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Crunch watch August 09: the auto industry

By Tim Pollard, Alex Michaelides, Ben Pulman and Freddie Fulton Motor Industry 31 August 2009 10:00 Welcome to CAR's news aggregator as we round up the seismic change in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour  Monday 31 August 2009• Bank holiday today in UK; staff on a well earned break from Crunchwatch!Friday 28 August 2009• Toyota will stop producing vehicles at the New United Moor Manufacturing plant in California next March. Company officials and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the decision, which comes in the wake of factory partner GM’s announced that it would abandon the venture back in June (Detroit News)• Tengzhong may finalise its deal to buy Hummer from GM next week, well placed sources told AN (Automotive News, subscription required)• German economics minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says it is 'hardly realistic' for GM to keep hold of its European outfit Opel and Vauxhall (Automotive News Europe, subscription required)• Ford's US cop car favourite, the Crown Victoria, is going to cease production in 2011 (Detroit News)Thursday 27 August 2009• Nissan and Chrysler have abandoned plans to build cars for each other in the wake of Chrysler’s alliance with Fiat.

Call to cut school run car journeys

A 10% CUT in school run car journeys would boost Britain's economy by around £46 million a year, a sustainable transport charity has claimed. Sustrans, which is calling on the Government to formally recognise the right of every child to be able to walk or cycle to school safely, estimates that ferrying children to school by car accounts for 24% of peak time traffic. Using Department for Transport modelling to calculate the financial drain on business caused by rush-hour congestion, Sustrans estimated that a 14% reduction in car use for school runs would take 167,000 vehicles off the road with an annual "saving" of £66.2 million.

Aston Martin adds glamour to Lord Mayor's Show

FAMOUS British brand Aston Martin brought some extra glamour to the capital at the weekend as the firm took part in the historic Lord Mayor's Show. A selection of its sports cars joined the three-and-a-half-mile-long cavalcade at the invitation of The Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers of London, which selected Aston Martin to participate in its centenary year. The Aston Martins, which included a Vanquish Coupe dressed in the unmistakable Union Jack-inspired livery of the UK Government’s GREAT Britain campaign, made their way through the capital’s packed streets as an estimated half million spectators looked on.