Hirings/Firings/Layoffs


Mercedes Grand Prix searches for drivers while dispelling board's concerns

With two manufacturers leaving the series, four new teams joining the grid and a giant game of musical chairs amongst the drivers ensuing, the off-season between the 2009 and 2010 Formula One World Championships is packing in as much action as the racing itself. But few developments have garnered as much attention as the coup orchestrated by Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, withdrawing from McLaren after fifteen years as its active partner in favor of a more conventional engine supplier role, while buying over 75% of the Brawn GP outfit to enter ... Read more →

BREAKING: Jenson Button joins Hamilton for twin-champ McLaren "super team" Noah Joseph

It's not every day that you see two World Champions teamed up together – especially not the two most recent. In fact, that bit has never happened before in Formula One history, but that's ...

REPORT: 65,000 seek jobs to build VW's New Midsize Sedan in Tennessee Chris Shunk

You probably already know just how bad the employment situation is here in the States, and if you don't, nationwide unemployment is right around 10% – and that doesn't include those who took ...

REPORT: Ferrari figures Raikkonen, Schumacher and Montezemolo to leave their F1 posts Noah Joseph

The times they are a-changin' in Maranello. As if the departures of Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn and Jean Todt over the past few years wasn't enough to shake things up for the Scuderia, a new ...

GM Executive VP Nick Reilly named interim CEO at Opel/Vauxhall Noah Joseph

It's been one heck of a week for Opel. After months of negotiations between Magna and its partners on the one hand and General Motors on the other, the American parent company opted to hold on to ...

REPORT: Ex-Opel chief Carl-Peter Forster may take over at Jaguar-Land Rover 11 days ago on Autoblog

It appears that outgoing Opel chief Carl-Peter Forster may have already lined up a new gig for himself. According to The Times of London, Forster will become an employee of Tata Motors and take the top job at Jaguar-Land Rover. If this appointment comes through, it will be something of a ...

Mo' Money, Fewer Problems: Can Raikkonen earn more by not racing? 11 days ago on Autoblog

If you scoffed at the notion that unionized auto workers were being paid not to work, you're going to love this one: According to reports emerging from Europe, Kimi Raikkonen could stand to make more money next year if he doesn't race than if he does. The bizarre circumstance comes down to ...

REPORT: Opel President Carl-Peter Forster quits after sale collapse 14 days ago on Autoblog

German magazine Der Spiegel is reporting this morning that Opel President Carl-Peter Forster has resigned from General Motors following the board's decision to kill the sale of a majority stake to Magna International. Apparently, Forster was disgusted at the way that GM officials handled the ...

Bruno Senna to race in F1 next season with Campos Meta 1 14 days ago on Autoblog

The past few years in Formula One have seen an unprecedented return of legendary family names to the sport: names like Villeneuve, Piquet and Rosberg. But the most hyped scion of racing fame has been Bruno Senna. The nephew of the late, great Ayrton Senna was rated highly by his world-champion ...

Williams F1 signs Barrichello and Hulkenberg for 2010 15 days ago on Autoblog

The latest piece of the intricate puzzle that is the shake-up in drivers for the 2010 Formula One World Championship has come into play as Williams has confirmed its line-up for next season: Replacing Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima will be Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg. Barrichello ...

REPORT: Chrysler again offering early retirement to 23k hourly workers 16 days ago on Autoblog

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Chrysler is again offering early retirement packages in an effort to entice some of its 23,000 hourly employees to hit the road. The buyout packages are the first offered by post-bankruptcy Chrysler, though the terms of the buyouts are very similar to ...

Lotus hires former Ferrari/Fiat racing chief Claudio Berro as new motorsport director 20 days ago on Autoblog

Do you remember back in 1996 when Michael Schumacher left Benetton for Ferrari? They didn't just get Schumi; along with him came master strategist Ross Brawn and designer extraordinaire Rory Byrne. Together, the wonder team built the Scuderia back into a championship-winning powerhouse. Well, we ...

Next Stop, Le Mans: FIA reportedly puts the brakes on Sebastien Loeb's grand prix debut 24 days ago on Autoblog

What do you do after making it to the pinnacle of rallying and winning a record-shattering six consecutive world championships? Anything you want – or so you'd think – but Sebastien Loeb is running into some roadblocks that appear to have derailed his plans to try his hand at Formula ...

