Fighting Fit

US carmakers humbled in seeking $31bn bailout

The heads of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors have agreed to work for $1 a year in return for an emergency bridging loan

Car bosses offer to work for $1 a year

Chief executives of biggest carmakers in US have offered sacrifices in bid for $25bn Congress bailout

GE cuts forecasts and warns on redundancies

Shares in the US conglomerate rise despite the continuing impact of the finance business on the rest of the group

Spanish car sales plunge to 15-year low

Car sales in Spain fell by almost 50 per cent last month, the biggest year-on-year fall since the country's recession in 1993

Japan driving back to the days of the '70s

Japanese car sales have plummeted, confirming fears the country has crashed into its sharpest downturn since Second World War

Volvo may be dumped as Ford pitches for bailout

Ford is prepared to sell Volvo in its attempts to convince Washington that it deserves to be bailed out with emergency loan

Japanese car sales in worst fall since 1970s

Sales are taken as a measure of consumer sentiment in Japan, and demand has waned in the US, Europe and Asia too

GM prepares its cash plea to Congress

Carmaker is drawing up plans as part of a move to convince Washington that it can survive as a viable business

Business Letters: America’s carmakers must cut capacity

GM boss in talks on debt for equity swap

Rick Wagoner is scrambling to secure up to $12 billion (£7.8 billion) in financial aid from the US government by Tuesday

Car industry in plea for emergency funding

Business Secretary is told that threat is growing of factory shutdowns, the collapse of some businesses and job losses

Toyota's top rating is reduced by Fitch

The world's biggest carmaker, and a symbol of Japanese industrial power, has been stripped of its AAA credit rating

Johnson Matthey says profits set to fall by 15%

Profits at the company that makes catalytic converters for cars could fall in the next six months as carmakers cut production

Carmakers to call on Mandelson for help

The British car industry will face a wave of closures and job losses in the next few months unless the Government takes action

Johnson Matthey warns of car industry hit

Johnson Matthey has warned that second half profits may be down 15 per cent due to the slowdown in the car industry