Chevy Oil Pressure Line, Rocker Arm, 6-cylinder, 1949-1953 on 2040-parts.com

Crunch watch Sept 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 30 September 2009 11:30 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  Wednesday 30 September 2009• Mitsubishi's global production in August was 62,924 units, a decline of 32.1% compared to August 2008. It was also the 18th consecutive monthly decrease for the Japanese car company (Mitsubishi)• Fernando Alonso has signed a three-year deal to drive for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team.

2011 Audi R8 GT, an AW first look

Three years after it burst onto the supercar scene, Audi has unveiled a hard-core version of its R8 called the GT. Based on the existing mid-engine R8 V10 and incorporating aerodynamic, weight-saving and mechanical developments used by the company's R8 LMS GT3 race car, Ingolstadt will build just 333 copies of the new 560-hp four-wheel-drive performance flagship. Pricing has not yet been revealed, but given the extent of the changes to the new two-seater, buyers should expect a hefty premium over the R8 V10's $147,000 price tag when the GT goes on sale in North America.

Driven: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

Walking up to the seventh-generation VW Golf, redesigned flip key in hand, you're in no doubt that this is a) new or – perhaps more importantly – b) a Golf. It's the "200 meter test" lead exterior designer, Andreas Mindt tells us and, while we're suspicious of the idea of self-conscious ‘iconic design', you have to concede he's right. In fact the Mk7 Golf's pared-back graphics and a return to a true two-box proportion create a more accurate vision of what we imagine when we think ‘Volkswagen Golf' than either of its two most recent predecessors.