Retirement

The current Australian, former Formula One Driver, is hanging up the helmet.

Former F1 driver, longtime endurance racer, and two-time Le Mans winner Alexander Wurz has announced his retirement from racing, leaving Toyota with big racing boots to fill.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is about to lose one of its top executives as the president of Maserati North America, Pete Grady, has announced his retirement.

Though his irreverent demeanor party-goer image might suggest otherwise, make no mistake about it: at 34 years old (and with 37-year-old Mark Webber out of the race), Kimi Raikkonen is the oldest driver in Formula One. He's three months older than Jenson Button, a good year older

Takashi Yamanouchi has been with Mazda for a long time. He signed on with the Japanese automaker in April 1967 – one month after graduating from Keio University – and rose through the ranks over the years. By 1996 he was named to the company's board of directors. In 2008 he was named president and CEO, an office he held until 2013, after which he handed over the day-to-day rei

Jim Federico, General Motor's Executive Director of Global Vehicle Integration, has retired from the automaker after nearly 36 years. He was one of the company's top engineers and was previously responsible for one of GM's investigations into its faulty ignition switches.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally may be about to announce his long-rumored retirement from the Blue Oval, according to a pair of insiders who spoke to Bloomberg. An official statement on the succession could arrive as soon as May 1. Chief Operating Officer Chris Bruce

Ford's board is open to CEO Alan Mulally stepping down before his planned departure in 2014, inside sources are telling Reuters. Ford's plan of succession, aside from who would be his actual successor, has been something approaching common knowledge – the 68-year-old former Boeing exec had plans to Brandon Turkus

To show their plug-in passion, some people spend upwards of $30,000 on an electric car. Others – well, one, that we know of – will spend that much just to tell the leader of the free world how cool EVs are, in 180 seconds or less.

A new proposal to sell $1 billion of government-held General Motors stock to help restore Delphi white collar retirees pensions was balked at by one group attempting to build up the underfunded pension.

General Motors will freeze the defined benefit pension plans of 19,000 workers on Sept. 30, 2012, shifting them instead into 401(k) plans. Affected workers were all hired before 2001 and are salaried employees. Hourly workers are not affected by this change.

Saab CEO Jan Åke Jonsson has announced that he will retire from the company effective May 19th. The 59-year-old CEO, who has lead the Swedish automaker for six years, will be available to assist the automaker through September.

General Motors board member Kent Kresa has reached the ripe old age of 72, and as such, he is no longer eligible for re-election to the company's controlling body.

Patrick Schiavone, Ford's design director for trucks and crossovers, is leaving The Blue Oval. In his 21 years with the company, Schiavone has penned and helped develop Fords both naughty and nice: the last two F-150s; the Flex; Expedition; Cougar; Focus; Lincoln Navigator and Blackwood; the M

Departing Toyota VPs Steve Sturm, Dave Danzer, Irv Miller

Three years ago the retirement age for Tata's holding company was upped to 75. Although Ratan Tata is only 71, there is no obvious successor to take his place at the head of India's global conglomerate, so the search has begun for the leader of the next act.

Rumors are heating up that Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Räikkönen will walk away from the grand prix circus at the end of the 2009 season. If the 2007 World Champion does quit, it would free up his seat for two-time champion Fernando Alonso. You'll recall that there's been talk of Alonso making the jump to Ferrari since well before his single unhappy season at McLaren. However, the circumstances have never quite worked out for him.

When Rick Wagoner was forced out of his position as the CEO of General Motors last March, he left with a severance plan that included $22 million paid out over the course of a few years, plus a yearly pension. Just a few months later, The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Mr. Wagoner has worked out a deal with his ex-employer that will "only" pay out $8.2 million, plus

Despite rumors to the contrary, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger is getting off the merry-go-round in 2010. The embattled union head honcho had been rumored to be considering seeking a third four-year term, but Gettelfinger himself has since gone on record saying that such notions are "totally untrue and totally unfounded." Instead, he will retire at age 65 next year in accordance with UAW policies.

Ford Motor Company says it has reached a tentative deal with the UAW regarding modifications to the Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association (VEGA) pact, the union's retiree health care trust. While specifics are not yet being divulged, the Blue Oval says that it has agreed to make up to half of its future payments into the fund with Ford common stock, although it may continue to use cash depending on the automaker's needs.