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.

Audi range to expand with flagship 4x4; no new city car (2014)

By Ollie Kew Motor Industry 25 April 2014 07:35 Audi is looking to add a new flagship Q9 SUV to its model portfolio, and has confirmed to CAR that, at the opposite end of the range, there will be no Audi city car. No, according to Audi's Chairman of the Board and CEO, Rupert Stadler. Speaking at the Beijing motor show, where Audi revealed the new TT Offroad concept, Stadler said, 'There is no need for a car [below A1 in the range].’ Quashing rumours of an Audi-badged version of the VW Up city car, Stadler said: 'We are quite happy with A1.

Audi A3 (2012) UK pricing announced

Audi has priced up the third generation A3 hatchback, due to go on sale in September 2012. With the range starting at £19,205 and rising to £26,560 - before you've tackled Audi's infamous options list - the new A3 looks to be gunning straight for the new BMW 1-series. How does the new Audi A3 model range shape up?