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We know that history holds many surprises. One doesn't expect to learn more about the secret history of of the Gulag than we already know from both Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Acrcipelago" and Anne Applebaum's "Gulag: A history." This feat, however, is exactly what author Tim Tzouliadis has accomplished: the previously unknown story of the thousands of Americans who, during the Depression, sought employment and a better future in the "worker's paradise" built by the Bolsheviks. All kinds of Americans joined the exodus. Some of them were Communists or fellow-travelors but the majority were average Americans - skilled workers promised paid passage,...

Why do corporations tend to be greedy? I suspect it's because their executives are paid millions and millions to maximize profits, minimize salaries and slash benefits that cut into the bottom line. Sometimes this can be taken to comic-opera extremes, as when the (now) convicted thief David Radler was stealing millions from the Sun-Times and actually turned off the escalators to save on electricity. I guess that helps explain why the Ford Motor Co., followed by Chrysler, stole the secret of the intermittent windshield wiper from a little guy named Robert Kearns. Why bother? Why not just pay the guy...

My late father and I had frequent and sometimes heated discussions about the state of the auto industry during the late 1960s and early 1970s. I was the smart alec at the dinner table and in the passenger seat on the way home from high school who came down on the side of “exploited, alienated” labor. Dad, while intensely loyal to American-made goods — he had difficulty convincing himself that buying a used Toyota would not harm U.S. industry — warned that gold-plated labor agreements and management arrogance would ultimately bankrupt the Big Three (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler). He...

DETROIT (AP) - Tight credit, economic worries and high gasoline prices combined to cut automakers' U.S. sales once again in September, with beleaguered Ford Motor Co. reporting a 34 percent decline from the same month last year. It was Ford's worst sales month this year, and the results are a strong indication that analysts' forecasts of another dismal month will come true. General Motors Corp.'s sales drop was a less severe 16 percent, mostly thanks to an offer of employee pricing on most of its vehicles. Hyundai Motor Co., whose single-digit sales decline this year has looked like a success...

In Washington these days, an 11-figure expenditure barely attracts notice. With Congress preoccupied with the massive, $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have finally secured Part One of their own federal rescue plan. A bill set to be passed by Congress and signed by President Bush as early as this weekend—separate from the controversial Wall Street bailout plan—includes $25 billion in loans for the beleaguered Detroit automakers and several of their suppliers. "It seemed like a lot when we first started pushing this," says Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, one of the...

In Washington these days, an 11-figure expenditure barely attracts notice. With Congress preoccupied with the massive, $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have finally secured Part One of their own federal rescue plan. A bill set to be passed by Congress and signed by President Bush as early as this weekend—separate from the controversial Wall Street bailout plan—includes $25 billion in loans for the beleaguered Detroit automakers and several of their suppliers. "It seemed like a lot when we first started pushing this," says Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, one of the...

After the brouhaha over Sen. John McCain's struggle to recall how many houses he owns, Newsweek wondered how many cars might be parked at the presidential candidate's multiple homes. The weekly newsmagazine checked vehicle registration records for both McCain and Sen. Barack Obama and found that when you include the candidates' spouses, McCain owns 13 cars, Obama 1. McCain has a 2004 Cadillac CTS, a 2007 half-ton Ford pickup truck, a 1960 Willys Jeep, a 2008 Jeep Wranger among other American cars. He's got a few foreign vehicles in his fleet as well, owning a 2005 Volkswagen convertible and a...

The Big Three’s chief executive officers held a rare Capitol Hill meeting Wednesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders to ask for $25 billion in government loans for the auto industry. Detroit wants the loans, authorized by Congress in last year’s energy bill but not yet appropriated, to revamp plants in Michigan and other states so that they can produce more hybrid cars and other fuel-efficient vehicles. “Clear from your mind any notion of a bailout,” Pelosi told reporters after the meeting. “This is about innovation.” The Big Three need to start selling more hybrids, not...

If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs. Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe....

