NEW YORK - Investors were watching to see whether General Motors Corp. shares will fall for a seventh straight session Friday as financial turmoil and a weakening global auto market have heightened worries that the automaker may be unable to pull out of its nosedive before it runs out of cash.

Ford Motor Company is introducing its MyKey, an innovative new technology, which designed to help parents encourage their teen-agers to drive safer and increase safety-belt usage.

SPRING HILL, Tenn. - General Motors Corp. on Friday officially launched full-scale production of the new Chevrolet Traverse at its overhauled former Saturn plant on the outskirts of Nashville.

DETROIT - Fitch Ratings downgraded General Motors Corp.'s credit rating deeper into junk status Monday, saying the automaker faces headwinds in almost every direction and its liquidity could drop to "minimum required levels" within the next year.

RICHMOND, Va. - Auto retailer CarMax Inc. said Monday its second-quarter earnings plunged 78 percent due to a weak economy, high gasoline prices and losses in its financing arm. The results were worse than analysts expected and the company's shares fell 8 percent.

DETROIT (AP) - Ford Motor Co.'s plan to morph itself from a truck to a car company in North America is backed by market research showing that a new line of global small cars will be well received in the U.S. when they go on sale in 2010, company executives said.

DETROIT - Amid the turmoil on Wall Street, leaders from two global companies hard hit by economic and industrial upheavals are expected to unveil plans Monday for a national convention being held next year to discuss the future of manufacturing, technology, energy and the environment.

SAN FRANCISCO - When Tesla Motors Inc. began taking orders last year for its all-electric sports car, celebrities lined up to purchase the sleek zero-emission vehicle with the six-digit sticker price.

NEW YORK - Delphi Corp. and its former parent General Motors Corp. said Friday they have reached a new deal on the automaker's role in Delphi's bankruptcy that puts the supplier on track to exit Chapter 11 by the end of the year.

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. has said that it wants to cut its blue-collar work force by another 4,200 employees, according to a person briefed on a presentation to union officials.

NEW YORK - Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will eliminate 500 employees at its crossover assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, as sales of the vehicles designed to woo SUV and truck buyers continue to slump.

WASHINGTON - The government is urging owners of 5 million recalled Ford vehicles to bring them to dealerships to repair a cruise control switch system that has been tied to engine fires.

WASHINGTON - Auto industry allies hope to secure up to $50 billion in government loans this month that would pay to modernize plants and help struggling car makers build more fuel-efficient vehicles.

DETROIT - Nearly every major automaker saw its U.S. sales drop in August, but many are seeing signs that the worst slump in recent history may have bottomed out.

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. is cracking down on workers and retirees who it says have improperly extended employee discounts to non-relatives and have cost the automaker more than $450,000.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- It seems like an easy solution: Americans are looking for more fuel-efficient vehicles, so Ford Motor Co. is bringing over some of the small, gas-sipping cars it's been selling to Europeans for years.

TOKYO (AP) -- Hit by soaring steel and other material costs, Nissan announced price hikes in Japan Friday for some commercial vehicle models but held back from increases on its more crucial passenger car offerings.

TOKYO - Toyota lowered its global sales target for 2009 to 9.7 million vehicles on Thursday, down from an earlier 10.4 million vehicles, blaming "tough times," caused by rising material costs, a slowing U.S. market and soaring gas prices.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- BMW AG cars made more progress in reducing vehicle fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions than any other carmaker last year, an environmental group said Monday.