US car sales plunged 37% in November to their worst level in more than 26 years, dashing expectations that this dismal year for vehicle demand had found a bottom, and adding more ammunition to the Detroit carmakers’ case for a congressional lifeline.

The $25bn (€20bn) rescue plan for the car industry, desperately sought by Detroit’s beleaguered Big Three American carmakers, collapsed as Congress drew the line at one more bailout.

FORD Motor Co, with US sales shredded by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, has posted a third-quarter operating loss of $2.98 billion (€2.33bn).

TOYOTA Motor Corp overtook Ford Motor Co to become the No 2 US carmaker by sales in 2007, using new products and relentless strategy to break Ford’s 75-year lock at the top.

The United Auto Workers union and Chrysler remained locked in negotiations this morning as workers in Detroit prepared for the picket lines.

Investors pulled their cash out of the United States stock market today, leaving prices sharply lower after the Federal Reserve confirmed Wall Street’s fears that inflation poses an increasing threat to the economy.

General Motors Corp has no plans to merge Adam Opel AG with GM's Zurich-based European headquarters, GM Europe head Robert Lutz has said in a pre-release of an interview with weekly German newspaper WirtschaftsWoche.

Shares of prominent US auto makers and car parts manufacturers were mostly higher in early afternoon trade, after JP Morgan auto analyst David Bradley upgraded the sector to a 'market weight' rating, dealers said.

Daewoo Motor company will resume making cars next week after subcontractors decided to restart parts supplies after a five-day boycott of the troubled carmaker.

General Motors Corp and ChevronTexaco Corp said they have reached a multi-year research collaboration agreement to develop commercially viable petrol processing technologies for fuel cells.