DETROIT, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it
will build a new auto plant in Mexico to make sub-compact cars
for the North American market and that it will open in 2014.

Honda will spend about $800 million to build the plant in
the suburb of Celaya, Guanajuato, about 210 miles east of the
company’s two existing plants in Mexico that make cars and
motorcycles.

DETROIT, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Auto parts maker Lear Corp
(LEA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said Chief Executive Bob Rossiter will leave the
company after 40 years, and named Chief Financial Officer Matt
Simoncini as his replacement.

Rossiter, 65, will remain in an advisory role until May
2012 to assist with the transition to Simoncini, 50, Lear said
in a statement.

DETROIT (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co Ltd will recall 2.49 million cars, small SUVs and minivans worldwide, including its popular Accord sedan, to repair a software problem that could damage the automatic transmission.

The recall includes 1.5 million vehicles in the United States, 760,000 in China and 135,142 in Canada, the automaker said on Friday.

TOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) – When Honda Motor’s 2012 Civic debuted at the New York auto show in April, critics universally panned its cheap, hard-plastic interior .

It was a discouraging result for a car that accounts for a fifth of the more than 3 million vehicles Honda sells annually and that was supposed to fend off Hyundai Motor’s Elantra in the increasingly competitive small-car segment.

TOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) – When Honda Motor’s (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 2012 Civic debuted at the New York auto show in April, critics universally panned its cheap, hard-plastic interior .

It was a discouraging result for a car that accounts for a fifth of the more than 3 million vehicles Honda sells annually and that was supposed to fend off Hyundai Motor’s (005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Elantra in the increasingly competitive small-car segment.

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (Reuters) – The United Auto Workers union is in talks with most of the foreign automakers in the United States to represent the hourly workers at their U.S. assembly plants, the union chief said on Wednesday.

“The vast majority of the assemblers here in the United States have at least agreed to confidential discussions,” UAW President Bob King said at an industry conference in Traverse City, Michigan. “We’ve had productive discussions. The last thing we want is confrontation.”

, Aug 3 (Reuters) – The United Auto
Workers union is in talks with most of the foreign automakers
to represent the hourly workers at their U.S. assembly plants,
the union chief said on Wednesday.

“The vast majority of the assemblers here in the United
States have at least agreed to confidential discussions,” UAW
President Bob King said at an industry conference here. “We’ve
had productive discussions. The last thing we want is
confrontation.”

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (Reuters) – U.S. new car buyers are richer and more demanding because they have more choice among brands that are closer in quality than ever before, Ford Motor Co’s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sales and marketing chief said on Tuesday.

After the recession and credit crisis brought U.S. new auto sales down more than 35 percent from 2007 to 2009, not only did automakers recreate themselves into leaner companies but their customers changed greatly, too, said Jim Farley, global marketing and sales chief for Ford.

, Aug 2 (Reuters) – U.S. new car buyers
are richer and more demanding because they have more choice
among brands that are closer in quality than ever before, Ford
Motor Co’s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sales and marketing chief said on Tuesday.

After the recession and credit crisis brought U.S. new auto
sales down more than 35 percent from 2007 to 2009, not only did
automakers recreate themselves into leaner companies but their
customers changed greatly, too, said Jim Farley, global
marketing and sales chief for Ford.

, Aug 1 (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co’s
(7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) redesigned Civic LX small sedan dropped precipitously
in Consumer Reports ratings and no longer rates well enough to
be on the publication’s “recommended” list, the consumer
magazine said on Monday.

The Civic fell from “very good” in the previous Consumer
Reports ratings of small sedans in the U.S. market, and was
rated next-to-last of 12 models tested.