General Motors Co., with renewed verve as the world’s biggest automaker, will be in the spotlight at the Detroit auto show next week taking on BMW and its popular 3-Series line with a new compact Cadillac. The new model represents Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson’s strategy for gaining ground in the compact-luxury segment. GM is trying to barge into the market for small, upscale cars, an impo...

Audi will add models to feed U.S. passion for sedans and sport-utility vehicles and gain ground on market leaders Daimler AG and BMW. Audi will use the Detroit motor show next week to unveil a concept “Vail” version of the compact Q3 SUV for the U.S. market and plans to build a sedan version of the A3 hatchback after the newest model comes to market this year, CEO Rupert Stadler said in an inter...

The new push comes under the plans for business synergy with its recently acquired affiliate Ssangyong Motor Co., Korea’s smallest carmaker it took over in November 2010. An ideal scenario for Mahindra is boosting Korean sales from India-made XUV500 and making Ssangyong’s Rexton to do the same in the Indian market. It has already confirmed plans to launch Rexton in the Indian market in the second...

BMW overtook Mercedes-Benz in a surprise upset Thursday to grab the crown of best-selling luxury brand in the United States after an incentive-fueled race to the finish of 2011. The upset came after Autodata declared Mercedes the champion Wednesday using data gleaned from a "credible industry source" after neither automaker had reported their results on the industry's standard reporting day. "I...

The nation’s import car industry saw its monthly sales fall for the first time in 28 months in December 2011. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, foreign carmakers reported combined sales of 7,879 units last December, down from 8,294 units a year earlier. The year-on-year drop in sales was the first since the figure stood at 3,612 units in August 2009, comp...

The profitability of South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Group is fast improving in the European market as the company is selling record numbers of large luxury vehicles there, market observers said Sunday. In 2009, the automotive group sold 579,780 vehicles in Europe, 79.5 percent of which were small or medium-size cars. The company’s sales rose to 620,372 units in 2010, but the prop...

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle manufacturer, is interested in buying at least parts of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile, two people familiar with the situation said. Mahindra, based in Mumbai, is in the process of trying to set up meetings with the two court-appointed administrators who are overseeing Saab’s bankruptcy to possibly buy parts of the carmak...

The Korean unit of French carmaker Renault Samsung plans to do the same with its mid-sized SM3 sedan. Kia’s Ray will require drivers to recharge their lithium ion battery by visiting one of over 500 charging stations, while SM3 ZE drivers will be able to exchange their batteries at a swap station in less than 90 seconds. There is no clear leader in the domestic market compared to other global pl...