on 2040-parts.com

Crunch watch Dec 08: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard and Simon Stiel Motor Industry 31 December 2008 14:05 Wednesday 31 December 2008• GMAC, GM's finance arm, said it would immediately revise its criteria for providing loans, after the US government bail-out of the General's credit arm. It will now supply credit for anyone with a score of 621 or more on the Fico scale, the scale used to assess Amercian customers' creditworthiness (Financial Times)• The news means that 80% of US consumers would now qualify for a loan from GMAC – which should improve sales in the depressed US market (Detroit News)• Chrysler is being lambasted for taking out full-page adverts in the American national press thanking the nation for supporting its auto industry. But critics point out this is a fresh waste of bail-out resources, as pages in the Wall Street Journal – one of the titles in which the ad ran – reportedly cost up to $264,000.

Abarth 695 “Tributo Ferrari” – Official

Interior of the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari which is heading for Frankfurt Fiat say that the Tributo Ferrari is distinguished by substantial modifications that have been developed by Abarth and Ferrari. Most substantial of these is probably the 1.4 litre turbo, which has been tweaked to give over 180bhp. But the revisions all round are quite a bit more than a cosmetic job to create a cheap baby Ferrari.

Acura says RL sedan won't be dropped

UPDATED -- Is Honda ready to kill off the slow-selling Acura RL sedan? Honda officials in the United States say no. But a report in Japan's Nikkei business daily newspaper says Honda is ready to stop selling the Honda Legend in its home market.