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Maserati GranCabrio Fendi; half Maserati, half handbag

Maserati GranCabrio Fendi - a handbag on wheels Car maker like to hang a label on a special edition, and Italian car makers quite like the label to be ‘Designer’. Which at least explains the Maserati GranCabrio Fendi, just as it did the Fiat 500 Gucci. Whether it forgives it… So brace yourself for the world of pretension and ‘style’.

Crunch watch Dec 09: the auto industry in crisis

Welcome to CAR's news aggregator as we round up the seismic change in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Wednesday 30 December 2009• Saab's PR chief told AN that GM is extending the deadline for a sale to 7 January – and the Trollhattan factory will resume limited manufacturing in early January to build the new 9-5 and some 9-3 cabrios (Automotive News, subscription required)• Last night Bloomberg reported a Saab board member claiming that the 31 December deadline for a Saab sale or closure 'is not holy'. If GM receives a bid that is 'sufficiently interesting', it'll extend the deadline, said the Saab suit (Automotive News, subscription required)• GM is offering massive discounts on Pontiac and Saturn cars, as it seeks to get rid of the remaining stock from these terminated brands.

The weirdest job titles in the car industry revealed

Car companies are diversifying into new areas of specialism - and this attention to detail is bringing some novel new job titles to the automotive industry. A quick browse through the recruitment pages and job ads reveals that manufacturers are hiring for strange and unusual roles. Here's a pick of the job titles we found recently.