Hyundai Tiburon 2000 on 2040-parts.com

GM's Lutz to retire May 1

General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz plans to retire from the automaker effective May 1, according to a statement released by GM on Wednesday. Lutz, 78, had been serving as a senior adviser to GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre after shelving retirement plans to take charge of the automaker's marketing after it emerged from bankruptcy in July 2009. An outspoken executive who both challenged global warming and championed GM's all-electric Volt, Lutz is credited with revitalizing GM's product development efforts after being hired by former GM CEO Rick Wagoner in 2001.

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

Obama sought Ghosn to run GM, ex-car czar says

The Obama Administration initially wanted Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn to run GM after Rick Wagoner was ousted in 2009, and repeatedly pressed Fiat to put up cash for a stake in Chrysler, according to an upcoming book about the government bailout of General Motors and Chrysler. Steven Rattner, President Obama's auto adviser who steered the government's $85 billion bailout of GM and Chrysler, is about to publish a tell-all account about his six-month stint inside the White House. The Detroit News, Washington Post and Huffington Post obtained draft copies of the book--"Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry." It is scheduled to be published Oct.