The Dearborn automaker hooks up with the Electric Power Research Institute to get tests started with the Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid in the New York-New Jersey area.

"Only the Employee Choice program has been canceled," protests the automaker.

SAIC Motor Corp., China's biggest automaker, said 2007 profit more than tripled after it bought stakes in ventures with General Motors Corp. and Volkswagen AG.

The limited-edition model is intended "to celebrate the start of a new racing season," says the automaker.

The automaker shows how com- puters help pinpoint snags for assembly workers and ensure that cars and trucks can be built properly and easily. 1E Tom Walsh: Top Ford recruiter, labor negotiator Joe Laymon heads to Chevron. 1E

Ford Motor Co.'s group vice president Joe Laymon has resigned and will be replaced as head of human resources and corporate services by Felicia Fields, the automaker said today.

During a challenging period for the automaker, Chrysler is launching an online advisory board to "establish ongoing two-way dialogue with customers."

Mitsubishi Motors North America is readying a review of its U.S. general market creative agency, a spokesperson for the automaker confirmed.

With the price of a fill-up hovering at record highs, gas mileage has become the number one consideration for American consumers in choosing a new vehicle, even topping which automaker produces the car or truck.

The U.S. automaker takes over the former Daewoo plant and will invest $1 billion to assemble the Transit Connect and other products.