Automotive News And Notes.

August 16, 2010 - There were some smiles at the gas pump on Monday as the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular dropped by a couple of cents across the country.

The average retail price of gasoline is $2.75 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's down 2 cents from Friday and 2.4 cents from a week ago. Gas is 11.3 cents a gallon higher than a year ago.

Gasoline prices have dropped as crude oil prices fell from about $81 a barrel in the past week, mostly on worries that the U.S. and global economic recoveries are losing steam. On Monday benchmark crude for September delivery fell 29 cents to $75.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in midday trading. The contract lost 35 cents on Friday to settle at $75.39 a barrel, its lowest level in a month.

August 4, 2010 - Summer promotions and easier credit lured shoppers back to car buying last month, a relief to an industry worried about June's sales slowdown.

Every major automaker except for Ford and Daimler said their July sales topped those in June. The biggest monthly sales gains were posted by Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Subaru and Kia.

The industry sold just over 1 million cars and light trucks in July. That's 6.6 percent higher than in June, when worries were growing that the economic recovery might be faltering. Sales also were 5.1 percent higher than in July of 2009, a year where sales fell to a 30-year low.

July 20, 2010 - It's getting easier to get a car loan.

"A couple of months ago, it was horrible," says George Magliano, an automotive research analyst with IHS Global Insight. "The least blemish on your credit report and you got nothing."

The loan approval rate for customers with the highest credit scores was 90 percent in June after sliding to 70 percent in late 2008 during the recession. It's this group that's taking advantage of the widely advertised zero-percent financing deals.

For the majority of consumers with middle-tier credit, in the range of 620 to 750, loan approvals jumped 12 percentage points in the past year to above 82 percent, says CNW Marketing Research of Brandon, Ore. Plenty of banks are eager to make deals.

And now, even those with poor credit scores are getting a break.

Historically, the approval rate for subprime borrowers � those with scores below 620 � ran about 60 percent. Last year, the rate fell to 5 percent. Now, it's running at 9 percent.

Subprime borrowers still need to make a sizable downpayment and will pay interest of 10 percent or more, but car buyers with poor credit make up a big chunk of the market.

July 13, 2010 - Drivers are finding lower gas pump prices now that the July 4th weekend is over and prices are likely to keep sliding.

The national average for retail gasoline prices was $2.724 a gallon, 2.6 cents less than it was on Friday as the holiday weekend began, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The pump price is 11.3 cents more than a year ago but about the same as a month ago.

Predictions of a national average of $3 a gallon faded weeks ago because supplies remain above a five-year average and demand is tepid as consumers worry about jobs and the strength of the economic recovery.

Analysts think gasoline prices will bounce a bit between now and Labor Day but will not jump significantly.

"I think right now, we've probably seen the peak for the summer. We're probably going to start heading back down again," PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said.

July 2, 2010 - General Motors Co. says it is working with banks and other financial institutions so it can sell and lease more cars to buyers with poor credit.

The talks lessen the likelihood of GM trying to buy the auto finance business from Ally Financial, its main lender. They also make it less likely that GM would start its own auto financing unit.

GM considered both options earlier in the year because Ally was reluctant to fund loan and lease deals to buyers with subprime credit. About 16 percent of all loans for new cars and trucks go to subprime buyers. GM recently has been unable to tap that market.

Spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem says GM's current strategies are working because sales are growing.

July 2, 2010 - Americans' enthusiasm for new cars and trucks cooled in June on worries about the economy, signaling that the auto industry's recovery is far from certain.

GM, Ford and Chrysler said sales of new cars and trucks fell between 12 and 13 percent in June from the prior month. Sales at Toyota Motor Corp. slid 14 percent. Hyundai, however, bucked the trend with a slight gain.

People are holding off on big-ticket purchases because they remain anxious about unemployment and home values. Tightfisted consumers could mean a tough summer for automakers, who hope to improve sales after a dismal 2009.

"The market remains very challenging and the recovery continues to be at a very gradual and modest pace," said Bob Carter, a Toyota vice president.

June 18, 2010 - U.S. automakers have surpassed imported brands for the first time in a survey that measures the quality of new cars and trucks.

J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday that owners of domestic cars reported fewer problems on average during the first 90 days of ownership than foreign cars and trucks.

It marks the first time that has happened in the 24 years the industry research group has conducted the annual quality study.