Auto executives from around the world, car journalists, and thousands of other hangers-on are flocking to the French capital for the Paris Auto Show which is kicking off with an end-of-the-week preview of new models and concept vehicles for the media.

One automaker after another is primping itself for the Parisian catwalk — such as the renascent Volvo, which is unveiling new variants of its V40 at the exhibition, and the snazzy new Jaguar F-TYPE, which was feted at the Musee Rodin Thursday night with celebs on hand including American chanteuse Lana Del Rey, above.

But unfortunately, a pall is hanging over the hall and the show's participants: the growing distress of Europe's auto market, which seems to be worsening not only quantitatively but perceptually every week.Continue reading...

NFL settlement with referees clears the way for marketers.

Tempur-Pedic goes to the mattresses to buy Sealy for $228.6 million.

American Greetings hears buyout offer from founding family and CEO.

Amazon rejects false advertising claim in Apple app store suit.

Apple-Google maps talks failed on voice navigation.

BAE proposed merger with Airbus parent EADS hits snag in Germany.

Bayer partners with feline vets.

BlackBerry 10 will determine RIM's fate as company courts app developers.Continue reading...

Think Sergio Marchionne doesn't thank the American taxpayer every day in his heart that his Fiat was able to pick up Chrysler for a song three years ago? As the Fiat part of his company sinks ever lower into the morasse of the European auto market, Chrysler has revived under Marchionne's leadership to become the financial workhorse of the merged entity.

Now, the CEO of Fiat (who was recently profiled on 60 Minutes) is executing the next phase of his company's ever-increasing dependency on Chrysler, with plans to use Chrysler engineers, plants and dealers to help relaunch Fiat's sporty Alfa Romeo brand in the United States in 2014.

Marchionne plans to give the brand some of its own engines and a spicey Italian identity with American consumers even as he economizes by having one of the first new Alfa Romeo models, for example, built in the same Chrysler Illinois plant that now assembles the Dodge Dart.Continue reading...

Apple flirts with first trillion-dollar valuation for a company as iPhone 5 first weekend sales top five million and Apple tops YouTube and Aston Martin as "coolest UK brand." Apple also halted production at Foxconn factory after mass brawl, and seen hogging new iPhone for its own stores. Its legal team has also asked CA judge to boost award from Samsung.

Alfa Romeo plots return to USA, with Chrysler helping Fiat.

American Airlines racks up flight delays and cancellations.

Applebee's reboots its marketing with inflatable dolls.

Boeing struggles with makeover of 777.

Conde Nast launches French Vanity Fair into economic headwinds and skepticism.Continue reading...

This development isn't going to make Sergio Marchionne very happy: German premium brands are defying Europe's economic crisis and picking up sales and market share at the expense of mainstream car brands whose struggles are only growing.

Turns out that, while middle-class European consumers are sweating the Eurozone diffculties and being battered by recessionary gales there, luxury consumers are zipping ahead with substantially more confidence, and buying substantially more vehicles.

As a result of this autobahn-like confidence, brands including all three of the German premium makers — Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz — are catching up in sales volume to their mainstream counterparts as the latter brands suffer.

It's exactly what Fiat CEO Marchionne has been noting as he has been calling for a coordinated approach to trimming production by auto brands in Europe so that general-market brands such as Fiat don't suffer disproportionately. The Germans have rebuffed him.Continue reading...

Samsung mocks iPhone 5 buyers in latest commercial.

Chick-fil-A backs down and vows to stop donating to anti-LGBT groups.

Visa shifts global creative duties back to BBDO.

AOL names female CFO.

AT&T faces backlash over Apple FaceTime restrictions, while CEO explains anti-texting and driving push.

Bed Bath & Beyond beats the odds.

Citibank credit card is coming to China.Continue reading...

Sergio Marchionne got Chrysler dealers from across America fired up this week by pulling the wraps off dozens of potential new models and variations of vehicles that are in the pipeline for the next few years, including aerodynamic versions of current best-selling nameplates for Jeep, a vastly improved Chrysler 200 sedan, and an all-new Chrysler 100 subcompact that would fill a niche where the brand hasn't had a credible entry for decades.

But most of the hardware that the Fiat and Chrysler CEO showed off in Las Vegas is for the future. Right now, with double-digit sales increases each month, Chrysler has been doing a great job of selling just a very few all-new or substantially overhauled models along with others that are mainly reskinned. And one reason they've been so successful is some innovative marketing.

Chrysler launched a new initiative in that regard during Fashion Week in New York, introducing a new Chrysler 300C John Varvatos Limited Edition and a Chrysler 300C Luxury Edition featuring the stylings and touches of the menswear (and now kids) designer. A native of Detroit, Varvatos was featured in a TV campaign for his 300 collaboration with the automaker.Continue reading...

Are you ready for some football? Big brands surely are. The National Football League may be a marketing and TV-programing juggernaut, but it is carrying more weight for more major brands than ever.

Take auto advertisers, for instance. Despite football telecasts that already were slated to be crowded with other car brands, Audi decided to use tonight's kickoff game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys for the marketing launch of its crucial new 2013 S Models. These performance nameplates (S6, S7 and S8) and the "S" brand are fundamental for Audi to move to the next phase of its positioning in the U.S. market, as a provider of exciting, luxurious and well-designed automobiles.

And so the NFL gets the call tonight to host the first Audi ad under its new tagline, "Heighten Every Moment," featuring the Audi S8. The 60-second spot (watch it above) will run in the first break after kickoff. Audi also announced that it will appear in the Super Bowl game in February, its sixth consecutive advertising appearance in the big game.Continue reading...