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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.

Nissan raises Leaf prices, adds retail markets

Nissan North America said Tuesday that it will add $2,420 to the price of the base model of its hard-to-get, slow-to-build electric Leaf sedan. Compared to 2011 model year's $33,630 base price, including delivery, the 2012 model will begin at $36,050. The car's upper-grade SL model will sell for $38,100, an increase of $3,530 over 2011.

Toyota's Lentz to spell out flaws, fixes

Toyota has taken several steps to improve its flawed quality control procedures, the company's U.S. sales chief plans to tell Congress today. But Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.