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Crunch watch October 09: the auto industry in crisis

Tuesday 20 October 2009• Honda's CEO said he would consider launching electric vehicles for sale in Europe, Japan and the USA in a possible change of strategy for the Japanese car manufacturer (Automotive News, subscription required)• Ford 59-plate car sales up by 22% in September ‘09 compared to the same month last year. Ford claims a 14.8% share of total new car sales for the same period (Ford)• Porsche, VW and Daimler all sent top executives to the Shanghai motor show in April, but chose to snub the Tokyo motor show this week. The news comes as China’s automotive market is set to become the world’s largest (Bloomberg)• Toyota enters the Korean car market, challenging the 72% market share owned by Hyundai Motor Co (Bloomberg)  Monday 19 October 2009 • The organisers of the Geneva motor show claim that 'all of the major manufacturers have already confirmed their participation' for the March 2010 event (Geneva Palexpo)• Jaguar is auctioning off the first XJ off the line to raise £1m for the NSPCC children's charity.

Ford halts plans for rwd cars

With demand uncertain for big cars in the years ahead, Ford Motor Co. has dropped plans for new rear-wheel-drive sedans. Ford design chief J Mays told Automotive News on Sunday that plans for rwd Ford and Lincoln sedans have been shelved.

Skoda Citigo (2011) first official pictures of Skoda's Up

It's all about economies of scale these days, so don't be surprised that Skoda's whipped the covers off its take on the new Up city car just days after Volkswagen unveiled its own at Frankfurt. The new Skoda Citigo (see what they did there?) is the Czechs' sixth model line and will go on sale in UK dealers in summer 2012. Skoda Citigo: the lowdown The four-seater Citigo naturally shares most of its engineering DNA with the Up.