By Ben Klayman and Bernie Woodall

(Reuters) – Auto sales in November were helped by a rebound from storm-ravaged October and the need to replace aging vehicles which put the industry on pace for a near five-year high and left executives optimistic about 2013.

Sales in November were on pace to top an annual rate of 15 million vehicles, which would mark the highest level since the 15.5 million rate of February 2008.

Dec 3 (Reuters) – U.S. auto sales in November were helped by
a rebound from storm-ravaged October and the need to replace
aging vehicles which put the industry on pace for a near
five-year high and left executives optimistic about 2013.

Sales in November were on pace to top an annual rate of 15
million vehicles, which would mark the highest level since the
15.5 million rate of February 2008.

By Ben Klayman and Bernie Woodall

(Reuters) – Auto sales in November were helped by a rebound from storm-ravaged October and the need to replace aging vehicles which put the industry on pace for a near five-year high and left executives optimistic about 2013.

Sales in November were on pace to top an annual rate of 15 million vehicles, which would mark the highest level since the 15.5 million rate of February 2008.

DETROIT (Reuters) – For the first time in nearly two decades, GM’s Chevrolet brand will be back in the business of selling rear-wheel-drive sedans in the United States.

General Motors Co (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects the production version of the Chevrolet SS rear-wheel-drive sedan to act as a low-volume car meant to build excitement around the brand, the head of the automaker’s North American operations said on Thursday.

Nov 28 (Reuters) – General Motors Co and its Chinese
joint-venture partners said they plan to build a $1 billion auto
assembly plant in the city of Chongqing in a bid to remain the
leader in the world’s largest auto market.

GM, SAIC Motor Corp and Wuling Motors Holdings
Ltd said on Wednesday they will begin construction of
the plant early next year, pending government approvals. The 6.6
billion Chinese yuan ($1.06 billion) first phase is scheduled to
start in 2015.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may soon exit one of its venture capital unit’s investments, either through an initial public offering or the acquisition of that company by another, the U.S. automaker’s chief technology officer said.

GM started its venture capital unit more than two years ago with a $200 million budget to invest in start-up companies with promising auto-related technologies.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will soon exit one of its venture capital unit’s investments, either through an initial public offering or the acquisition of that company by another, the U.S. automaker’s chief technology officer said.

GM started its venture capital unit more than two years ago with a $200 million budget to invest in start-up companies with promising auto-related technologies.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 (Reuters) – General Motors Co
aims by 2017 to buld up to 500,000 vehicles a year that include
some form of electric power in the engine, including cars like
the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, a top executive said on
Wednesday.

GM has made rolling out cars with electrical technology —
including its eAssist system that boosts fuel efficiency in
gasoline-powered cars — a central part of its global strategy,
global product development chief Mary Barra told reporters.

ANN ARBOR, Mich, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Chinese automaker SAIC
Motor Corp, which opened a U.S. office in suburban
Detroit this summer, has no plans to build or sell its own cars
in North America in the next several years, the company’s top
U.S. executive said on Wednesday.

“It’s really clear, in (the) short term – several years -
(there is) no plan for car business in North America for SAIC,”
Yi Lu, head of SAIC USA, said at an industry conference at the
University of Michigan when asked whether the company had plans
for to build or sell its own cars in the region.

By Ben Klayman and Deepa Seetharaman

(Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) overstated the gasoline mileage for more than 1 million 2011-2013 model year cars in the United States and Canada, and will offer debit cards to customers to make up the difference.

The companies did not disclose how much the program would cost other than to say it would be “certainly millions” of dollars, according to John Krafcik, president and chief executive of Hyundai Motor America.