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

Crunch watch July 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman, Ben Whitworth and Alex Michaelides Motor Industry 31 July 2009 11:23 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  Friday 31 July 2009• Lamborghini today posted pre-tax profits of €5.4 million – despite a sales drop of 37% in the first six months of 2009. Sant'Agata said turnover hit €156.9m in the first half (down 43%) as it sold 825 cars globally (Lamborghini)• British motorists could have to pay £250 in tax to park at work from 2012.

2012 Fiat Panda starts at £8,900

The new Fiat Panda starts at under £9k The 2012 Fiat Panda will cost from £8,900 for the POP 1.2 8v 69 CV, rising to £12,250 for the Panda Lounge 1.3 MultiJet 75 CV in the UK. The 2012 Fiat Panda was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show last Autumn, and looks as though it’s going to continue the Panda tradition of simple motoring at affordable prices with the news that the starting point for the new Panda will be £8,900 for the entry-level Panda POP 1.2 8v 69 CV. Even the top-of-the-range Panda Lounge 1.3 MultiJet 75 CV comes in at a not too unreasonable £12,250, with another eight models in between the two extremes offering variations of trim and engines to suit sensible urbam motoring.

Mercedes E Class Cabriolet – Detroit catch-up

The Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet was launched at the Detroit Motor Show this week It’s easy to forget that a car has not officially launched when we’ve already reported on most of the detail. Such is the case with the new Mercedes E Class Cabriolet. Mercedes released lots of information on the E Class Cabrio back in December, but this week at the Detroit Motor Show was the first public reveal, so we thought we ought to report it.