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Car maker Ford Motor Co (F.N) is drawing up plans to retool American plants to make small, fuel-efficient passenger cars that it mainly makes and sells in Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

With the U.S. auto market worsening for Ford Motor Co. almost daily, managers told union officials Friday that the company will have to further reduce its factory work force in the coming months. The slumping U.S. economy has cut U.S. auto sales by 8 percent during the first five months of the year, but it's been a double hit on Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC as consumers shun their high-profit pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles for more fuel-efficient models as they cope with $4 per gallon gasoline. United Auto Workers union officials were told in a meeting...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. auto sales tumbled in May as buyers fled from pickups and sport utility vehicles in the face of average gas prices that are now just shy of $4 a gallon. The trouble hit not only U.S. automakers General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), Ford Motor and Chrysler LLC -- which have long depended on sales of pickups and SUVs -- but also trimmed the sales of their top Japanese rival Toyota Motor (TM). But other Asian automakers held up reasonably well. Nissan (NSANY) reported a narrow sales gain while Honda Motor (HMC) and Kia rode American...

Honda Civic, Accord, Toyota Camry and Corolla all outsell Ford F-150 for the first time The two brands who lost and gained the most sales last month (MINI and HUMMER) sum up nicely what happened to auto sales during May in the U.S. Brands armed with small cars weathered the storm and big trucks and SUVs continued to nose dive. In fact, after 17 years worth of being this country's best-selling vehicle, the Ford F-150 full-size pickup (42,973) has fallen for the first time to fifth place behind the Honda Accord (43,728), Toyota Camry (51,291), Corolla (52,826) and your new...

Autos: Word that Ford will build its new fuel-efficient Fiesta "global car" in Mexico City is bad news for American auto unions. U.S. companies still want to build cars; they just don't want to build them with union labor.Ford's investment of $3 billion in two auto plants near Mexico City is the largest foreign company investment ever in Mexico. As oil prices soar and new climate-change rules are readied in Washington, Ford must shift from its reliance on trucks and SUVs to lighter, more energy-efficient vehicles. This should be something that workers in Michigan and other Midwestern states with decades...

Sit down and shut up? Easier said than done, a Kern car dealer and the Oklahoma writer of the company’s controversial radio ad are finding. The spots have already finished a three-month run in eastern Kern and the Antelope Valley, but renewed interest prompted even the Ford Motor Co. to weigh in Wednesday. Kieffe & Sons Ford’s ads suggesting Christians “just tell the other 14 percent to sit down and shut up” had been Internet fodder for months, blog posts indicate. In recent days the topic suddenly resurfaced, said Tehachapi resident Dave Salyers. Numerous e-mails with the ad attached popped...

Ford Motor Co. announced it will build its new global car, the Fiesta, in Mexico for sale in North America as part of a $3 billion investment in the country. It will be Mexico's largest-ever auto investment, with President Felipe Calderon saying the only greater amounts of private investment were banking acquisitions. Some 4,500 Ford jobs are expected to be created and result in some 25,000 new direct and indirect jobs at suppliers. "The auto industry has become consolidated as one of the pillars of our economy," Mr. Calderon said. "It's one of the principal sources of exports, of foreign...

Ford Motor Co. plans to conduct involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August as part of a restructuring in the face of slumping sales and record-high gas prices, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Many entertainment and sport icons are known by one name: Cher, Madonna, Bono, Pele and Bond ... James Bond, to name a few. But for muscle-car enthusiasts, one name stands out as an icon: Shelby ... Carroll Shelby. Carroll Shelby is a well-known designer of muscle cars. Provided to the Tribune Browse and Buy Nevada Appeal Photos Shelby, as many people know, was a race-car driver and still designs and builds high-performance automobiles. And here’s the especially interesting part for South Lake Tahoe: In 1968, the man of muscle built and owned the first Ford dealership on the South Shore....

