Ford Explorer

Almost nothing loses its value faster after being bought than a car, and 24/7 Wall St. has found the 10 worst performers from a resale standpoint. But the reason most people would expect a new vehicle to drop in value -- poor reliability -- is rarely why they actually depreciated so much.

A panel of auto industry journalists named the 2011 Chevy Volt "North American Car of the Year," and the 2011 Ford Explorer [pictured] "North American Truck of the Year." There are numerous "Car of the Year" and "Truck of the Year" awards, the most prominent and well-known are probably the ones...

GM's long-anticipated plug-in electric hybrid hatchback picked up top honors at the huge auto industry show. The Volt was joined by Ford Motor's Explorer midsize sports-utility vehicle, which was awarded North American Truck of the Year.

Ford reported that sales rose to nearly 158,000 vehicles for the month, as consumers continued to respond positively to company's revamped lineup.

The new Explorer will be more aerodynamic and with a more refined interior. It should deliver fuel-efficiency improvements of at least 25% compared with the outgoing model.

Monday promises to bring slightly cooler weather in much of the eastern U.S., after days of oppressive 100 degree-plus temperatures in many cities. But the heat is still on BP (BP) CEO Tony Hayward, who appears to be on his way out after bungling the oil giant's response to the Gulf of Mexico oil...

Ford Motor is set to deliver strong earnings when it reports second-quarter results Friday. After disastrously low sales in 2009, the auto industry as a whole has been in recovery mode this year -- and Ford has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the revival.

As the CARS program -- a.k.a. "cash for clunkers" -- helped an estimated 700,000 cars find new homes, it was sometimes easy to forget the opposite end of the process. For every car that was purchased, another car was traded in, and these unwanted heaps were, allegedly, put to death with a nasty...