Officially Official: Fisker buys GM's Wilmington Delaware plant 24 days ago on Autoblog

In Wilmington, Delaware this morning, Governor Jack Markell was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Henrik Fisker (seen at right) for the official announcement about the purchase of General Motors' closed plant there. Fisker will re-tool the plant to build a new, more affordable plug-in hybrid ...

Rattner recounts auto bailout, was "shocked" and "stunned" at condition of GM, Chrysler 1 month ago on Autoblog

Steve Rattner is a man we admire but do not envy. Rattner, a former Wall Street banking type with zero experience in the automotive or manufacturing world, was tasked by President Obama with guiding General Motors and Chrysler through their restructuring efforts. Not a small job, by any means. ...

Buell will be back? County officials throwing axed HD brand a life line 1 month ago on Autoblog

Could Buell be saved from the brink of disaster by officials from Walworth County in Wisconsin? It seems awfully unlikely, but stranger things have happened, right? Apparently, the Walworth County Economic Development Alliance sent a letter last Friday to Erik Buell in an attempt to put together a ...

Wolfgang Reitzle back in the auto industry as chairman of Continental 1 month ago on Autoblog

The last time we saw Wolfgang Reitzle involved directly in the auto industry, he was working out of an office in London running Ford's then newly formed Premier Automotive Group. We all know how Jac Nasser's attempt to expand Ford's reach into premium cars worked out and Reitzle moved on to other ...

Trouble in U.K. TelevisionLand: Has Fifth Gear been canceled? 1 month ago on Autoblog

News coming out of the U.K. today suggests that everybody's second-favorite British motoring television show may be facing the axe. According to the Daily Mail, Fifth Gear, which has never quite mustered the following of rival Top Gear, has been put on ice. Or has it? A quick check on ...

REPORT: Ken Block heading to WRC with new Monster Ford team 1 month ago on Autoblog

One of the most significant deals in rally history. That's how news of Ken Block's imminent move to the World Rally Championship is being touted in the motorsport press. And we couldn't agree more. Now don't get us wrong. We enjoy watching Block's famous antics behind the wheel of his ...

Harley-Davidson kills off Buell, will sell stake in MV Agusta [w/VIDEO] 1 month ago on Autoblog

Harley-Davidson has just announced its third-quarter results, and things aren't quite as bad as they could have been... but we'll get to that in a moment. The big bombshell is that the Buell brand is being discontinued and the American motorcycle manufacturer will sell off its share in MV ...

Ex-Tesla/Harley-Davidson exec Michael van der Sande resurfaces at Aston Martin 1 month ago on Autoblog

It didn't take Michael van der Sande long to land a new gig after leaving his last posting at Tesla Motors. In August, van der Sande left Tesla after only nine months as senior vice-president of sales and marketing for the electric car maker. The sales executive who spent 12 years at Harley-Davidson ...

Jean Alesi returns to racing Ferraris 1 month ago on Autoblog

If you checked out the images we posted of Felipe Massa's return to Maranello, you may have spotted the returning Brazilian driver chatting with one Jean Alesi and wondered what he was doing there. The French driver raced for the Scuderia from 1991 through 1995, scoring a handful of podiums ...

REPORT: One week after announcing GM departure, Mark LaNeve surfaces at Allstate 1 month ago on Autoblog

When word got out that Mark LaNeve (right) was leaving General Motors effective October 15, we weren't at all sure where the soon-to-be-former exec was heading. The Wall Street Journal has finally let the cat out of the bag, reporting that LaNeve is leaving the auto business for a marketing gig ...

Kamui Kobayashi to fill in for injured Timo Glock at Brazilian Grand Prix 1 month ago on Autoblog

As the Formula One championship winds to a close, the series is on track for a big change-up in drivers. But not before one last in-season switch. Earlier this season, Toro Rosso replaced Sebastien Bourdais with Jaime Alguersuai. Ferrari called up Luca Badoer to fill in for an injured Felipe ...