Foreign companies and governments sometimes spend millions of pounds on research trying to "get inside the British mind", but there is a simpler way to work out what makes the traditional Englishman tick. Just find an old Land Rover, fire up its engine, and take it for a short drive down a country lane. The noise! The discomfort! Most of all the smell! The aroma is an odd mixture of Castrol oil, barn dust and chicken droppings. For some inexplicable reason, this is true of Land Rovers around the world, from Kettering to Kinshasa. They all have that smell, even...

Daily Market Commentary for March 26, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com Markets were plagued today with extremely light trading activity along with, low trading volume, across the board. A negative market trend followed the indices, into the close. Economic data out today fueled the selloff across the street. The Dollar moved lower (again) and crude oil soared higher by over $4 a barrel. New home sales fell to their lowest level in 13 years. Mortgage Bankers Association reported an increase in mortgage applications today which provides a slight glimmer of hope for the housing industry. Ford Motor is selling Jaguar and Land...

LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. automaker Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to sell its luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors (TAMO.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) for more than $2 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. Ford, which signed the deal on Tuesday, plans to publicly announce the transaction in New York at 0800 EST on Wednesday, said another source. The deal will also see Ford pay about 300 million pounds ($598 million) into Jaguar and Land Rovers' pension funds, according to unions. Ford declined to comment, adding "our first responsibility is...

Ford meets conditions; AFA suspends boycott I have some good news for you! AFA is suspending its two year boycott of Ford Motor Company. The conditions of the original agreement presented in fall 2005 have been met. We reached the conclusion that Ford had met the conditions of the agreement based on monitoring for several months. Individuals are free to purchase Ford vehicles again. Your support of the boycott played a key role in convincing Ford to cease its significant support of the homosexual agenda. During the 24 months the boycott was in effect, Ford sales dropped an average...

DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales tumbled in February in the face of a slumping economy and high gas prices with double-digit declines by all three struggling Detroit-based automakers. Sales at General Motors Corp(GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Chrysler LLC CBS.UL fell 16 percent, 10 percent and 17 percent, respectively. GM and Ford responded with cuts to second-quarter production plans, while Chrysler rolled out a new program of sales incentives. "February was a very disappointing month for industry sales," GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told Reuters at the Geneva auto show. "We still...

WASHINGTON - The government on Thursday warned owners of about 4.6 million recalled Ford vehicles to bring their cars and trucks immediately to dealerships to disconnect cruise control switch systems that have been linked to engine fires. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued the consumer advisory to the owners of certain unrepaired Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, vans and passenger cars who have not yet responded to past recalls. The recalls have vexed the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker, affecting its popular F-Series pickup trucks, prompting hundreds of complaints and dozens of lawsuits over engine fires. Three...

Ford executives belittle Taurus design while pushing next version EXECUTIVES TRASH CURRENT TAURUS' DESIGN, PUSH NEXT LINE OF SEDAN DETROIT - Belittling your product probably isn't a great marketing tool, but two top Ford Motor executives recently criticized the looks of the new Taurus sedan, with one comparing it to doofus cartoon character Homer Simpson. While speaking in Detroit this month, Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Derrick Kuzak, head of global product development, took shots at the current Taurus. During a speech to industry insiders, Mulally hinted that a new, nicer-looking Taurus is coming in the next year or so,...

Firestone. American Motors. Texaco. Pan Am. Worldcom. At one point or another these large American companies were at the top of their industries. Pan Am was the leading global airline for decades. All are gone. Some were sold off. Others went bankrupt. Who could have predicted it? There are several iconic US companies that may well not exist at the end of 2008. Some may not even make it halfway through the year. Not all will go out of business. Some may simply be auctioned off in pieces. Others may be bought. These companies will not exist in their current...

January 28, 2008 12:00 AM Not much attention has been paid to the fact that the American Family Association’s boycott of Ford for taking a pro-gay rights position has contributed to the automaker’s mounting financial woes, contends Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog. With the company on the brink, some shareholders are asking whether is worth the price. By Tom Blumer Maybe Ford Motor Company management can be forgiven for not taking seriously the American Family Association (AFA’s) call for its members to boycott the automaker in May 2005. The conservative Christian group launched the crusade against the second-largest U.S. automaker...

