The steady thaw in credit markets and rebound in auto sales is spurring lenders to approve buyers faster and at better rates to compete for a piece of an expanding market.

The proposal to increase federal fuel economy standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025 threatens to price millions of consumers out of the market, the incoming chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association said Monday.

New cars and trucks for sale on U.S. dealer lots today get nearly 3 mpg more than new vehicles for sale four years ago, University of Michigan researchers said.

Toyota's third-quarter operating profit jumped 51.1 percent to 149.7 billion yen ($1.95 billion), the automaker reported on Tuesday.

Former President George W. Bush on Monday defended approving the bridge loans that kept General Motors and Chrysler Group alive during the 2008 U.S. financial crisis.

Electric car startup Fisker Automotive said on Monday it has suspended work at its U.S. manufacturing plant and laid off 26 workers while it renegotiates the terms of its $529 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

About 25 dealers met with Saab Cars North America Monday to discuss the formation of a parts distribution company and the disposal of 2,200 new cars remaining in Saab's dealer inventory.

Nissan Division, the one major Japanese brand whose sales were not greatly affected by the March earthquake, is looking to add to its 2011 momentum with a 16 percent increase in volume to 1.

AIADA Chairman Ray Mungenast isn't as confident as others that 2012 will be a smooth year for manufacturers -- at least not in Washington.

UAW President Bob King will join the supervisory board of GM's struggling Opel unit in March, marking the fourth new appointment to come out of Detroit recently, a German newspaper reported late on Monday.

Opel has chosen veteran automotive consultant Thomas Sedran, 47, as the newly created management board member of operations, business development and corporate strategy. Sedran will take up the role on April 1.

Sweden's Autoliv, the world's biggest maker of airbags and seat belts, posted slightly weaker-than-expected quarterly pretax profits and predicted slower sales growth for 2012. Pre-tax earnings fell to $211 million from $231 million a year ago.

Turkish car sales dropped 29 percent in January to 21,077 units from the year before. Sales of vans and other light commercial vehicles also declined by 44 percent to 8,468 units in the same period.

British new-car sales remained flat at 128,852 units in January, just 200 more cars than the year before, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said Monday.

Porsche is targeting double-digit U.S. sales growth this year. The sports car company aims to sell 34,000 vehicles in 2012, a 17 percent increase over last year's 29,023 sales, which were 14.6 percent higher than 2010 figures.

Mitsubishi says it will end production at its only western European plant, in the Netherlands, at the end of this year, a move that was expected as its sales in Europe have dropped to a third of their peak.