DETROIT, Feb 16 (Reuters) – A federal judge is set to
decide on Thursday if the Nigerian man who pleaded guilty to
trying to blow up a U.S. airliner bound for Detroit in 2009 will
spend the rest of his life in prison.

A bomb hidden in the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,
now 25, caused a fire but failed to explode on a Delta Airlines
flight carrying 289 people on Dec. 25, 2009.

Feb 15 (Reuters) – Mitt Romney says winning the
Republican primary in Michigan — his boyhood home — has become
“personal” for him.

But for Detroit executives, dealers and others who lived
through the industry’s near-death experience and revival,
Romney’s renewed criticism of the bailouts that saved General
Motors and Chrysler has also become personal — and polarizing.

DETROIT, Feb 14 (Reuters) – The number of U.S. auto
dealerships rose in 2011 for the first time in 11 years, and the
per-dealership sales average is expected to set a record high in
2012, dealer consultant Urban Science said on Tuesday.

Chrysler Group LLC added the most dealerships, adding 135
dealerships for its parent Fiat SpA and 50 dealerships
selling the main Chrysler Group brands, Dodge, Jeep and
Chrysler.

, Feb 10 (Reuters) – United Auto Workers
President Bob King said on Friday he would join the board of
General Motors Co’s money-losing Opel unit if asked by
its German union.

Sources previously told Reuters that German union IG Metall
will name King to the Opel board next month. The U.S. union
chief met with his Opel counterpart, Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug, in
Detroit on Monday.

DETROIT, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Group 1 Automotive,
one of the largest U.S. retail auto dealer groups, said earnings
nearly doubled in the fourth quarter on higher sales of new
vehicles as well as savings from cost cuts that began during the
2008-2009 financial crisis.

The cost savings helped the company through last year’s
inventory problems of Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co which
were caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March
and floods in Thailand last October.

Feb 9 (Reuters) – Two top Ford Motor Co
executives who helped steer the U.S. automaker through the
financial crisis will retire by April 1, thinning the ranks of
likely candidates to replace Chief Executive Alan Mulally in
coming years.

For his part, the 66-year-old Mulally said, “Our plan at
Ford is to have a very strong succession plan for every position
including my own,” but that he had no plans to retire.

Feb 9 (Reuters) – Two top Ford Motor Co
executives who helped steer the U.S. automaker through the
financial crisis will retire by April 1, thinning the ranks of
potential candidates who could replace Chief Executive Alan
Mulally in coming years.

Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth, 63, will be replaced by
the company Vice President and Controller Bob Shanks, 59.
Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s product development chief, will be
succeeded by Raj Nair, 47, now the head of engineering for
global product development.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Is what is good for Chrysler good for America?

The auto maker courted controversy and won kudos for a two-minute Super Bowl advertisement that was less a car sales pitch than a political message in a presidential election year.

Rugged Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood proclaimed it was “Halftime in America” in the spot that did not mention a Chrysler car or truck but intoned that the automaker’s successful turnaround could be used as an example for the United States as it struggles with high unemployment and a slow economic growth rate.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – A simmering feud between General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co heated up on Sunday as Ford objected to GM’s Super Bowl advertisement for its Chevy Silverado pickup truck.

The ad, which will run on NBC’s television broadcast of the Super Bowl on Sunday, depicts an apocalyptic scene in which Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and their owners escape death and make it to a pre-arranged meeting point.

LAS VEGAS, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. auto sector will
not recover significantly until U.S. home prices pick up and
consumers feel more prosperous, a top Hyundai Motor Co
executive said on Friday.

John Krafcik, head of Hyundai’s North American operations,
said the recent U.S. auto industry sales figures showing
double-digit growth are misleading because much of the boost
came from less-profitable fleet customers.