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Crunch watch Mar 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Ben Pulman and Tim Pollard Motor Industry 31 March 2009 13:48 Tuesday 31 March 2009• Porsche said that its earnings before tax rose to €7.3 billion in the six months to the end of January – including a €6.8bn windfall from its VW share options (Financial Times)• Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, will step up to replace Rick Wagoner, who was ousted on Sunday as CEO of General Motors (Financial Times)• President Obama is essentially CEO-in-chief of GM – despite not owning a single cent of stock, says Detroit News commentator (Detroit News)• German chancellor Angela Merkel gives assurances that any would-be investors in GM's European arm will be given state support. Opel is asking for €3.3 billion in aid – and up to 25,000 jobs in Germany depend on it, with up to 300,000 jobs across Europe including Saab and Vauxhall (BBC News)Monday 30 March 2009• General Motors' chief executive Rick Wagoner has been ordered to resign by US president Barack Obama with immediate effect. It's part of Obama's administration's critique of GM and Chrysler's turnaround plans – he's understood to be unhappy with the plans submitted (BBC News)• New GM non-executive chairman Kent Kresa has admitted that at the company's next general meeting it will have 'a majority of new directors' (General Motors)• Chrysler will receive US government aid for the next 30 days, but the Obama administration has said that if the company cannot secure a tie-up with the Fiat Group within that time period it will not receive any more money from the taxpayers and could go into liquidation.

GM returns to Super Bowl, new ads upcoming for Camaro, Caddy

If there's one thing Joel Ewanick has made clear since joining General Motors Co. three months ago, it's that he doesn't let grass grow under his feet. And the company's vice president of marketing isn't slowing down anytime soon: In a wide-ranging interview with Advertising Age, an affiliate of AutoWeek, Ewanick let drop that the automaker will return to the Super Bowl in 2011; that an ad campaign will break next month for the Chevy Camaro; and that there's a new tagline coming for Cadillac, "The new standard for the world." "We have so many projects in the works right now," he said.

Peugeot 508 leaks early

The Peugeot 508 Estate - turns up a day early It seems like a very long time (it was November last year) since we first reported that Peugeot are dropping the 407 and the 607 and replace them with a new car – the Peugeot 508. Which makes sense, with the 407 getting a bit long on the tooth and the 607 selling nowhere but Paris. We got the first official view of the 508 in the 5 by Peugeot concept at the Geneva Motor Show at the start of the year, and a good looking and elegant Peugeot it looked.