Mercury Sportjet 90 Reed Assembly on 2040-parts.com

New products to drive Porsche's sales goals

Porsche may add an entry-level sports car as part of a plan to double global sales to 200,000 units by 2018. The new four-cylinder sports car would be in addition to a small SUV and a plug-in hybrid supercar recently approved for production. Matthias Mueller, the former Volkswagen executive who took over as Porsche CEO in October, says a new product strategy will be completed by the end of March.

NYC approves Ford Transit Connect for taxi fleet

New York signed off on the Ford Transit Connect to be used for taxi service, paving the way for the nation's largest city to begin switching to the small van in place of the aging Crown Victoria. The move was announced Thursday after a public hearing; New York joins Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago on the list of major cities that have approved the vehicle for taxi service. The Transit Connect (and Taurus sedan) is approved for use now, but a Nissan van will become the exclusive vehicle in 2013.

Ford, GM post biggest drops, industry sales slump continues

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors posted the sharpest sales declines among major automakers as the industry headed toward its sixth straight monthly drop of more than 30 percent. Ford's March sales fell 42.1 percent and GM's were down 44.7 percent, for its fifth decline of more than 40 percent in the past six months.