STOLEN PICKUPS Cartels swipe rugged Ford F-250s, F-350s in state for smuggling drugs and humans Houston entrepreneur Bill Christmann was shocked when thieves stole his souped-up black Ford F-250 pickup from his west Houston driveway one night last July. But shock turned to concern the next day after Christmann learned thieves had driven the 2001, heavy-duty, four-wheel drive truck to Laredo, loaded it with illegal immigrants and drove it back from the border, roaring off-road through fenced ranch pastures. Police chased the truck south of San Antonio before the smugglers crashed the vehicle into a tree. The smugglers escaped, and...

Own a Ford product? Ford doesn't agree. Once we've paid for a car and driven it off the dealership lot, most people believe that you own that car. You have all rights and privileges of ownership, nobody but you (and the bank, perhaps) can determine what you do with it. Or, so we thought. Ford Motor Company recently decided to go after two car clubs, the "Black Mustang Club" and the "Rice Haters' Club" for various trademark and copyright infringements. In both cases, the clubs had put out an annual calendar, featuring photos of members' cars, some of which were...

Less Is More For Ford's New V-6 Engine By ROBERT SCHOENBERGER   The 2009 Lincoln MKS a new fuel-efficient 3.7-liter V-6 engine. (Photo courtesy of Ford)     Derrick Kuzak's vision of the future could scare some gearheads.Big pickups would use four-cylinder engines, luxury sedans would come with V-6s instead of V-8s. The venerable V-8 engine would be found only on big commercial trucks.Ford Motor Co.'s vice president of global product design sees engine downsizing as the clearest way to meet new federal fuel economy standards. The trick will be doing it without slashing power."We know our customers want better...

DEARBORN, Mich. - Soon after Jim Farley became Ford Motor Co.'s marketing chief after a 17-year career at Toyota, he took a spin in a subcompact with Ford's new direct-injection, turbocharged engine. "I couldn't wipe the smile off my face," Farley said. "I've never driven a Toyota like that, ever. The torque, out of that kind of displacement — in this case a 4-cylinder — was shocking." It's a good thing he feels that way, because one of Farley's first and most critical assignments as vice president of global marketing will be to sell Ford's engine — dubbed EcoBoost —...

"Toyota Motor Corp. overtook Ford Motor Co. to become the No. 2 automaker by U.S. sales in 2007, using new products and relentless strategy to break Ford's 76-year lock on the position. Toyota sold 2.62 million cars and trucks in 2007, which amounted to 48,226 more than Ford, according to sales figures released Thursday. Toyota's sales were up 3 percent for the year, buoyed by new products like the Toyota Tundra pickup, which saw sales jump 57 percent. Ford's sales fell 12 percent to 2.572 million vehicles."

Ford Motor Co. posted a 9% drop in U.S. sales of cars and light trucks for December, closing out a weak year for the company and the auto industry. The auto maker said so-called fleet sales fell 1%, while retail sales fell 13%. Improving retail sales is central to Ford's restructuring plan as the company cuts sales to rental car companies and other mass buyers to focus on higher-margin sales to dealerships. Ford, which has slipped to the No. 3 U.S. auto maker by sales, behind Japan's Toyota Motor Corp., said it sold 210,855 light vehicles in December, compared with...

  Ford Motor Company offers sex change benefits Dear Fred,The December 18 edition of The Advocate, a magazine for homosexuals, featured the transgender issue. A transgender is a person appearing or attempting to be a member of the opposite sex, as a transsexual or habitual cross-dresser. The Advocate article showed numerous pictures of people who had sex operations to change from male to female, and vice-versus (I'll spare you the details). Ford Motor Company placed a full page ad for its Volvo brand in the publication. Ford offers medical benefits to help pay expenses of those who choose to undergo...

