100th Anniversary Air Cleaner Medallion For Twin Cam 88 Models: 29019-03 on 2040-parts.com

Crunch watch Jan 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Gareth Evans Motor Industry 30 January 2009 12:39 Friday 30 January 2009• Honda is about to close the Swindon factory for four months when Friday's shifts are finished; the shutdown will affect 2500 of the 3700 staff, who will receive full pay for two months and then 60% pay for the next eight weeks (BBC News)• Porsche has announced a sharp drop in sales and likely profits. It forecasts a 27% drop in 911, Boxster, Cayman and Cayenne sales to around 34,000 units in the six months to the end of January 2009 (Financial Times, subscription required)• Ford wants Washington to do more to stimulate car sales, after posting a record loss of nearly $14.6 billion earlier this week (Detroit News)• Honda's quarterly profit has crashed by 90% – forcing the Japanese car maker to halve its annual profit target (Detroit Free Press)Thursday 29 January 2009• Ford of Europe is a bright spot in the Blue Oval's quarterly results today, making $1.06 billion pre-tax profit in 2008 (up from $997m in 2007). It's the first profit of more than $1bn since 1989 (Automotive News Europe, subscription required)• Volvo suffered a 'disastrous 2008' with a pre-tax loss of $1.46bn.

Who's Where: Dagoberto Tribia promoted to Director of Interior Design at GM Brazil Design

Dagoberto Tribia was promoted to Director of Interior Design at GM do Brasil Design on January 1, 2011. Working under the direction of Carlos Barba, Executive Director of Design, GM South America, Tribia has assumed responsibility for all interior programs at General Motors Brazil Design, both local and global. In doing so, he has also become the first Brazilian Design Director at the company.

New Maserati Ghibli could get 4.0 litre V8 Diesel

The V8 diesel is not exactly the most common engine on offer, but it is an engine Ford makes and is probably best known as the engine of choice in the new Range Rover and the new 2014 Range Rover Sport (finally). We’ve also been championing its credentials as a perfect V8 diesel engine for Jaguar’s XJ, but Jaguar don’t seem to be listening. But it’s not just Land Rover who’ve got a big V8 diesel in an appealing road car, Porsche also has the new Cayenne diesel S complete with a V8 diesel with oodles of torque, the promise of great headline economy when you’re poodling and a 0-62mph in just 5.7 seconds.