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Fears that car buyers would stay away from dealerships in August never materialized. Instead, Americans were lured by new models, cheaper financing and the need to replace aging cars, boost August sales by 7.5%.

GM is expected to show a sales increase of 15.3% from a year ago when it posts August numbers later this week, according to auto industry research firm Edmunds. That would be an improvement of 30,000 cars and light trucks and would eclipse the unit gains of its smaller rivals.

General Motors has called back thousands of Impala and LaCrosse sedans for potential fire hazards and stability-control systems. Meanwhile, Philips calls back a compact fluorescent light that can cut. And Miss Bonnie's Gourmet warns that its cheese spread could be contaminated with salmonella.

Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. debt rating for the first time on Friday. Coming on top of concerns of a second recession, the move has investors worried that we're headed into a bear market for stocks. Here's what that would look like.

Toyota (TM) took the spot as the world's No.1 car company in 2009, replacing GM (GM) which held the honor for decades. Now, GM has taken the position back based on its data from the first half and numbers from Toyota and VW. VW actually claimed the second spot and pushed Toyota into third. It has...

The market for used cars is white-hot, and lists of the best models tend to favor brands like Toyota, Lexus, and Honda. But there are better bets for those who don't want to pay a premium for a reliable ride -- if they're willing to buy American: Increased quality plus compromised reputation equals value.

Toyota will announce Friday that by September, it expects to have all of its North American plants back to their normal production levels. Then, it can begin attempting to recoup the U.S. market share it lost due to shortages related to the Japan earthquake and tsunami, as well as a slew of recalls.

Short sellers have significantly increased their bet that GM shares are going to drop: Short interest in the No.1 U.S. car company jumped 26.5% to 41.5 million shares in the two-week period that ended May 15.

Car prices have risen quickly and quietly in the last few weeks. According to auto industry research firm Edmunds, the average amount buyers are paying for cars or light trucks is up $350 since Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March -- and the price of Japanese vehicles is up even more.

Ford has had been nothing but full of good news lately: it recently reported a sharp rise in net income to $2.6 billion and it said that it would maintain its market share in the U.S. America for the balance of the year. So why is Wall Street pessimistic on the stock?