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Aptera Motors reaches end of the road

Start-up EV manufacturer Aptera Motors has announced it is going out of business. The brainchild of former Chrysler brand manager and CEO of ASC Inc, Paul Wilbur, the company had gained approval for a $150 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy's advanced vehicle fund, but was unable to find further backing.

News watch August 2010: today's industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hourTuesday 31 August 2010• HSBC has sold its US car loan business to Spanish bank Santander, for an estimated £2.6bn in cash and assumed debt. The move sees the bank further distance itself from the collapsed US sub-prime market (Financial Times, subsription required) • Toll roads do not improve congestion, according to the Campaign For Better Transport. Its claims M6 toll road operator Midland Expressway Ltd is losing ‘tens of millions of pounds’ each year, while conditions on the original M6 have failed to improve (Campaign for Better Transport) Friday 27 August 2010• Spyker, which bought Saab earlier this year, has posted a €139m loss after tax in the first half of 2010 it announced today (Financial Times)• Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne says the business is performing strongly in the third quarter – and has ruled out selling Alfa Romeo.

Vehicles recalled amid airbags fear

JAPANESE car giants Honda, Mazda and Nissan are recalling millions of vehicles worldwide amid fears that a defect in airbags manufactured by supplier Takata Corp could cause them to explode. No accidents have been reported. Honda recalled 2.03 million vehicles over the airbag problem, including 1.02 million vehicles in North America and nearly 669,000 in Japan.