Chevrolet Cruze hatchback concept (2010) first official pictures

These are the first pictures of the new Chevrolet Cruze hatchback, a concept car that will be unveiled at the 2010 Paris motor show. Think of it as a thinly veiled look at the new five-door version of the Cruze that will go on sale in 2011. Apparently so, and we all know the old addage that five doors are more popular than four in Europe.

Crunch watch Dec 08: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard and Simon Stiel Motor Industry 31 December 2008 14:05 Wednesday 31 December 2008• GMAC, GM's finance arm, said it would immediately revise its criteria for providing loans, after the US government bail-out of the General's credit arm. It will now supply credit for anyone with a score of 621 or more on the Fico scale, the scale used to assess Amercian customers' creditworthiness (Financial Times)• The news means that 80% of US consumers would now qualify for a loan from GMAC – which should improve sales in the depressed US market (Detroit News)• Chrysler is being lambasted for taking out full-page adverts in the American national press thanking the nation for supporting its auto industry. But critics point out this is a fresh waste of bail-out resources, as pages in the Wall Street Journal – one of the titles in which the ad ran – reportedly cost up to $264,000.

Ford cuts 2010 prices by up to 15%

Ford has cut prices of its big cars by up to 15% By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 26 March 2010 12:00 Ford today announced sweeping price cuts across its large car range – lopping up to 15% off the price of models such as the Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy. The news comes after Ford raised price four times in the past year.The Blue Oval has drawn criticism in the past for artificially high list prices, which have penalised business buyers. In the UK, company car tax is calculated by the P11D price which is based on the list price, not the transaction price, and 70% of large Fords are bought by fleets.Private buyers have historically scored large discounts on big Fords, as did corporate buyers – making many question the need for higher list prices.