Ford's V6 gamble turbocharges sales of F-150

Five years ago, when Ford considered a push to put a pricey, premium V6 in more F-150s, it seemed like a dangerous gamble with a macho, full-sized pickup known for toughness and capacity. To many dealers and company insiders, it seemed like a bad joke. "I once said, "Bubba don't buy nothing but a V8, and we've got a lot of Bubbas out here,'" recalls Martin Gubbels, owner of Big Sky Ford-Lincoln in Torrington, Wyo.

New GM chairman Whitacre to be featured in TV ad campaign

General Motors Co. will launch a broad post-bankruptcy advertising campaign next week with an introductory TV spot featuring new Chairman Ed Whitacre, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday. The ad is expected to last 60 seconds and was created by the ad agency McCann-Erickson Worldwide.

Chrysler recalls Wrangler, Compass and Patriot

Chrysler Group said today it will recall more than 220,000 units of the Jeep Wrangler to fix a transmission flaw and 409,000 units of the Jeep Compass and Patriot worldwide to fix a software glitch that could stop airbags and seatbelts from working in a crash. The recalls add to a growing list of safety problems at Chrysler, which stunned the auto industry this week by taking the rare step of rebuffing a recall request from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. On Tuesday, Chrysler refused to recall 2.7 million units of the 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2002-07 Jeep Liberty, claiming that the vehicles were built in compliance with safety standards and are not more accident-prone than other vehicles of the time.