Don’t call it just a minivan. Rapping parents in a viral ad for the Toyota Sienna call the four-door family-mobile a “swagger wagon." According to a recent story from The New York Times, automakers are re-marketing the minivan as a cool car. Is 2011 the year of the minivan?

On Wednesday, General Motors filed for a public stock offering that would enable the federal government to start selling its stake in GM. Currently, the federal government holds 61 percent of the car company. A year ago, the car-making giant was looking at bankruptcy... in the second quarter of this year, they announced a $1.3 billion proffit. Has the government succesfully turned GM around?

Barely 24 hours after announcing the company's positive second quarter earnings, GM CEO Ed Whitacre announced yesterday that he would be stepping down from the company. It was an expected move; Whitacre came out of retirement to steer the company towards better economic waters, and promised it would be a short term undertaking. But his departure took some by surprise, who expected he would stay through the company's stock offering, which should take place next week. What shape does Whitacre leave the company in? And what ahead?

General Motors has announced its second quarter earnings of $1.3 billion. There had been much anticipation surrounding this report, as many were speculating that GM, which came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. This means that they earned more than $2 billion dollars in the first six months of this year. This is a major turnaround for the company, even though they have a long way to go to make up for the losses that forced them into bankruptcy.

February wasn’t a bad month for everyone in the auto industry. In the midst of recalls and Congressional hearings, Toyota’s sales dropped 9 percent, while Ford's sales were up a whopping 43 percent in the same month, which makes Ford the country’s top-selling automaker. We continue our conversation about the state of the auto industry and the health of some of its major players. 

• AUTO TAKEOUT: Toyota is telling auto dealers this morning that new parts to fix unsafe gas pedals will reach them later this week. We find out more from Nick Bunkley, New York Times auto industry reporter.
• MEXICO TAKEOUT: Over the weekend, gunmen shot 21 high school football players in Ciudad Juarez, killing 13. The Houston Chronicle's Dudley Althaus joins us from Mexico City with grim details of the escalating drug violence brewing just south of the border.
• FINANCE TAKEOUT: Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is releasing his tell-all memoir of the financial collapse. New York Times business and finance reporter Louise Story details some of the book’s revelations.

Ford announced this morning that it made nearly $1 billion in the third quarter, making it Ford's first quarter in the black in North America since 2005. Ford now says it now expects to be "solidly profitable" by 2011. For more, we talk with The New York Times' automotive reporter, Nick Bunkley.

The major automakers reported a big boost in sales for August.  It was the first monthly gain in total new vehicle sales in almost two years, and the reason for it turns out to be clear: it came directly after the federal "Cash for Clunkers" program spurred 700,000 people to upgrade their gas guzzling clunkers in exchange for $3 billion in cash. We take a look at what the new numbers say about the industry for the longer-term with New York Times auto reporter, Nick Bunkley.

General Motors says it will open a new plant to assemble battery packs for the soon-to-be released Chevy Volt, the company's new rechargeable electric car. The media blitz for the Volt began on Tuesday, focusing on the car's projected gas mileage (230 miles per gallon on city streets) and downplaying the car's hefty price tag ($40,000).

GM plans to open the battery plant in Wayne County, Michigan; it's expected to create 100 new jobs in the economically struggling county. We talk to New York Times auto industry reporter Nick Bunkley and Wayne County executive Robert Ficano about new cars and new jobs.

The car industry is starting to release its second quarter profit reports. The Ford Motor Company is posting a surprise $2.8 billion profit, but it continues to have operating losses. Since its two biggest competitors, GM and Chrysler, have just emerged from bankruptcy, the report is definitely creating a mixed picture of the company's health. Globally, Hyundai has managed to post a huge profit, while luxury car brand Porsche has big changes in the works. For more we turn to Nick Bunkley, The New York Times auto industry reporter, and Russell Padmore, a BBC business correspondent.

Things are not looking good for General Motors. The company is reportedly planning to shutter most of its factories in the U.S. for up to nine weeks beginning as early as next month. GM also reported that it does not plan to pay $1 billion it owes bondholders by June. And if that wasn’t enough bad news for the industry, Chrysler is now saying if it doesn’t get more money soon, it will go into de facto liquidation. To help sift through this latest chapter of bad news for the American auto industry The Takeaway is joined by Nick Bunkley, who writes about the auto industry for The New York Times.

General Motors and Chrysler presented their repayment plans to the Treasury Department yesterday. Unfortunately in order for them to make enough money to re pay their loan they are going to have cut 47,000 jobs and close five more plants. And the kicker is that GM needs another $30 billion to survive. President Obama's new auto cabinet (that doesn't really have a ring to it) has a lot of work ahead of them. To walk us through the reconstruction plans is Nick Bunkley, reporter for the New York Times.

For more, read Nick Bunkley's and Bill Vlasic's article, Automakers Seek $14 Billion More in Aid, in today's New York Times.

Today is a big day for General Motors. They are preparing to announce how they plan to repay the $13.4 billion loan Congress doled out late last year. Workers at GM plants are anxiously awaiting to hear the detail of the plan, too, because their union is in the middle of negotiating a health care plan with the automaker. Nick Bunkley has been covering this developing story for our partner, the New York Times, and he joins us now.

For more, read Nick Bunkley's and Bill Vlasic's article, Union Talks Seen as Key as G.M. Makes Case for Funds in today's New York Times.