Free Republic

France’s ailing industrial sector took another blow on Tuesday when Renault said it planned to cut 7,500 domestic jobs by 2016, or about 17 percent of its French labor force, as it adjusts production capacity to the crushing downturn in the European car market. The plan, which the company said in a statement would save 400 million euros, or $540 million, in annual fixed costs, is needed to lower its break-even point — the amount of revenue needed to cover all outlays — and to “clear the way for the new hiring needed for the future.” The company said that...

LOS ANGELES – A rapidly expanding manufacturer of all-electric cars, solar panels and other green products from China announced Friday it will open a North American headquarters in Los Angeles, with plans to begin selling autos in the U.S. by the end of the year. City officials said the arrival of BYD Inc. of Shenzhen, China, will initially create about 150 high-paying jobs as the company hires managers, designers and engineers to staff the new downtown headquarters. As it begins to market cars in the United States, officials expect several hundred more jobs to be created in related industries involving...

WASHINGTON — From a high-school auditorium near the birthplace of Elvis, Toyota was greeted like a hometown hero last week when it announced its eighth vehicle assembly plant in North America. Students cheered as the automaker showed off a Highlander sport-utility vehicle that will be built starting in 2010 at the $1.3 billion plant near Tupelo, Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour called Toyota Motor Corp. the "world’s premiere auto manufacturer," and Sen. Trent Lott, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, promised, "When you are in our constituency, we are warriors on your behalf." Toyota’s choice of Mississippi for a new plant should...

DEARBORN, Michigan (AFP) - Struggling US auto giant Ford Motor Co. has posted a mammoth quarterly net loss of 5.8 billion dollars as restructuring costs hammered its earnings. Ford also spooked investors by revealing it would restate results from 2001 through to this year's third quarter, "to correct the accounting for certain derivative transactions" by its consumer credit division. Ford's newly appointed chief executive, former Boeing executive Alan Mulally, said Monday the results were "clearly unacceptable" and vowed to make more of the smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles pioneered by Japanese automakers. Ford's loss for the third quarter ended last month included...