04 Aerio Temperature Control Auto Ac 49245 on 2040-parts.com

Jaguar gets a helping hand

It has been reported this morning that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have agreed to dip in to tax payers funds to help Tata, the owners of Jaguar and Land Rover. Along with most other car makers in the world, Jaguar and Land Rover has been hit hard by the current economic blight. But it seems that Tata has been hit by more grief than most.

World’s biggest classic car auction sells Simon Cowell’s Bugatti!

Ever heard of the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction? No, we hadn’t either, but it’s been dubbed the ‘world's greatest collector car auction’, with the last sale resulting in 1,400 vehicles sold for a total sum exceeding a cool $113 million. The Scottsdale auction is a mecca for classic car nuts and celebrity spotters alike, with six days of live, high-definition auction action played on Fox TV.

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.