(March 14, 2011) DETROIT — The General Motors Foundation today approved an immediate $500,000 contribution to the American Red Cross relief fund to help earthquake-stricken Japan. GM also has provided a direct web-link that employees can conveniently access from their desktop work stations to contribute personally to the Red Cross disaster fund. 

(March 14, 2010) SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (PRNewswire) — Automotive leasing in the United States in 2010 represented nearly 19 percent of overall vehicle transactions, according to Polk. This represents a 5.8 percentage point increase over 2009 leasing penetration rates of just 13.1 percent during the economic crisis as several OEMs were pulling away from leasing.

(March 14, 2011) Nissan in Japan announced today that several of its plants will suspend operations for several more days and will contribute to the earthquake relief efforts.

The Tochigi pant and the Iwaki pant are suspending operations until Friday; and the Oppama, Kyushu, Nissan Shatai, and Yokohama plants will reopen on Wednesday.

(March 14, 2011) British sports car maker, Caterham Cars, is set to further expand its international influence, after a record year of export sales in 2010.

The achievement of meeting the EU5 emissions standards means that Caterham has pan-European approval to sell a stunning range of cars that includes the Roadsport, Superlight R300, SV and CSR powered by Ford Sigma and Duratec engines.

(March 13, 2011) AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (PRNewswire) — Mercedes-Benz celebrates the 125 year anniversary of the invention of the automobile at the 16th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance this weekend, which features nearly 250 rare vehicles and benefits Community Hospice of Northeast Florida.

A prominent display situated on the golf course at the Ritz Carlton is featuring four symbolic Mercedes-Benz vehicles that showcase a piece of the Company's fascinating 125 year history and its contributions made to the automobile industry:

(MARCH 13, 2011) Tata Motors of India, maker of the muh-publized Nano, has launched the most fuel-efficient car in India. The diesel-powered Indica eV2 is rated at the equivalent of 62 miles per gallon.

Tata claims the new diesel version of its tiny Indica hatch, called the Indica eV2, is the most fuel efficient car running in India, returning a figure of 25kpl (62 mpg), a 46 percent improvement over its predecessor.

(March 12, 2011) ROCKLEIGH, N.J.  —  Volvo has partnered with The Andy Pilgrim Foundation to fight distracted driving through a newly released educational DVD, "The Driving Zone 2."

The DVD addresses the pitfalls of texting, emailing and talking on the phone while driving.  It also highlights many useful tools used by professional and experienced drivers to enable them to stay collision-free.

(March 12, 2011) Kia is recalling about 70,000 Optima sedans from model years 2006 through 2008 because the car's automatic transmission may remain in gear after being shifted to park, creating the risk of a roll-away crash.

(March 12, 2011) DEARBORN, Mich. — The primary part of one of Michigan’s largest solar power generation systems at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant is now up and running, delivering renewable energy to help power the production of fuel-efficient small cars.

(March 12, 2011) DETROIT — Chevrolet will introduce the Captiva Sport, a new entry to the U.S market, later this year. The compact crossover will not be available in Chevrolet showrooms, however, but sold exclusively to fleet customers.

The Captiva's arrival will help free supplies of Chevy's popular Equinox for retail sales. Both crossovers are similar in size and get about the same fuel economy.