Bondholders snub GM, bankruptcy filing likely

Nowhere near enough General Motors bondholders agreed to exchange their debt for stock before a midnight Tuesday deadline, making a bankruptcy filing by the automaker highly likely. GM had set a threshold of 90 percent of the $27 billion in bond debt it wanted to exchange for 10 percent of the stock in a reorganized company for the deal to take place. In a statement Wednesday, GM said the amount of notes tendered was substantially less than the 90 percent target.

Mazda reveals Mazda2 EV with range-extender Wankel rotary engine

Mazda reveals Mazda2 EV with range-extender Wankel rotary engine It’s long seemed logical that a compact Wankel rotary engine – running at a constant speed – would be a great way of fitting electric cars with a range-extender option. Audi flirted with the idea of fitting the A1 e-tron with a Wankel engine a couple of years ago, but that got shelved. And Mazda – keepers of the Wankel flame – came up with the idea of a Wankel engine bolted in to an EV and powered by hydrogen last year, but it seems to0 have gone nowhere.

Jeep pickup at least 4 years away, CEO says

Jeep CEO Michael Manley says a pickup truck remains a high priority but a Wrangler-based hauler is at least four years away. "It is too late in Wrangler's product cycle to add a pickup. The 2015 or 2016 time frame makes more sense," Manley said during an interview at the Frankfurt auto show.