It's taken two rounds of Congressional hearings, some major pride swallowing and three detailed business plans, but it looks as if the Detroit 3 will be getting the federal loans they need, though not as much they asked for. A deal was reportedly reached between Democratic leaders and the White House that will supply around $15 billion in federal loans to the struggling U.S. auto industry. While General Motors, Ford and Chrysler asked for a combined maximum of $34 billion, the $15 billion is des

click above image for a high-resolution gallery of the plug-in Prius

Tomorrow morning at 11 am PST, the annual 25 Hours of Thunderhill will get underway at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. And for the first time, the Autoblog team (well, two of us) will be in attendance. We'll be departing at the crack of dawn tomorrow, with press passes, cameras, VitaminEnergy drinks and long underwear in tow, to bring you the action live throughout the weekend. Mazda is campaigning five 2006 MX-5s, Honda R&D South is bringing out a pair of RSX Type-Ss and we've already g

You don't need to be a market analyst or have a Ph.D. in economics to understand that GM could benefit from axing its gas guzzlers. However, finding the right models to put on the death list isn't an easy task. There is speculation that GM's compact pick-ups, the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon, will be included, as well as the Cadillac DTS and XLR and several other models. Buick's Luzerne could also be eliminated, as it shares its platform with the Caddy DTS, but Buick could get a full-sized, rea

Click above for more detail shots of the Kia Forte

Honda may be a bit behind the latest two-wheeled trends with its upcoming factory chopper motorcycle. The raked-out style had its heyday a couple of years ago with more functional styles making a big comeback as of late, but there is still a market for long, low bikes with fat rear rubber. Just ask Harley and Victory. Interestingly, Honda's production Fury chopper reportedly uses a r

Cutting an engine's cylinder count seems like an easy way to increase fuel efficiency and reduce vehicle emissions. Smaller engines also weigh less, and all automakers are eager to lower the mass of their new vehicles. To that end, Fiat is working on a new line of 900cc engines that feature just two cylinders as opposed to the current, more common choice of four. Rumors indicate that the engine would be available in four separate states of tune and would range from 65-105 horsepower. High-perfor

It's hardly unexpected given recent gloomy sales numbers, but General Motors announced today that they will be cutting shifts at several North American plants. Unfortunately, nearly 2,000 workers will lose their jobs in the process as GM eliminates its third shift to slow production and ease the backlog of vehicles sitting on dealer lots. The affected plan