AUTOMOTIVE: Auto sales drop by double digits

Detroit —- U.S. auto sales dropped by double digits in March, even for usual stalwarts like Toyota. General Motors and Chrysler both reported a 19 percent drop in on Tuesday. Ford's sales fell 14 percent, and Toyota was down 10 percent compared with last March. Nissan fell 4 percent, and Honda reported a 3 percent drop. If the March sales rate held steady for the full year, U.S. sales would be 15.1 million units in 2008, according to Autodata Corp. That's down from a rate of 16.2 million units last March.

DEALS: O'Reilly to buy auto parts rival

O'Reilly Automotive Inc., the third-biggest U.S. auto parts chain, has agreed to buy CSK Auto Corp. for $528 million after a yearlong attempt to take over the Phoenix-based retailer. CSK investors will receive $12 for each share, including $1 in cash and $11 in stock, Springfield, Mo.-based O'Reilly said Tuesday in a statement.

FINANCIAL: Analyst predicts massive job cuts

New York —- The U.S. financial industry has been shedding jobs at a record clip, and some analysts predict the pace will only accelerate over the next 18 months as banks cut costs in the face of the housing market slump and the weak economy. Analysts at financial research firm Celent LLC said in a report Tuesday that it expects the U.S. commercial banking industry —- essentially, all companies that lend or collect deposits —- to lose 200,000 of its 2 million jobs.

UBS reports loss; chairman quits

Zurich, Switzerland —- UBS AG's chairman abruptly resigned Tuesday as the Swiss bank reported a first-quarter loss of $12.1 billion and said it would seek $15.1 billion in new capital. UBS revealed more serious damage from exposure to the U.S. subprime crisis and said it expects write-downs of approximately $19 billion. As UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel stepped down, Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest bank, announced similar write-downs of about $4 billion.

National City reviews options

Cleveland —- National City Corp., a Midwestern bank heavily exposed to the worsening mortgage and housing market, confirmed Tuesday that it is reviewing its options amid rumors that it wants to find a buyer. New York investment bank Goldman Sachs has been hired to look into strategic alternatives, the Cleveland-based bank said.

FOOD / BEVERAGE: Pet-food maker settles lawsuits

Mount Laurel, N.J. —- A pet-food maker whose contaminated product may have led to the deaths of thousands of dogs and cats in North America has agreed to settle lawsuits with pet owners. Streetsville, Ontario-based Menu Foods Income Fund announced the tentative settlements Tuesday. Amy W. Schulman, a lawyer for Menu, said she could not disclose how much the settlements would be worth, but the company did say that it expects its total costs associated with the massive recall of its products last year to be about $53.8 million.

RETAILING: Trade group cuts March forecast

A U.S. retailers group cut its March sales estimate for a second time as shoppers concerned about job security and the worst housing slump in a quarter-century cut apparel spending. Retail sales probably fell or were little changed in the month, down from last week's prediction of 1 percent growth, the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC said Tuesday. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 0.5 percent last week from a year earlier, the worst showing since April 2003. "We've been in a recession ever since October," said Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group in Charleston, S.C. "I'm predicting a very soft next 14 months in consumer spending, until Memorial Day in May of 2009."

TRADE: Perdue tours GE facility in China

Gov. Sonny Perdue toured the General Electric China Technology Center in Shanghai, the first of several visits to Georgia companies operating in China. Atlanta-based GE Energy makes power plants. Perdue, who arrived in China on Delta Air Lines' first direct flight to Shanghai, is leading a 60-member business delegation. Perdue's other plans include attending a luncheon in his honor hosted by Sandy Springs-based UPS and formally opening the Georgia Business Advisory Center in Beijing. The state's first lady, Mary Perdue, will lead a delegation to a Project Hope program at a school in Tianjin, outside Beijing. Coca-Cola sponsors Project Hope, which helps educate children at 7,000 schools in underdeveloped areas of China.

TRANSPORTATION: FedEx recruited to help at Heathrow

London —- British Airways PLC canceled 50 flights at Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5 and brought in courier firm FedEx Corp. to help reunite passengers with about 20,000 delayed bags. The airline scrapped 13 percent of scheduled flights from the terminal on the sixth day of disruption at Europe's busiest airport. Another 50 flights will be abandoned today, British Airways spokeswoman Sophie Greenyer said. "We are making progress on the [baggage] backlog, but getting bags back to passengers is complicated and quite time-consuming," Greenyer said.

Union protests execs' bonuses

American Airlines executives and managers should decline annual bonuses tied to parent AMR Corp.'s share price or resign their jobs, the carrier's flight attendants said, citing concessions the workers accepted five years ago. Executives at American have shared almost $300 million in such payments since 2003, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. At the same time, the union said, attendants have continued working under concessions granted that year to help the airline avoid bankruptcy. "These executives must defer this round of massive bonus payments to themselves until they've met their obligations to their work force," Laura Glading, the union's president, said in the statement. "Otherwise they'll have lost the moral authority to lead this company, and should resign their positions."

FAA wants checks of landing gear

Hundreds of Boeing Co. aircraft were outfitted with "unapproved" landing-gear parts under a maintenance contract with AAR Corp., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a safety alert. The parts —- MLG truck beams —- didn't comply with maintenance manuals and a 2001 safety directive because they used enamel paint on some components that may block a drain hole and hide corrosion, the agency said in its notice. The alert concerns more than 300 parts approved by AAR for use on 767s, 757s, 747s and 707s from Jan. 1, 2001, to Nov. 26, 2007, the agency said. The FAA is encouraging aircraft owners to inspect their planes and stop installing the truck beams. Chicago-based Boeing is still "gathering information," spokeswoman Liz Verdier said.

Truckers stage scattered protests

Trenton, N.J. —- Independent truckers around the country pulled their rigs off the road Tuesday and others slowed to a crawl on major highways in a loosely organized protest of high fuel prices. The protests were scattered because major trucking companies were not on board and there did not appear to be any coordination. On New Jersey's Turnpike, southbound rigs "as far as the eye can see" were moving at about 20 mph near Newark, said Turnpike Authority spokesman Joe Orlando. Outside Chicago, three truck drivers were ticketed for impeding traffic on I-55, driving three abreast at low speeds, said Illinois police.

Airlines may fight congestion pricing

Washington —- The airline industry may sue the Transportation Department to stop it from allowing the nation's busiest airports to charge higher landing fees during peak travel times. The Air Transport Association said the department doesn't have the authority to implement the congestion-pricing models. "These actions are legally indefensible," ATA President James May wrote in a letter Monday to DOT Secretary Mary Peters.