Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

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.

Saab enters Court Protection – just as we predicted

Victor Muller takes Saab in to Court Protection Two weeks ago we reported that Saab were about to seek court protection from its creditors in a bid to buy time until investment from China arrives. And that’s exactly what’s happening. Saab are waiting for investment funding from China – via Pang Da and Youngman – totalling €245 million which should put Saab back on a solvent footing – at least for a while – and allow the beleaguered Swedish car maker to resume production and push on with future plans.

Possible Ferrari F70 tester spotted

The above photos of what very well might be a development mule for the next primo Ferrari —likely to be called the F70—were recently posted on the Ferrari 4/5 Competizone Facebook page. The future F70 is expected to be a front-runner in the competition between the very best cost-no-object supercars. The F70 will feature a 7.3-liter V12 coupled to a kinetic-energy-recovery system, a combination that will be good for 920 hp.