F1 veterans Jarno Trulli and Mika Salo to test Waltrip Toyota NASCAR in Florida 1 month ago on Autoblog

Up until a few years ago, seeing a driver switch from one motorsport discipline to another was practically unheard of. A Formula One driver might compete at Le Mans, sure, but with few exceptions, that was about the extent of it. Now we've got drivers interested in switching between F1, rallying ...

End of Year Shuffle: 14 Formula One teams swap drivers for 2010 1 month ago on Autoblog

If you thought the series of driver changes in the middle of this ongoing Formula One season was something, it's nothing compared to the grand game of musical chairs expected to ensue as the season draws to a close. With BMW closing up shop, several new teams joining the grid and at least a ...

Fritz picks Susan Docherty to replace LaNeve 1 month ago on Autoblog

Just last week we were chatting with Buick GMC General Manager Susan Docherty on the GM Fastlane Blog about our lack of confidence in the 2010 GMC Terrain, and now she's moved up to GM's Vice President of US sales. Docherty will replace the soon to be departed Mark LeNeve as sales VP and one of ...

Robert Kubica jumps sinking BMW ship to fill Alonso's seat at Renault 1 month ago on Autoblog

Everything's changing for the Renault F1 team. The team principal has been barred from the sport indefinitely and the technical director has been mercifully banned for five years. They've already booted out their car-crashing, whistle-blowing driver Nelson Piquet Jr. and replaced him with rookie ...

BREAKING: Mark LaNeve leaving GM effective October 15 1 month ago on Autoblog

Mark LaNeve, General Motors' head of U.S. sales, is reportedly set to leave the company on October 15th. LaNeve had been appointed GM North America vice president of marketing and advertising back in September of 2004 after starting his career as the brand manager for the now-defunct Pontiac ...

Francois appointment points to more cooperation between Chrysler and Lancia 1 month ago on Autoblog

Amidst the confirmation that chief executive Sergio Marchionne was splitting off the Dodge Ram truck unit into its own division of the Chrysler Group came the announcement of some executive re-shuffles in Auburn Hills. Among them, Lancia CEO Olivier Francois was appointed head of the Chrysler brand. ...

Officially Official: Dodge splits off Ram brand with new exec appointments 1 month ago on Autoblog

Rumors floating around since mid-summer that Chrysler would split the Dodge car and truck businesses into two separate units are now a reality. Chrysler Group LLC now consists of four brands: Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Car and Dodge Ram. In early July after the latest iteration of Chrysler emerged ...

"Victimized" F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. reportedly headed to NASCAR truck series 1 month ago on Autoblog

Crashing in Formula One is taken pretty seriously. Especially if you did it on purpose. Which goes a long way towards explaining why the motorsport community is calling for the blood of Nelson Piquet Jr. The disgraced Renault driver was, in the end, the perpetrator of the so-called Crashgate ...

REPORT: Bob Kruse, GM's top electric car exec and Chevy Volt pointman, steps down 1 month ago on Autoblog

Just a few months before the Chevrolet Volt is finally set to debut in production trim, one of the guys who spearheaded the whole project has reportedly left his post at General Motors. Bob Kruse (at right), who also helped plan the whole long-term strategy for GM's electric vehicle program, has ...

REPORT: Rejected GM, Chrysler dealers telling their story on YouTube [w/VIDEO] 1 month ago on Autoblog

Since government money washed in to pump out General Motors' and Chrysler's swamped and nearly sunken businesses, there's been little mention of the cuts to the dealer base that both automakers have made as part of their rebirth. Tammy Darvish, whose DarCars Automotive Group lost two Chrysler ...

MP4-12C - Coming to America: McLaren Automotive sets up North American distribution 1 month ago on Autoblog

How many low-production exotic supercars have we had to gaze at longingly from across the ocean? The prohibitively high cost of homologation for the U.S. market has kept more than a few niche automakers away. Even the mighty McLaren F1 had to be brought in through loopholes, with considerable ...

REPORT: Ferrari poaches new design director from Volkswagen 1 month ago on Autoblog

Few lines are as fluid as those between the Italian and German automobile industries. Executives seem to move back and forth between the two faster than the exotic supercars for which they're responsible, and all the more so when it comes to designers. Frank Stephenson moved to Ferrari and on ...

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Autoblog Podcast #153: With Phil Berg

Phil Berg puts his reputation on the line and hangs with the podcast crew.

 
 

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