Global Parts 4811584 A/c Hose Assembly on 2040-parts.com

Crunch watch Jan 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Gareth Evans Motor Industry 30 January 2009 12:39 Friday 30 January 2009• Honda is about to close the Swindon factory for four months when Friday's shifts are finished; the shutdown will affect 2500 of the 3700 staff, who will receive full pay for two months and then 60% pay for the next eight weeks (BBC News)• Porsche has announced a sharp drop in sales and likely profits. It forecasts a 27% drop in 911, Boxster, Cayman and Cayenne sales to around 34,000 units in the six months to the end of January 2009 (Financial Times, subscription required)• Ford wants Washington to do more to stimulate car sales, after posting a record loss of nearly $14.6 billion earlier this week (Detroit News)• Honda's quarterly profit has crashed by 90% – forcing the Japanese car maker to halve its annual profit target (Detroit Free Press)Thursday 29 January 2009• Ford of Europe is a bright spot in the Blue Oval's quarterly results today, making $1.06 billion pre-tax profit in 2008 (up from $997m in 2007). It's the first profit of more than $1bn since 1989 (Automotive News Europe, subscription required)• Volvo suffered a 'disastrous 2008' with a pre-tax loss of $1.46bn.

New car sales September 2014 best in ten years. But…

The Ford Fiesta was again the best-selling car – September 2014 We’ve got used to new car sales / registration reusing month after month, and September 2014 is no different. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is reporting new registration for the important plate change month of September at 425,681 units, the strongest September performance since 2004 and the 31st month in a row new car sales have increased. But the SMMT do say that although September’s figures show yet another increase, it only represents a rise of 5.6 per cent compared to the March plate change registrations rise of 18 per cent, an indication that the new car marekt is starting to level off after nearly three years of growth.

FAW Hongqi H7

The Hongi H7 from FAW is the first D-segment sedan from the brand since the 1980s. Aimed at the executive private market as for use by Chinese officials, the Hongi H7 was developed by Giugiaro in Italy. The sedan features a ‘straight waterfall' chrome front grille inherited from the brand's traditional identity.