Ford Motor Company says it has delivered another record year in China, not only in terms of sales, but also with the ongoing introduction of a pioneering program that helps improve the standards and working conditions of companies in its supply network. "Our goal is to have all of our suppliers in China participate in this management program" said Mei-Wei Cheng, chairman and CEO of Ford China. "Ford sees it as our direct responsibility to ensure that each of our partners are providing their staff with a legal and decent work environment and working conditions. It's a part of doing...

Two of the most iconic names in British motoring – Jaguar and Land Rover – are set to be taken over by Indian industrialists. The Tata group, whose interests include a chain of hotels responsible for some of the world’s finest Indian chefs, has emerged as favourite to take over the businesses. Ford is set to announce the new owners of its two troubled premium car makers within weeks. Should the Tata deal go ahead Jaguar and Land Rover will follow in the footsteps of MG, another erstwhile prestige British manufacturer, in falling into Asian hands. The Tata group is...

India likes to trumpet its corporate successes, and this week the emerging global power had plenty to shout about with the appointment of Indian-born Vikram Pandit to head troubled financial giant Citigroup. But even as it celebrated, India Inc. was also up in arms over perceived slights to its ability to run two of the world's most prestigious brands. India's currency comes of age, spurring complaints among exporters and bringing cheer to wealthy globetrotters First, a group of U.S. Jaguar dealers said they opposed the possibility that Ford, Jaguar's owner, might sell the British luxury car brand to an Indian...

'Buy American' No Longer Black And White In Auto Industry By PETER KROUSE and ROBERT SCHOENBERGER   Honda may be a Japanese brand, but it makes cars in Ohio, where it employs more than 15,000 workers, including Lori Dennis. She believes her job in Marysville is as American as those who work for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. (Photo by Thomas Ondrey)     Buy American doesn't mean what it once did. Not in the auto industry.Honda's best sellers come from plants in Ohio while Ford imports cars from Mexico. Toyota opened a plant in Texas this year while Chrysler...

One of Ford's most important debuts at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show is the new 2009 F-150. While Ford doesn't have a gas-electric hybrid system suitable for big trucks like GM's Two-Mode system, they will have offer some technology to improve fuel economy and emissions. Back in 2002 at the Detroit Show, Ford showed a concept called the F-350 Tonka. The Tonka truck featured a technology called hydraulic-launch-assist (HLA) which will debut on the new F-150. The HLA system functions in much the same way as the hydraulic hybrid system we saw on an experimental UPS delivery truck earlier this...

SACRAMENTO, (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday agreed to settle class-action lawsuits covering plaintiffs in four states who claimed its Explorer sport utility vehicles were prone to rollovers, the company and an attorney for the plaintiffs said. The settlement applies to about 1 million people in California, Connecticut, Illinois and Texas, said Kevin P. Roddy, a New Jersey attorney and co-counsel for the SUV owners who brought the lawsuit. He said the settlement will be filed later Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court. It will allow vehicle owners to apply for $500 vouchers to buy new Explorers or $300...

Troy Aikman Ford of Dallas, housed in a 30-year-old facility on North Central Expressway that has struggled for decades, will close by the end of the month. Ford Motor Co., which is reducing dealers nationwide, will buy the dealership from the former Dallas Cowboys star and retire the franchise. That will leave the Dallas metro area with 16 Ford dealers. The dealership's location, on the east side of North Central Expressway near the Walnut Hill Lane exit, was a challenge for several dealers before Mr. Aikman bought it in May 2005.

Ford Motor Co.'s tentative contract with the United Auto Workers contains a key detail that could make it a tougher sell with rank-and-file members: It would allow Ford to hire some assembly-line workers at half the current $28 hourly wage of others. Elements of this two-tier system are included in General Motors' and Chrysler's new contracts with the UAW, but the Ford agreement goes further. At GM and Chrysler, the lower tier applies only to non-production jobs such as forklift drivers and janitors at $14 an hour, not assembly jobs. The distinction is both real and symbolic. With Ford able...

