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Associated Press | Auto parts supplier Tenneco Inc. said Friday that it has reached a deal
with lenders to raise some of its credit lines and extend their terms.
The Lake Forest company said its $550 million revolving credit facility
will rise to $622 million until March 16, 2012, when $66 million worth
of commitments from other lenders expire. After that, the revolver will
total $556 million and mature on May 31, 2014, the company said in a
statement.
The 2007 Dodge Caliber apparently has the same sticky gas pedal issue that has plagued Toyota. (Tribune file photo)
Associated Press | Chrysler is recalling nearly 35,000 Dodge
Calibers in the United States and around the globe to fix a potential
problem with sticky gas pedals, the same issue that has affected
millions of Toyotas.
Chrysler says it will recall about 25,000 Calibers in the U.S. from the
2007 model year and a limited number of 2007 Jeep Compass SUVs to
inspect those built between March and May of 2006.
From Investor’s Business Daily | Lake Forest-based auto parts maker Tenneco fell five percent during brisk early morning trading, along with the major indexes, which tumbled after news of a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
Get the full story: investors.com.
Reuters | Ford Motor Co will eliminate its Mercury brand which has seen sales and
investment plunge in recent years, closing out a vehicle lineup created
in the 1930s by Edsel Ford, the automaker said Wednesday.
Ford declined to disclose the cost of eliminating the Mercury brand, but
said it expected to shift those resources to expanding its Lincoln
luxury brand and did not plan job cuts. Ford plans to cease Mercury
production in the fourth quarter.
Reuters | Major automakers recorded double-digit U.S. sales gains
in May from depressed year-earlier levels as industry-wide sales ticked
up for a seventh consecutive month with a boost from orders by rental
agencies.
The May auto sales results provide one of the earliest snapshots of
consumer demand for a month marked by financial market volatility and
renewed questions about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery in
the second half of the year.
(Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Reuters | Zipcar Inc., a car-sharing service popular among college students
and city dwellers, filed for an initial public offering worth as much
as $75 million.
The company, founded nearly a decade ago, is a leader in so-called
car-sharing, a service that charges an annual membership and rents cars
at an hourly or daily rate. The service is successful in markets in
which car ownership is lower and parking is scarce and expensive, such
as urban areas and colleges.
Associated Press | Federal safety regulators are looking into reports of gas pedals that become stuck under floor mats of 2010 Ford Fusions and Mercury Milans.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has received only three complaints of gas pedals getting trapped under unsecured all weather floor mats. There are no reports of injuries or crashes.
But it is similar to the problem that led Toyota to recall several million vehicles last fall.
Safety officials say the investigation covers about 250,000 Fusions and Milans.
Reuters | Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is set to start assembling vehicles in China in its first such overseas operation, a company spokesman said on Friday.
JLR, owned by Indian Tata Motors, plans to begin assembling two models in China within the next two years, possibly a Land Rover model and Jaguar model.
The parts would be made in Britain and shipped to China for assembly, where a local partner would need to be found.
The Mercury Sable and Ford Taurus assembly line in Chicago in 2007. (Chicago Tribune/Scott Strazzante)
By Jerry Hirsh |
In a meeting with industry analysts Friday, Ford Motor Co. Chief
Executive Alan Mulally declined to confirm reports that the automaker
is about to kill its Mercury brand, but he also didn’t go out of his
way to deny the expected strategic move.
“We have shared in the past that we continue to look at our portfolio
of brands and specific nameplates themselves, but we have nothing new
to add to that,” Mulally said. Earlier in the meeting he talked about
the automaker’s “laser-like focus on the Ford brand.”
And Mulally, a former Boeing Co. executive credited with guiding Ford
through the recession without having to join rivals General Motors Co.
and Chrysler Group in a bankruptcy reorganization, also talked about
Ford’s strategy of simplifying its operations by focusing on fewer
brands and by developing vehicle platforms that can be used worldwide.
Reuters | A parts shortage at a BMW supplier has slowed U.S. deliveries of most
2011 vehicles for the German automaker in May. The shortage has created a backlog of
orders for models, including the 3 Series and 7 Series sedans, BMW said.
During two weeks in April, the majority of latest BMW models bound for
U.S. consumers were built without the component that controls the
vehicle’s power seats due to the supplier shortcoming, the company said
in a notice to dealers on May 25 that was reviewed by Reuters.
BMW did not identify the supplier of the seat modules.
From the Rockford Register-Star | The Chrysler Group LLC plant in Belvidere, which will have its three current production vehicles phased out in 2012, could be getting a 500,000-square-foot expansion.
Get the full story: rrstar.com
Dow Jones Newswires | Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Tenneco Inc. a notch thanks to
improving trends in the automobile sectors of North America and Europe.
The company, which makes various auto parts, last year was perched on
the edge of bankruptcy as tumult in the auto industry pushed it into the
red and constrained sales. Investor unease pressured its share price
below 70 cents, but it has since rebounded as Tenneco has posted three
straight quarters in the black.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts speaks to the media on May 6, 2010, the day he received approval from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to install a Toyota sign at Wrigley Field. (William DeShazer/ Chicago Tribune)
By Ameet Sachdev
| The Chicago Cubs moved one step closer to erecting a proposed Toyota
advertisement above the bleachers at Wrigley Field.
The buildings committee of the Chicago City Council on Tuesday
unanimously approved a permit for the illuminated, 360-square-foot sign,
said a Cubs official.
The committee’s approval was expected after Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th,
changed his mind about the sign and voiced his support for the sign.
Wrigley Field sits in Tunney ward.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
| Chris Konecki, who joined the Chicago Automobile Trade Association six years ago, was promoted to executive vice president of the trade group representing more than 500 franchised Chicago-area new-car dealers and affiliated businesses.
Konecki, 44, previously served as director of auto show operations and succeeds David Sloan, who was named the group’s president Jan. 1. Konecki joined the association after 16 years at McCormick Place, where he was event manager of the Chicago Auto Show account and other large shows.
From Cars.com | Ford has issued a recall for 2,934 Ranger vehicles from the 2010 model year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Get the full story: Ford recalls 2010 Ranger for cold-weather defect.
