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Blue Bird recalls 3,900 school buses over fire hazard

School bus manufacturer Blue Bird Body Co. is recalling about 3,900 large school buses for a potential fire hazard. Get the full story »

U.S. probes steering complaints on Dodge pickups

U.S. safety investigators have launched a new review of steering complaints in Dodge Ram pickup trucks that could result in a bigger recall of that vehicle, documents showed on Friday. Get the full story »

Toyota to resume limited production in Japan

Workers walk between newly-assembled Prius vehicles near Toyota's plant in Toyota, central Japan, in this February 9, 2010 file photo. (Reuters/Yuriko Nakao/Files)

Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. said Friday that they will resume production at all factories in Japan from mid-to-late April, joining Honda Motor Co. in an industry-wide move indicating a month-long parts shortage may be abating.

But Japan’s Big Three auto makers all say their output at home still will be only at half of normal volumes. Get the full story »

Study: Women more practical when buying cars

The efficient Mini was the car with highest percentage of women buyers. (Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty)

Men prefer their cars beefy or fast, while women go for lower price tags and higher miles per gallon, according to a survey released Thursday. TrueCar.com, which studied data from 8 million purchases in the United States last year, found BMW AG’s Mini had the highest percentage of female buyers at 48 percent, while 93 percent of buyers for Fiat SpA’s Ferrari were men.

“The study shows that women car buyers are more cost-conscious and purchased fuel-efficient vehicles while male buyers were completely the opposite, purchasing vehicles that were either big and brawny, like a large truck, or chose a high-priced, high-performance vehicle,” TrueCar analyst Jesse Toprak said in a statement. Get the full story »

Ford resisting push to expand F-150 recall

From the Detroit News | Ford Motor Co. and federal regulators remain in talks over whether the automaker should expand a recall of F-150 pickups over dozens of reports that air bags have deployed without warning. Get the full story »

‘Repo Games’ let contestants try to win back cars

“Repo Games,“ a reality television show from Spike TV that allows debtors a chance to win back their repossessed cars, will hit the airwaves later this month. Get the full story »

Toyota, Microsoft team up on in-car digital services

Microsoft Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a plan Wednesday to work together on bringing Internet-connected services to Toyota’s cars. Get the full story »

Higher materials costs drive Ford to raise prices

Bloomberg News | Ford  has raised prices $117 per vehicle to offset higher costs for materials, particularly steel.

Judge dismisses non-U.S. claims against Toyota

U.S. judge dismissed claims against Toyota Motor Corp. brought by non-U.S. car buyers over allegations that their vehicles lost value because of manufacturing defects, according to a tentative court ruling. Get the full story »

March auto sales gains riding in small cars

Most major automakers raced past expectations for U.S. sales in March as buyers flocked to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in response to rising gasoline prices at the pump. Get the full story »

Ford’s Mulally pay package up 48%

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally’s total compensation rose 48 percent to $26.5 million in 2010 when the automaker reported its best net profit in a decade. Get the full story »

Toyota wins jury verdict in acceleration case

A federal jury decided Friday that Toyota Motor Corp. was not negligent in the design of a 2005 Scion, which a New York doctor said caused the vehicle to accelerate unexpectedly and smash into a tree, the automaker said. Get the full story »

Automakers trimmed incentives in March

Average per-vehicle incentives from U.S. auto makers slid 8.6 percent in March from February and declined 17 percent from a year earlier, according to car-shopping site Edmunds.com. Get the full story »

No summer shutdown at Normal Mitsubishi plant

The Mitsubishi plant in central Illinois will be skipping its traditional summer production shutdown for the first time this year, due to a new order for rental-fleet vehicles. Get the full story »

Honda, Mazda to resume some production

Honda Motor and Mazda Motor on Thursday became the latest major automakers to say they would resume some production in Japan after halting plant operations following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11. Get the full story »