Chrysler LLC will put up to 150 employees of its Kenosha, Wis., engine plant on indefinite layoff starting March 23. The move is in response to languishing auto sales, said Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan. To avoid closing the plant completely the company will reduce the speed of the two assembly lines, a move that requires fewer workers, Morgan said. The plant employs about 800 workers, including about 630 members of the United Auto Workers union. The moves do not affect Chrysler's plans to introduce a new, more efficient V-6 engine family, known as Phoenix, starting next year at that plant.

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department has $25 billion to make loans to hasten the arrival of the next generation of automotive technology -- electric-powered cars. But no money has been allocated so far, even though the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan program, established in 2007, has received applications from 75 companies, including startups as well as the three Detroit automakers. With General Motors and Chrysler making repeat visits to Washington to ask for bailout money, some members of Congress are starting to ask why the Energy Department money is not yet flowing. Lachlan Seward, director of the program, said they are acting "in a responsible way that reflects prudent credit policy and taxpayer protections."

SHANGHAI -- German automaker Volkswagen AG said Thursday that it is launching a new strategy for the China market, aiming to double its sales by upgrading its brand image and improving customer service. While most world automakers have reported sales falling amid the global economic slump, Volkswagen reported a new record of 6.23 million vehicles sold in 2008, up 0.6 percent from the year before. Sales in China increased 12.5 percent to 1.02 million in 2008, compared with 1.06 million in Germany, Volkswagen's biggest market.

RUESSELSHEIM, Germany -- Thousands of workers at General Motors Corp. factories in Europe demonstrated Thursday, hoping to save their jobs at Adam Opel AG and the troubled U.S. automaker's other European operations. GM reported a $9.6 billion fourth-quarter loss amid the worst U.S. auto sales climate since 1982. "There is only one single chance, and that is spinning off Opel and Vauxhall from the GM group," Klaus Franz, Opel's top employee representative, told 15,000 workers gathered at the plant. Some 1,000 workers rallied at another Opel plant in Eisenach.