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Crunch watch Mar 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Ben Pulman and Tim Pollard Motor Industry 31 March 2009 13:48 Tuesday 31 March 2009• Porsche said that its earnings before tax rose to €7.3 billion in the six months to the end of January – including a €6.8bn windfall from its VW share options (Financial Times)• Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, will step up to replace Rick Wagoner, who was ousted on Sunday as CEO of General Motors (Financial Times)• President Obama is essentially CEO-in-chief of GM – despite not owning a single cent of stock, says Detroit News commentator (Detroit News)• German chancellor Angela Merkel gives assurances that any would-be investors in GM's European arm will be given state support. Opel is asking for €3.3 billion in aid – and up to 25,000 jobs in Germany depend on it, with up to 300,000 jobs across Europe including Saab and Vauxhall (BBC News)Monday 30 March 2009• General Motors' chief executive Rick Wagoner has been ordered to resign by US president Barack Obama with immediate effect. It's part of Obama's administration's critique of GM and Chrysler's turnaround plans – he's understood to be unhappy with the plans submitted (BBC News)• New GM non-executive chairman Kent Kresa has admitted that at the company's next general meeting it will have 'a majority of new directors' (General Motors)• Chrysler will receive US government aid for the next 30 days, but the Obama administration has said that if the company cannot secure a tie-up with the Fiat Group within that time period it will not receive any more money from the taxpayers and could go into liquidation.

Mini: the 50th anniversary and new models galore

By Phil McNamara Motor Industry 27 May 2009 13:14 Mini’s renaissance is entering a new phase of electric power, 4x4 crossovers and yet more bodystyles, said BMW marketing chief Ian Robertson at the British brand’s 50th birthday party. Over the last May bank holiday weekend, some 15,000 Mini fans converged on Silverstone, for a three-day festival of cars, racing and music. The company revealed three special editions: high-spec Camden and Mayfair models, plus the 211bhp World Championship 50 Edition in homage to racing team boss John Cooper.

Toyota Hydrogen Fuel Cell on sale by 2015 at €100k

The 2003 Toyota Fine S Hydrogen FCEV Toyota has done a great job of turning the car buying public on to alternative powertrains with it Hybrid setup in the Prius, and now it plans to go the same route with a hydrogen-powered production Toyota. Despite Toyota’s headline commitment to hybrid cars, it has been beavering away for a long time with fuel cell technology for its cars. The photo at the top is of the 2003 Toyota Fine-S Concept which was developed to test the fledgeling hydrogen fuel cell setup, and Toyota were running fuel cell cars in Japan and California at this time too, although not, as far as we know, the Fine S.