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News watch July 2010: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Friday 30 July 2010• Renault has reported a net income of €823 million – with an operating margin of 4% and sales up 22% globally. Its worldwide market share now stands a whisker up at 3.8% (Renault)• La Regie said its business was performing much better than during the same period last year, when the recession bit into its profits.

Renault Twizy (2011): the tandem-seat electric city car

This is the production version of the Renault Twizy, a mad 1+1 tandem-seat electric city car that will go on sale in the UK in early 2012. It’s just been unveiled at the 2010 Paris motor show. And 12 months on in Paris Renault has unveiled the production version.

It looks like Aston Martin could be getting AMG/Mercedes platforms too

Mercedes/AMG platforms would make the Lagonda SUV a reality We’d been expecting Aston Martin to get access to Mercedes platforms ever since the Lagonda SUV – based on the underpinnings of the Mercedes GL - arrived in all its ‘beauty’ in 2009. The Lagonda SUV was met with wails of anguish from lovers of Aston Martin’s timeless beauty but, despite the horror at the looks of the SUV, the prospect that Aston Martin could be heading down a collaboration route with Mercedes was welcome. It was welcome because without the support of a major car maker – and access to its technology – Aston Martin would have little chance of a bright future; there is no way a minnow like Aston Martin could afford the development cost of new engines and platforms.