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ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOKYO — Mazda Motor Corp. plans to leave its joint venture with Ford Motor Co. and stop building cars in the U.S., the Nikkei financial daily reported Friday.

Mazda and Ford operate the AutoAlliance International plant in Michigan as a 50-50 partnership. Citing unnamed company sources, the Nikkei said Mazda is considering selling its stake to Ford as the Japanese automaker tries to restructure its global production.

Mazda cars sold in the U.S. will be shipped from Japan and Mexico starting around 2013, according to the Nikkei.

In response, Mazda issued a short statement saying the report was not based on information it had released.

“Mazda and Ford are jointly studying various possibilities for AAI, and we have nothing to announce at this time,” Mazda said. “We do not comment on speculation.”

The plant in Flat Rock, Michigan manufactures the Mazda6 mid-size sedan and the Ford Mustang. It employs about 1,700 workers, according to Ford.

The U.S. automaker has essentially agreed to maintain current worker levels by expanding the models it builds at the facility, Nikkei said.

The two companies loosened their longtime auto alliance last year when Ford cuts its stake in Mazda from 11 per cent to 3.5 per cent. At the time, Mazda President Takashi Yamanouchi insisted that the two companies would continue to co-operate through joint ventures and technology exchanges.

Mazda’s latest financial results revealed tough times for the Hiroshima-based company.

Its net losses swelled to 60 billion yen ($742 million) in the fiscal year ended March 31, from 6.5 billion yen the previous year. The company blamed a persistently strong yen and lacklustre sales in Japan, as well as the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that disrupted auto production.

DETROIT- With a few computer keystrokes in an office at its headquarters, Chrysler Group LLC sent $7.6 billion to the U.S. and Canadian governments on Tuesday, paying off most of the bailout money that saved the company from financial disaster just two years ago.

The repayment - expected for weeks - is a huge step in the automaker's unlikely comeback. Chrysler went from a company that almost ran out of cash and survived a 2009 bankruptcy to one that is revamping its aging lineup and last quarter posted its first net profit in five years, a modest $116 million.

"I think this is going to close a painful and necessary chapter in our history," Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said Monday at the opening celebration of a dealership in Detroit.

For Marchionne and Chrysler workers, the payoff marks partial freedom from government ownership. But it also means the company must stand on its own and continue to overhaul a lineup that's still depends on old Chrysler designs and larger vehicles that have fallen out of favor due to high gasoline prices.

"We celebrate and then we move on," said Marchionne, who is also CEO of Fiat SpA, the Italian automaker which was given control of Chrysler by the U.S. government. "We've got a long way to go."

Chrysler took $10.5 billion from the U.S. government to survive two years ago, and earlier had repaid some of the money. On Tuesday, it retired a $5.9 billion balance on the U.S. loans and $1.7 billion to the governments of Canada and Ontario.

To pay off the governments, Chrysler raised $3.2 billion through a bond sale and took out $3 billion in lower-interest bank loans. It also will use a $1.3 billion investment from Fiat.

But government ownership doesn't end with the loan repayment. The U.S. Treasury still owns 8.6 percent of Chrysler, which it got in exchange for the bailout. About $2 billion of the government aid went to parts of Chrysler that were left behind in bankruptcy. That money hasn't been repaid. Some of it could be recouped when the government sells its Chrysler stock in an initial public offering. But the government concedes it's unlikely to get all of the money back.

Chrysler was eager to pay back its loans in part because of the governments' high interest rates of around 12 percent, which cost the company $1.2 billion last year. The interest rates on the new loans and bonds are 6 to 8 percent, saving Chrysler $300 million in payments per year. It also wants to shed its government ownership because some customers object to the bailout.

The repayment, though, lifted the morale of Chrysler workers and dealers who just two years ago came close to losing everything.

Carl Galeana, who runs Chrysler and Fiat dealerships in Michigan and Florida, said Marchionne has done everything he promised to save the company. Vehicles such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, which was overhauled by Chrysler, have helped the company return to profitability.

But Galeana and others know the company's future success depends on models from Fiat, especially in small and midsize segments where Chrysler remains unproven.

"What we have to prove to the public is we have damn fine products," he said. "That's the kind of stuff that's coming through the pipeline."

Chrysler's action is the latest in the comeback of the Detroit auto industry after the recession put its future in doubt. General Motors Co. also went through bankruptcy and got a $49.5 billion U.S. bailout in exchange for giving the government a 61 percent equity stake. The Treasury Department now owns 26.5 percent of GM after selling part of the stake in November.

The third Detroit automaker, Ford Motor Co., didn't seek a bailout.

It's not the first time Chrysler had to be rescued by the U.S. government. In the early 1980s the company led by legendary pitchman Lee Iacocca, paid off $1 billion in government guaranteed loans in three years.

The Indy 500 is the biggest race on the season and it's even bigger this year as it is the 100th anniversary running of it. There are the usual Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing contenders who are the favourites, but what might be more interesting are the Bump Day battles to qualify.

Bump Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is unlike any other qualifying session.  There will be 40 drivers competing for 33 spots and a lot of uncertainty is in the air.  Canadian Paul Tracy knows all to well how difficult Bump Day can be as he failed to qualify for last year's race. The frustrating part for us is that the speed was in the car at various times of the day. Two days ago we were second-quickest on the track.

Bump day will be a battle of wills, timing, weather, and courage.  This is what makes racing fun - it's all on the line this weekend to get into the field.

This year will be the first time the Indy 500 will be the first oval course of the year.  If we look at who will be the favourites, we can look no further than last year's winner Dario Franchitti.  This will be Franchitti's eighth start at the Indy 500 and he already has had two celebratory milk showers.

Franchitti's biggest contender might just be his Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon.  Dixon won this event in 2008 and needs to make an impact this year after stumbling from the blocks.

One can never count out three-time winner Penske's Helio Castroneves, but if his start to this year is any indication - it doesn't look like lady luck is on his side.

Rounding out the favourites to win the 100th Indy 500 would be Penske's Will Power (has yet to win an oval race) and Ryan Briscoe, KV Racing's Tony Kanaan, and Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011, took the lives of over 12,500 people and injured in excess of 4,000 people; even now, some 14,500 are still missing. In addition to the devastating human toll, the disaster has also wreaked havoc on Japan’s infrastructure and economy, with implications for the auto sector.