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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.

One Lap of the Web: Stuck in the mud, and eye surgery ahead of the Mint 400

-- Take a tour of the Koenigsegg factory, which is really a hangar once used by the Scania Air Force Wing, proving that jets really weren't born from old Opels. See the One:1 that recently made its debut at the Geneva motor show, as well as the Agera R that was used in Need for Speed. One guy spends 50 (that's five-oh hours) hours detailing a Koenigsegg for the Geneva show, which if you think about it isn't really that bizarre.

Fisker nets $528 million from Energy Department for hybrid development

Fisker Automotive is building its reputation on producing eco-friendly, luxurious cars. And today, the California company is a shade greener, thanks to the U.S. government.