Mr. Cub made history in the car business, too

Here's a largely forgotten fact about Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, who died Jan. 23 at 83: He was a Ford dealer from 1967-71.

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Toyota thinks TRD to win younger buyers

Since 2007, Toyota has been racing the nation's best-selling car, its Camry sedan, in the nation's most-watched motor sports series: NASCAR.

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Toyota, Honda, Fiat Chrysler must do 'follow up' recalls of 2.12 million vehicles

Honda, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler will do "follow up" recalls of about 2.12 million vehicles with defective electronic control units that can cause airbags to inadvertently deploy, federal safety regulators said today.

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Nissan vehicles to use common visible parts

Nissan's modular platform saves money by using common components. But owners rarely notice; most of the shared parts are unseen under the hood.

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Fiat Chrysler to abandon sub-$25,000 minivans

Fiat Chrysler plans to abandon the bottom end of its minivan lineup next year as the redesigned 2017 Chrysler Town and Country replaces the existing model and the Dodge Grand Caravan.

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Honda confirms crash death caused by ruptured Takata airbag

American Honda on Friday confirmed a Takata airbag ruptured in the fatal crash of a 2002 Accord on January 18 in Texas.

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Ford on verge of promoting newer UAW hires to top-tier pay for first time

Ford will likely soon need to give raises of about $9 an hour to some workers it hired in 2010, according to a UAW report showing that the automaker is very close to its cap on workers earning second-tier wages.

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Honda crash death exposes weaknesses in recall system

The driver of a 2002 Honda Accord who died earlier this month in a crash involving a ruptured Takata airbag inflator hadn't been notified that his vehicle was recalled in June 2014 for the suspect inflators, a Honda spokesman said.

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GM ignition-switch victims accepting offers, Feinberg says

General Motors' compensation program for victims of ignition-switch accidents is meeting its goal of sidelining many potential lawsuits, according to the lawyer handling the payments.

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Honda crash victim didn't get notice of Takata airbag recall

The driver of a 2002 Honda Accord who died earlier this month in a crash that may have involved a ruptured Takata airbag inflator hadn't been notified that his vehicle was recalled in June 2014 for the suspect inflators, a Honda spokesman said.

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Millennials will grow to 25% of U.S. market in 2015, TrueCar says

Millennials will become a serious force in the US car market in 2015, TrueCar said in a new report this week. The car-buying site estimates that the group will purchase 4.

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Denso to expand Tenn. plant, add 400 jobs

Denso, the world's second-largest automotive supplier, is set to expand a plant and add about 400 employees in Athens, Tenn.

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Lear Q4 profits surge on North America growth

Seating and electronics supplier Lear reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profits due to strong demand from North America.

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Suppliers dream up future innovations. Will automakers bite?

Suppliers try to look over the horizon and craft new features and equipment for autos.

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Honda cuts profit target as Takata airbag recalls bite

Honda sliced 6.5 percent off its core annual profit forecast as it set aside hundreds of millions of dollars in extra cash to cover an extended car recall to replace potentially faulty airbags made by Takata.

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Renegade comes through, on-road and off

When Jeep introduced the Compass -- and later, its platform mate, the Patriot -- with front-wheel drive and continuously variable transmissions, it was derided by the faithful as an affront to the brand's off-road heritage.

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Nissan steps back from cutting-edge offerings

Nissan and its luxury Infiniti sibling have mellowed in their message of cutting-edge future products as 2015 begins. Missing from talking points this month at the Detroit auto show was any discussion of recent racy concepts.

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New crash death may be linked to Takata airbag

American Honda has alerted federal safety regulators to another fatal crash involving the possible rupture of an airbag inflator made by Takata, the embattled supplier whose airbags are behind the recall of some 24 million vehicles worldwide.

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Fiat Chrysler to air 3 Super Bowl ads

Fiat Chrysler says it will air three Super Bowl commercials during Sunday's game. The first ad is slated to air as the first commercial after the two-minute warning in the second quarter.

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Group 1 and Prestige settle Fla. buy-sell dispute

A dispute between Prestige Motor Car Imports and Group 1 Automotive over a buy-sell deal in Florida gone wrong is settled and the deal back is on -- for now, both sides said.

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Hyundai's new infotainment strategy: Leveraging smartphone apps

Over the next few years, Hyundai plans to remove CD players from mainstream cars such as the Elantra and Sonata as it rolls out an infotainment system called Display Audio that's built around Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto interfaces.

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Kia to unveil off-roader concept at Chicago show

Kia Motors will unveil a rugged concept car with electric all-wheel drive at the Chicago Auto Show, the automaker said today as it released a teaser image.

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U.S. driver death rates fall more than a third in 3 years, IIHS says

After the year of the recall, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shared some positive news about vehicle safety: The likelihood of driver deaths in late-model vehicles has fallen more than a third in the US in three years, IIHS said in a...

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U.S. safety regulators seek Takata whistleblowers

Federal safety regulators want to find whistleblowers with knowledge 'of possible defects or any wrongdoing' by Takata, stepping up pressure on the airbag maker whose products are linked to five deaths and dozens of injuries.

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GM's lease incentive move to captive unit surprised, angered Ally's chief

General Motors' recent move to steer 100 percent of its Buick, Cadillac and GMC lease incentives in the US to captive finance company GM Financial took Ally Financial by surprise, Ally CEO Michael Carpenter said during a conference call today.

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