It was a rich decade, and car buyers rewarded themselves. After generations of being the exclusive domain of wealthy families, successful businessmen and professionals, luxury vehicles went mainstream in the mid-1990s. Between 1997 and 2006, luxury-brand sales grew 82 percent. Detroit's Big Three missed the party. A Plain Dealer analysis of data provided by the credit research firm Experian Group shows that domestic luxury brands failed to keep up with their Japanese and German counterparts. Once-successful near-luxury brands such as Mercury, Buick and Oldsmobile all but disappeared. Toyota's Lexus division more than tripled its sales, while Ford's Lincoln brand fell...

Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers union reached a tentative agreement on a new contract after more than 40 hours of marathon negotiations over the past two days. The new four-year pact, reached at 3:20 a.m. Saturday, followed the pattern of deals ratified by workers at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC in that it will allow Ford to offload billions in retiree health-care obligations off its books to a union-run trust fund, known as a voluntary employees' beneficiary association, or VEBA, Ford said. Ford's retiree health-care obligation is believed to be about $23 billion. The VEBA would...

Today, we are announcing the appointment of Jim Farley, formerly group vice president and general manager of Toyota’s Lexus brand, as our new Group Vice President of Marketing and Communications. The news release is attached below. Jim brings with him a wealth of experience and talent. His arrival is a significant step toward our goal of building One Ford. Just as Derrick Kuzak is helping the leadership team come together on a global product plan, Jim will be the driving force to a single Ford brand. Included in this announcement is our plan to integrate and accelerate the telling of...

NANJING, China -(Dow Jones)- Ford Motor Co. (F) President and Chief Executive Alan Mulally said Monday the company may export China-made small cars to other countries, but will do so only after strong local demand for its cars is met. Such a step would be in line with similar moves by other U.S. auto makers such as Chrysler LLC, which signed a deal earlier this year to export Dodge brand cars around the world made by China's Chery Automobile Co. Mulally also said Ford aims to turn around its unprofitable North American operations by 2009 through more restructuring and by...

Ford has come out with a new father-positive car commercial for its 2008 Taurus. The ad, called "We Know," depicts a father looking out for his little son as he rides his bicycle, and then draws an analogy between the way the father knows how to keep his son safe and the way Ford says its automobile engineers know how to keep people safe. The ad depicts the father as being what the vast majority of fathers (and mothers) are--caring, loving parents. To watch, click here.Last year there was considerable controversy in the fatherhood movement over Ford's controversial “Bold Moves”...

Just about every month, CNW Market Research meets with a group of would-be car buyers and plays a trick on them. Sometimes the company, which specializes in auto sales trends, takes a Toyota Camry, removes any identifying logos, and tells them it's a new model from one of the U.S.-based auto makers. Or it takes a domestic car and tells them it's a Toyota or another import make. Either way, the result is the same. "If they think it's an American car, the perception of the vehicle falls dramatically," said Art Spinella, vice president of the Bandon, Ore.-based firm. "Detroit...

What will Ford Europe's next generation of small cars look like? The company's giving a sneak peak by way of the Verve concept. The company says the subcompact model offers a "significant hint" at the new Fiesta, which will get a new look based on Euro Ford's "kinetic" design language. That's the styling vocab introduced with the company's S-Max and Galaxy vans and the latest Mondeo. The two-door concept will debut at next month's Frankfurt auto show. A few of the Jalops were talking yesterday, and one came up with the idea that Ford Europe should stage a hostile takeover...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Ford CEO Alan Mulally became the latest high-profile business executive to suggest that the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates, according to a report published Friday. Noting that credit conditions were posing a "big headwind" to the company's turnaround plan, Mulally told the Financial Times he is concerned about the state of the larger economy. Next victim of mortgage mess: Auto sales Video More video Fortune's Sue Callaway reviews and compares the Audi S4 and the BMW M5. Play video "It is a really important job to manage inflation and economic growth [but] focusing on...