carmaker.He also added that GM will continue to augment its product mix, backed by its industry-leading technologies and adjacent services, and to explore more opportunities in electrification and autonomous driving in China to drive growth.  

Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison owns 1.75% stake – worth $1 billion - in Tesla, making him the second-largest individual investor in the electric car manufacturing company.His holding was confirmed in a filing Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Tesla co-founder & CEO Elon Musk owns about a fifth of the company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. According to the filing, Ellison indirectly owns 3 million Tesla shares through the Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust.

Tesla has now officially broken ground at the Gigafactory 3 and CEO Elon Musk made a few interesting comments, including confirmation that Tesla will produce the upcoming new Model Y at the factory.READ MORE...

The electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has announced that some customers in left-hand drive European countries can now configure and buy its Model 3 car. The U.S. firm announced the change via its Twitter handle: READ MORE...

On the other hand, Tesla’s share price rose 7%, but it’s difficult to draw a conclusion on that basis alone -- if the year had ended a week earlier, Tesla’s price would have dropped by 5%.Volatility surrounding Tesla has been an area of concern. Perhaps a more useful way to look at the two companies is by their respective growth strategies. While FCAU’s growth story is an impressive one with an ever expanding SUV brand boosting the company’s margins, Tesla is yet to report a full year profit. According to one Morgan Stanely analyst, however, Tesla has the potential of an eventual addressable market at $15 trillion – nearly 20% of the entire world's GDP.

Tesla stock price fell -9% on the news. At 90,700 vehicles, total deliveries of Tesla vehicles fell a bit short of Wall Street’s delivery estimates, but was higher than the previous quarter’s figure.Tesla also announced that it is slashing prices by $2,000 for Model S, Model X and Model 3 each – a move that is apparently a response to the reduction in federal tax credit. Total production of Tesla vehicles increased +8% to 86,555 vehicles.

As of this weekend with only just over a day left in the quarter, Tesla still had over 3,000 Model 3 vehicles left in inventory in the US, according to a source familiar with the matter.READ MORE...

The electric car maker's  stock jumped +3% on the news, during pre-market trading on Friday. Ellison is currently the executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle Corp.  Wilson-Thompson is the global head of human resources at Dow component Wallgreens Boots Alliance WBA. Tesla indicated it was looking for independent directors who could would “complement the current board's experience"."In Larry and Kathleen, we have added a preeminent entrepreneur and a human resources leader, both of whom have a passion for sustainable energy", Tesla said. Earlier this year, a settlement between Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed Musk to remain CEO of the company but required him to step down as chairman of the board.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) said Friday it is recalling 874,000 pickup trucks in North America with engine block heaters for fire risks.READ MORE...

Declining auto sales in China has U.S. carmakers concerned, with four straight months of declines squeezing profitability in the world’s biggest car market. According to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers, auto sales in China fell ~14% in November over the same month in 2017.Low-end vehicles got hit the most, while premium brands have continued to see growth.

Toyota is recalling around 70,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in North America, to replace air bag inflators that could have deteriorated. The recalled car models include the 2003 to 2005 Corolla, the 2002 to 2005 Sequoia, the 2003 to 2005 Tundra and the 2002 to 2005 Lexus SC.About 65,000 of the recalled vehicles are in the U.S. While Takata uses ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion and inflate the airbags,  it can degenerate and burn too quickly – something that could eventually blow a metal canister apart.

Elon Musk might set up a Tesla store in his birth country soon.Replying to a South African’s question on Twitter about when he would open a store in South Africa, Musk tweeted, “Probably end of next year”. While various countries including the U.S., China, Australia and Germany already have Tesla stores, Africa does not have any.

And now, a Bloomberg report says that a proposal to lower Chinese tariffs to 15% (from 40%) on U.S.-made cars has been sent to China’s Cabinet for review, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. In July, China hiked tariff rate on imported U.S.-made cars to 40% as a retaliatory move against U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.But earlier this month, trade talk between Trump and China President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a summit in Buenos Aires apparently spurred some hope of a truce with Trump indicating that China could lower tariffs on U.S. cars. However, China’s decision on car tariffs is yet to be finalized.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk might be interested to buy some of the five factories that General Motors (GM) would idle in 2019, according to an interview he recently gave to CBS.At present,Tesla produces electric cars in the U.S. at its California plant that it bought from a joint venture operated by GM and Toyota Motor Corp. GM wants to shut down five factories in North America as part of a restructuring plan.

Fiat Chrysler might reopen a defunct Detroit factory of the company. The auto manufacturing company is reportedly planning to re-purpose a building in the northwestern side of the Detroit into an assembly site for a three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV model, according to The Detroit News. The Jeep is scheduled to debut in the year 2021.Previously, Chrysler used the Detroit site for engine production until 2012 when it was shut down. If reopened, the Detroit factory could employ up to 400 people.