Conti joins EV battery makers, aims to be among top 3

Faurecia thrives as Germans expand in North America

Faurecia SA, a major French supplier of seats, interiors, exhaust systems and exterior parts, is angling for a much bigger share of North American sales.... Read More »

Delphi gives special access to top suppliers

Delphi Automotive plans to earmark as much as 70 percent of its $8 billion annual purchasing budget for 100 key suppliers, up from about 40 percent today. Sidney Johnson, Delphi's purchasing chief, says the company's top leadership is spending time with these key suppliers to build relationships and share expansion plans.... Read More »

Ghosn defends EVs, pushes to increase market share

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, has committed his companies unequivocally to electric vehicles. The result of that strategy is still unclear. Sales of the Nissan Leaf have been limited by a lack of availability. The factory's modest output can't meet demand. For Nissan as a whole, however, that hasn't been the case.... Read More »

Amid crises, Mitsubishi chief aims to rebrand the company

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. was staging a financial comeback when the automaker was slammed by Japan's March earthquake and the yen's surge against the dollar. President Osamu Masuko, 62, will have to parry those challenges as he embarks on his grand plan to rebrand the company as a global leader in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.... Read More »

Steeled by 3 years of crises, Toyoda steers toward growth

There has been no normal for Akio Toyoda, 55, in the three years since he took the helm of the car company founded by his grandfather in 1937. The Japanese yen has soared to all-time highs against the dollar, putting unprecedented strain on the automaker's export-dependent domestic operations.... Read More »