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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.

Connected Car Expo is coming to Los Angeles Auto Show

A day before the start of the LA Auto Show will be the Connected Car Expo, which will show us the latest in singing, dancing, electronic gadgetry and advances in infotainment. In addition to the two press days, November 19th promises to feature some big companies making some equally big announcements. Audi will unveil its A3 and S3 models with the first 4G LTE system built into a car, complementing its already Wifi-enabled offerings.

MINI E – be a UK tester

MINI are looking for field testers in the UK to trial the MINI E But don’t think it will be a freebie. It may be far more advantageous to MINI than the Test Driver, but MINI are charging around $850 a month in the US for the privilege of testing the MINI E so, although MINI hasn’t released details of cost in the UK, you can bet it will be a similar amount. Still, people like to feel special, and an electric MINI is something ground-breaking.