The United Auto Workers union’s retiree healthcare trust now owns warrants to buy 362.4 million shares in Ford Motor Co., the equivalent of a 10.1% stake, according to the trust’s filing this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ford contributed the warrants to the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust on Dec. 31 as part of the transfer of its healthcare obligations to U.S. hourly retirees. The warrants, which can be exercised at $9.20 per share, expire on Jan. 1, 2013. Ford stock closed yesterday at $11.76. The trust has agreed that if it exercises the warrants, it will vote its shares to mirror the balloting by other shareholders.

Roughly one in 10 Americans would probably or definitely buy an electric car, according to an Ernst & Young survey on consumer attitudes toward plug-in and electric vehicles. The remaining nine say they would never buy an EV or won’t until the technology is well established.

Consumers tell Ernst & Young that saving money on fuel is their highest priority. At $3 per gallon of gasoline, just 15% would consider alternatives such as hybrids or electric vehicles. Even at $5 per gallon, that group is still below 40%. Climate change and dependence on foreign oil are growing concerns cited by survey respondents.

There’s good news for domestic automakers. Consumers want to purchase an EV from an established automaker, preferably one of the Detroit Big Three companies.

Americans say vehicle price, driving range and access to charging stations are their biggest concerns when they consider buying an electric vehicle. The study finds that while three-quarters of respondents drive less than 30 miles on a weekday, nine out of 10 expect EVs to be able to travel 50 to 250 miles on a single charge.

Ernst & Young says nearly one-third of Americans are still unfamiliar with gasoline-electric hybrid technology, even though such vehicles have been on the market for a decade. Awareness of electric vehicles is even lower, it says.

Senior executives at Ford Motor Co. sold $9.7 million of Ford stock since Jan. 6, says Barron’s, citing company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

After Ford shares hit a four-year high above $10 late last year, six executives exercised options to obtain shares and then immediately sold them. The group includes Asia Pacific president Joe Hinrichs, purchasing chief Tony Brown, Chief Information Officer Nick Smither, General Counsel David Leitch, government relations chief Ziad Ojakli and Ford Motor Credit CEO Michael Bannister.

The company points out to the magazine that it hasn’t paid bonuses for the past two years, so some officers are exercising a portion of the options previously awarded as compensation. Ford notes the activity occurred during one of the limited periods during which insiders are allowed to buy or sell company stock.

Tata Motors Ltd., which has said it will bring its ultra-low-cost Nano minicar to the American market within three years, will probably charge about $8,000 for it, says the Associated Press.

The news service cites an unidentified Tata official, who says the U.S. price will be comparable to the one in Europe when the Nano arrives there next year. At $8,000, the Nano would cost nearly $2,000 less than the larger Hyundai Accent subcompact coupe, which is currently the lowest-priced new vehicle in the U.S., AP says.

Tata launched a $2,200 bare-bones Nano in India last summer. The company has said the European and U.S. versions of the car would cost more because of added equipment to meet safety and emissions standards, as well as amenities such as a radio and air conditioning. Tata says the European Nano has already passed European safety tests.

Electric car startup Fisker Automotive Inc. has awarded a multi-year contract to supply lithium-ion batteries for its Karma plug-in electric sports car to Watertown, Mass.-based A123 Systems Inc.

The battery maker says it will invest as much as $23 million in Irvine, Calif.-based Fisker, including $13 million in cash. The $88,000 Karma is slated to arrive later this year. Production of the $47,400 Nina plug-in family sedan is slated to begin in late 2012.

A123 already has agreements to supply batteries to Chrysler, Delphi and China’s SAIC. The company plans to use part of the $248 million grant it received from the U.S. Dept. of Energy in December to finance the expansion of its battery plant in Livonia, Mich. A123 aims to hike annual capacity there by roughly 20% to more than 320,000 batteries for hybrid vehicles and more than 24,000 batteries for plug-in vehicles. The company also plans to upgrade a newly leased factory in Romulus, Mich., to open in the first half of next year.

The United Auto Workers union says it has hired real estate firm CB Richard Ellis to sell its $34 million Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center on Black Lake in northern Michigan.

In the latest issue of the UAW magazine Solidarity, President Ron Gettelfinger says the move is part of a broader effort to reduce costs amid steep job losses in the auto industry. Union membership has fallen to 431,000 from a peak of 1.5 million in 1979.

The union uses the 1,000-acre lakefront property for conferences and weeklong training sessions on political action, labor history and leadership. The center includes a golf course open to the public, hotel-like accommodations, campgrounds, a beach and athletic facilities.

The Detroit Free Press reported in 2008 that the UAW lost $23 million on the Black Lake facility in the previous five years. Critics have said the education center is a luxury the union can no longer afford.

Automakers sold 1.47 million passenger and light commercial vehicles in Russia last year, down from 2.90 million in 2008, according to the Assn. of European Businesses.

The trade group attributes the plunge to a deep recession, tight credit, the weak ruble and higher tariffs on imported cars. AEB predicts Russian demand will be virtually unchanged this year as tight credit offsets the benefits of a government scrappage program that begins in March.

Russia had been close to overtaking Germany as Europe’s biggest auto market until about a year ago. A German scrappage plan helped automakers sell 3.8 million vehicles there this year, up from 3.1 million in 2008. Germany’s sales are expected to drop to the 2.75 million-3 million range this year because government incentives have expired.

AvtoVAZ’s Lada brand remains the sales leader, but volume was down 44% year over year, followed by General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet brand. Ford, down 56%, leapfrogged Hyundai and Toyota to take third place. Hyundai slipped to fourth with a 61% drop, while Toyota’s 64% decline dragged it down to seventh place.

Lada vehicles claimed the four top spots in Russia’s sales rankings. Renault’s Logan, Ford’s Focus and General Motors’ Chevrolet Lacetti ranked fifth through seventh. AEB says nine of the 10 top-selling models were built in Russia.

Russia’s GAZ Group is in talks with two or three potential partners for its core business of commercial vehicles, heavy trucks and buses, says President Bo Andersson. He tells reporters at the Automotive News World Congress that GAZ needs a partner who can bring new technology to the struggling company.

Andersson says GAZ also is interested in partnerships in passenger vehicles, but isn’t planning to expand that part of its business anytime soon. GAZ was the industrial partner in the failed bid by Canada’s Magna International Inc. and Russia’s OAO Sberbank to buy General Motors Co.’s Opel unit. That deal collapsed in November when GM decided not to sell Opel.

Andersson joined GAZ in June 2009 from GM, where he was vice president of global purchasing. Since then, he has focused on streamlining the massive company by closing plants and shedding workers, as well as trying to restructure its $1 billion of debt.

GAZ produced 90,000 vehicles last year, down two-thirds from 2007. The company’s sales fell 56% year over year to 58,200 vehicles in 2009, outpacing the industry’s decline of 49%. Andersson predicts the Russian scrappage scheme that starts in March will boost sales by only about 200,000 units to 1.7 million this year.