Mercury rolls into history with build of final Grand Marquis

The last Mercury--a Grand Marquis--rolled off the production line Tuesday at Ford Motor Co.'s assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, marking the official end of another Detroit brand. The sedan will be shipped as part of a fleet order, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said.

Chrysler's heavy-duty Ram pickups are on the way to dealers

Chrysler's Ram line of 2010 heavy-duty pickups, the first new vehicles to debut since the automaker emerged from bankruptcy in June, will begin arriving in dealerships within three weeks. They are also the first products launched under the new Ram brand since Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne split the Dodge car and Dodge Ram truck lines. The brands are now run as separate businesses, with their own profit and loss accountability.

Kia investigates steering issue on the Soul

Kia Motors America and its suppliers are reviewing their manufacturing processes to track down what caused one driver to lose all steering ability in a two-month-old 2010 Kia Soul. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday it had opened a preliminary investigation into the issue after it received one complaint from an owner of an almost-new Kia Soul who said the steering shaft decoupled from the steering wheel and then fell onto the driver's side floor in a way that interfered with the brake pedal. The investigation could affect more than 51,000 Kia Soul vehicles, NHTSA said.