Adobe buys Behance for its design community.

Hostess Brands holds out for meaningful offers.

Quaker Oats readies Quaker Up campaign in US.

ABC leads America's late-night TV ratings with Nightline but loses Jake Tapper to CNN.

Absolut Vodka looks to Cirque du Soleil for inspiration.

American Airlines and US Airways sketch out how merger would affect pilots.

BAE strikes $4-billion deal with Oman.Continue reading...

Fiat faces more and more problems in the struggling European car market, so it's got to make more progress than company executives initially had hoped in the U.S. market — and faster than they'd planned.

So Fiat is turning up the voltage. In tandem with other Chrysler-owned brands, it is offering what it calls Conquest Bonus Cash as an incentive to U.S. buyers who own Volkswagens to switch. They'll give $1,000, through January 2, to any VW owner who buys one of their cars except for a handful of excepted models.

This isn't a usual tactic — the last time Chrysler did it was 2010, targeting Toyota. "We believe the Dodge Dart, for example, would appeal to current Volkswagen owners," Ralph Kisiel, a Chrysler spokesman, told brandchannel. Customers don't even have to give up their VW to qualify.Continue reading...

Chrysler can celebrate its comeback from the dead in just three years in large part due to the contributions of two executives. Let's call them Mr. Outside, Olivier Francois, and Mr. Inside, Klaus Busse.

Francois is the Chrysler CMO whose inspired vision and creative command conjured up the "Imported From Detroit" campaign that caught fire at the 2011 Super Bowl and other magic that just got Chrysler Group named Ad Age Marketer of the Year for 2012, and Francois named a 2012 Brand Genius by Adweek.Continue reading...

Priceline to buy Kayak.

Chrysler recalls Jeeps over faulty airbags.

Walmart faces probe in India.

Axe sponsors comedy tour.

Boeing is on track to outsell Airbus for first time in six years.

Diageo finally reaches deal for stake in United Spirits.

GM stake becomes a challenge for re-elected President Obama as Chevrolet finds a home in Russia.Continue reading...

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has been considering lots of ways to alleviate the crisis faced by his Italy-based automaker because of the growing problems of the European auto business.

When Fiat accepted the carcass of Chrysler from the U.S. government after the bailout in 2009, Marchionne believed that the investment would be great counterbalance to Fiat's main dependence on Europe and that, over time, Chrysler could become a solid complement to the leadership of Fiat within the company.

But already, Chrysler's surprising recovery and Fiat's unprecedented woes have turned that presumed relationship on its head — or at least on its side. After all, it's the booming sales and profits provided by Chrysler that are helping keep Fiat afloat these days.Continue reading...

Chrysler exec tweets a rebuff about Donald Trump comment on Jeep jobs, as UAW leads ethics complaint vs Romney over auto rescue remarks.

Apple's iPad Mini launches globally to shorter than expected lines; secures Lion trademark.

Barclays facing a $470 million fine for alleged energy market manipulation, and a corruption probe.

Australian court rejects free range trademark move.

BlackBerry 10 is on schedule for early next year, RIM says.

Bloomberg Businessweek pins Sandy on global warming in cover story.Continue reading...

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has been busy this week denying what he won't do and sharing what he wants to do. And everything he has said has implications for the company, its brands and consumers on four continents.

Of most immediate importance, Marchionne was compelled to inject himself into the U.S. presidential campaign this week after a Romney TV commercial and radio spot in battleground Ohio highlighted his plan to build Jeeps in China.

It could be inferred from the Republican nominee's spot that Jeep jobs might leave Ohio and Michigan in such an endeavor — a suggestion that Marchionne swiftly rejected. Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan also said in a statement released by Romney's campaign: "GM and Chrysler are expanding their production overseas. These are facts that voters deserve to know as they listen to the claims President Obama and his campaign are making."

An irked Marchionne released a statement to assure Chrysler employees and the public that the company's commitment to U.S. production of Jeeps, which has been expanding lately, was secure, stating "I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China." GM also refuted the Romney campaign claims.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...