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Looks like the German controlled DaimlerChrysler company has shown their true colors by running anti-American ads overseas.

DETROIT—Americans shied away from large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks in April as gasoline prices approached $3 a gallon. With a battery of new SUVs waiting in the wings, domestic automakers are now facing the very scenario they had hoped to avoid. Despite gains at Toyota Motor and Honda Motor, declines at General Motors, Ford Motor, DaimlerChrysler and Nissan Motor pushed vehicle sales in the United States down 0.1 percent in April, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. General Motors saw the biggest drop, selling 7.3 percent fewer vehicles than it did in April 2005. For the first time, Toyota became...

Welcome to the weekly Nascar at FR thread! This week - the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, March 12 and Busch Series Sam's Town 300, March 11 at Las Vegas Speedway. The Craftsman Series is off this week-end.

DaimlerChrysler to Eliminate 6,000 Jobs to Save Some $1.2B a Year, Make Company Leaner BERLIN (AP) -- The automaker DaimlerChrysler AG said Tuesday that it would cut administrative staff by 20 percent worldwide over three years, dropping 6,000 jobs in order to save some $1.2 billion a year and make the company leaner and more profitable. CEO Dieter Zetsche said the streamlining would boost growth and profits by removing layers of management and improving cooperation between its divisions, especially Mercedes and Chrysler. Some 60 percent of the jobs to be cut would be in Germany, he said. "Our objective in...

UNDATED (WJRT) - (01/09/06)-- DaimlerChrysler's chairman believes there's a place for diesels in the U.S. car market. Dieter Zetsche says diesel vehicles will attract consumers because they combine performance with fuel efficiency. BLUETEC diesel technology will arrive in the U.S. market this fall on the Mercedes E-320 sedan, which gets 35-miles-per-gallon. Speaking to reporters at the North American International Auto Show, Zetsche said DaimlerChrysler plans to share its BLUETEC diesel technology with Chrysler Group. He says it's clean enough to potentially be used in all 50 states -- including California and four other states where diesels don't currently meet emissions...

AP Dec. to Cap Dismal Year for Automakers Friday December 30, 4:30 pm ET By Sarah Karush, Associated Press Writer Lackluster December Sales Expected to Cap Dismal Year for U.S. Automakers DETROIT (AP) -- A lackluster December was expected to cap a dismal year for U.S. automakers, who saw Asian competitors eat away at their market share throughout 2005. Analysts are forecasting a weaker month than December 2004, as the impact of traditional year-end deals was muted by deep discounts over the summer. However, the month's sales are likely to be vastly improved from the autumn slump that followed the...

DETROIT -- DaimlerChrysler AG will open an assembly plant in South Carolina to produce vans, the state's department of commerce said on Monday. Production of the redesigned Dodge Sprinter van is expected to begin in North Charleston, S.C., in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the state. The automaker will adapt an existing facility to assemble the vans. The next-generation vehicles produced in South Carolina will replace the current Sprinter model in early 2007. Since 2001, the Sprinter has been on sale in the United States under the Freightliner and Dodge brands. DaimlerChrysler will initially invest $35 million and...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - In a scathing final report documenting massive corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program, investigators accused more than 2,200 companies and prominent politicians of colluding with Saddam Hussein's regime to bilk the humanitarian operation of US$1.8 billion (¤1.5 billion). The 623-page document exposed the global scope of a scam that allegedly involved such name-brand companies as DaimlerChrysler and Siemens AG, as well as a former French U.N. ambassador, a firebrand British politician and the president of Italy's Lombardi region. It meticulously detailed how the US$64 billion (¤52.76 billion) program became a cash cow for Saddam and more...

The fragmented European defense industry is on the verge of large-scale restructuring, and a small Bremen-based submarine equipment manufacturer is playing a key role in the process. As recently as last spring, it looked as though Michel Josserand, 48, was on the fast track to the top at European aviation and defense group EADS. The French senior executive had been chosen for his position from among several candidates, and had been on the job only four months when he put together his first major deal for the company, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler, the acquisition of Finnish mobile phone producer Nokia's...

DaimlerChrysler to Cut 8,500 Mercedes Jobs Wednesday September 28, 11:04 pm ET By Matt Moore, AP Business Writer DaimlerChrysler to Cut 8,500 Jobs at Mercedes Car Group in Germany in Bid to Turn Brand Around FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Automaker DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday it will cut 8,500 jobs in Germany at its Mercedes Car Group in a bid to return the troubled brand to profitability. The company said the cuts will come through voluntary termination agreements over the next year and result in charges of 950 million euros ($1.11 billion). ADVERTISEMENT DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-largest car maker, said the...

The Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation of allegations that DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes unit paid bribes in at least a dozen countries and that senior executives may have been aware of the practice. The investigation is an escalation of a civil inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission that was disclosed late last year. That inquiry was triggered by a former Chrysler accountant in Detroit who alleged in a lawsuit last year that the company kept dozens of secret bank accounts to bribe foreign officials... German federal authorities joined the investigation as well, people close to the case said,...

uly Auto Sales Jump Thanks to Program That Lets Customers Buy Vehicles at Employee Prices DETROIT (AP) -- The Big Three U.S. automakers are extending programs that let customers buy vehicles at employee prices after sales for the entire industry leaped in July, but analysts warned Tuesday that automakers could see some payback this fall. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group saw their combined results climb 26.5 percent in July. Car sales rose modestly, up 4.2 percent, but truck demand shot up 36.7 percent. The bevy of deals also helped foreign automakers attract customers. Toyota...

FRANKFURT - DaimlerChrysler stunned the automotive world on Thursday by announcing Chief Executive Juergen Schrempp will leave at year's end, eclipsing a solid quarterly earnings report and sending its shares soaring. Schrempp, whom disgruntled investors accused at their annual meeting of poor performance and shoddy leadership, will hand over the reins of the world's fifth-biggest automaker to fellow German Dieter Zetsche, now head of resurgent U.S. arm Chrysler.Schrempp's departure after 44 years at the group, where he's been CEO since 1995, and years before his contract expires in 2008, pushed DaimlerChrysler's stock more than 10 percent higher.The shares, which had...

Report: Military buying Chrysler minivans, Pacificas to ferry troops in non-combat zones.NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The U.S. military has ordered 24,000 Chrysler minivans and Pacifica crossover SUVs for use as light-duty vehicles in Iraq and other places, according to a report in a Canadian newspaper.DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler's parent company, builds the Pacificas in Windsor, Ontario and makes minivans there, as well as at other locations.The order is for 19,000 minivans and 5,000 Chrysler Pacificas, according to the story. The Pacifica is not designed for off-road use and resembles a large, tall station wagon.The military has complained about the use of fuel-thirsty...

The Chrysler group is sitting pretty compared with General Motors and Ford Motor Co. Chrysler is gaining sales and share in a market that's depressed. The Chrysler 300 sedan has given the Chrysler group a hot aura - and shown that it can make cars that excite U.S. consumers. While Ford Motor and GM struggle with turnaround efforts, the Chrysler group, says COO Tom LaSorda, is "just trying to maintain the momentum. That is what we are pushing with our employees." ... Through March, the Chrysler group's sales are up 5.6 percent to 546,732 units. In contrast, U.S. light-vehicle sales...

Track FactsBanking/Turns: 12 Distance: 1.5 miles Shape: Tri-oval

MEMPHIS, TN - A Tennessee jury has awarded punitive damages of more than $48 million to the family of two Tennessee women killed in a 2002 crash near Corning, Arkansas. The woman was driving a Dodge Caravan, and her family sued the DaimlerChrysler Corporation, which made the vehicle. The judgement came in the second phase of a trial in which the family of Vickie Mohr and her mother, Maurine Heathscott, claimed the vehicle was unreasonably dangerous. The 38-year-old Mohr, of Cedar Grove, Tennessee, and 76-year-old Heathscott, of Lexington, Tennessee, were killed in a three-vehicle accident on July 5, 2002. The...

DUBAI — Dubai Holding, through its entity Dubai International Capital, has acquired a stake in the world’s second largest automaker DaimlerChrysler, said Mohammed Al Gergawi, chief executive officer, Dubai Holding. Al Gergawi, said: "Dubai International Capital has acquired the stake valued at $1 billion, making it the third largest shareholder in the automobile manufacturer.

The row over the leadership of Franco-German company EADS has intensified with its German boss accusing French colleagues of "personal ambition". EADS, parent firm of Airbus, has been gripped by infighting amid reports that the French government wants to appoint a French executive as its sole boss.

The judge in the SCO v. DaimlerChrysler case, the Honorable Rae Lee Chabot, has denied a SCO motion [PDF] for a stay of their case until after the IBM case is decided, I have just been informed by the Clerk of the Court. The hearing was on November 24. Another loss for SCO. What? No SCO press release? The case is now set to go forward on January 7 at 8:30 AM. Hopefully, some of you will be able to attend the hearing. Their motion told the judge that it would be "a waste of valuable judicial and attorney resources...