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Nissan Motor named Senior Vice President Makoto Uchida as chief executive officer . The automaker also appointed Mitsubishi Motors Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta as its COO. "The board concluded that Uchida is the right leader to drive the business forward," Nissan chairman, and acting CEO, Yasushi Kimura said in a statement. "We expect Uchida to lead the company as one team, immediately focus on the recovery of the business and revitalize the company." Uchida, 53, will head the company beginning no later than Jan. 1, Nissan officials announced at a news conference at its headquarters in Yokohama. Mr. Uchida has worked at the company since 2003 and led its China operations since 2018. China is considered a key market for the struggling company . The appointments of Uchida and Gupta come after months of turmoil for the automaker in the wake of the arrest of former chief Carlos Ghosn on allegations of financial misconduct. Former C...

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Ford Motor Co and on Wednesday reported higher pick-up truck sales for the third quarter in the United States. Lower interest rates helped boost demand in a market that has seen sales decline. Ford said sales of its pick-up trucks rose 5% to 240,387 vehicles, its best third-quarter performance in 14 years. Car sales fell 4.9% to 580,251 automobiles, hurt by lower demand for its passenger cars including the Taurus sedan,  but better than analysts' consensus estimate of a 6.1% decline. Fiat Chrysler’s sales of its Ram pick-up trucks surged 14% to 161,635, marginally lifting overall sales by 0.1% to 565,034 cars. The company's Jeep Wrangler brand reported third-quarter sales of 59,035, a record for a third quarter, while its Ram truck brand saw a 15% increase to a record third-quarter 179,200 vehicles sold. The Dodge Challenger reported its highest third-quarter sales with 18,031 vehicles sold. Automakers in the United States are foc...