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automakers

China's BYD struggles with electric-car efforts

Reuters

BYD's profit warning and failure to deliver its promised electric-car plan sent shares plunging to a more than two-year low, as the Chinese auto and battery maker backed by Warren Buffett struggles with steady sales declines and waning popularity of its top model.

Shares in BYD plummeted more than 14 percent today after the company warned it could post a third-quarter loss.

The grim warning and ensuing stock drop has put a spotlight on the company's strategy and on Buffett, whose investment in BYD has lost around $2 billion in value since taking a stake in 2009. His … Read more

White House to provide loans to auto giants

The federal government will make billions of dollars worth of loans available to U.S. automakers to enable them to restructure and invest in fuel-efficient auto technologies like electric vehicles.

At a press briefing on Friday, President Bush announced the outlines of the plan which he said was meant to avoid a "disorderly bankruptcy."

Auto companies will have access to $13.4 billion from the $700 billion that was authorized to shore up the country's financial institutions. Another $4 billion would become available for the carmakers in February. The companies have until March 31 to demonstrate that … Read more

Would you pay more for a greener car?

Consumers won't pay more for cars that would meet new, stricter emissions standards.

That was the message sent last week by Susan Docherty, Western Region general manager of General Motors, as a handful of automotive journalists (including yours truly) sat scattered at a very large table in a private room in the back of one of Santa Monica's poshest hotel restaurants during a GM-sponsored holiday dinner.

The proclamation erupted out of a somewhat heated debate with one of the print journalists at the table, sparked in part by news that a U.S. District Judge had dismissed a lawsuit … Read more