Ford Transit production to end in Southampton

Ford is to close its Transit production facility in Southampton, ending more than 100 years of vehicle manufacture in the UK. Most UK car and van buyers still think of Ford as ‘British’, but even though Ford has been building cars in the UK for over 100 years, they haven’t built a single car in the UK for a decade. And now even white van man’s vehicle of choice - the Ford Transit – is being shipped off to Turkey.

GM product chief Bob Lutz to retire

GM boss Bob Lutz Retires By Ben Whitworth Motor Industry 09 February 2009 17:41 GM boss Bob Lutz will retire at the end of the year. The vice chairman of global product development – who has been at the centre of the automotive industry for the last 46 years – will be replaced by Tom Stephens, GM’s current veepee for global powertrain and global quality. Lutz, 76, will continue to report to GM boss Rick Wagoner throughout 2009 in his new role as GM vice chairman and senior advisor, before bowing out at the end of December.

Hyundai & Kia to spend up to $395 million on lump sum fuel settlements

Hyundai & Kia to spend up to $395 on lump sum fuel settlements Back in 2012, Hyundai and Kia had to stand up and accept that they’d overstated the official economy of a number of their models and attempt to put things right. They did that by offering all buyers of affected cars a compensation plan which repaid owners for their losses over expectation, added 15 per cent for good measure and made that ongoing for the lifetime of the ownership. But this is the USA, so it wasn’t all as straightforward as that.