Harley Davidson Softail Sportster Dyna Sissybar on 2040-parts.com

News watch June 2010: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Wednesday 30 June 2010• Tesla shares have rocketed 40% on their first day of trading; the company went public this week with the first IPO of an American car company since Ford in the 1950s (BBC News)• GM may sell off its interests in finance arm GMAC and parts supplier Delphi as it seeks to write down its debts (Financial Times)• A Federal judge has approved the $20m sale of a former GM plant in Wilmington to Fisker Automotive; Fisker hopes to build 100,000 cars a year once production hits a peak after launch in 2012. It is using a $529m government loan to fund its launch (Detroit News)Tuesday 29 June 2010• UK business secretary Vince Cable has warned that the car industry is no longer in an emergency – and cannot expect direct government support.

Call for Entries: CDN-GM Interactive Design Competition 2012

With temperatures soaring across North America, there's no better time to hunker down in an air-conditioned room with your pen, vellum, and markers (or, more realistically, your computer and tablet) and get working on your entries into the GM Interactive Design Competition 2012.  It's only been a month since the official launch of the 2012 GM Interactive Design Competition and we're already seeing strong participation and a very high level of quality for the entries. Open to all full-time college or university students from across the US and Canada, this competition is a great way to gain exposure, but also to keep up and improve your skills over the summer. With five paid internships (housing included) at GM's studios in Warren, MI up for grabs, there's no better launchpad for your career in the automotive industry, and getting your entries online early also gives you a head-start on the competition by allowing the public and mentors to critique and review your work.

No Porsche plan for model priced less than Boxster

Porsche has no plans to sell a car costing less than the Boxster, according to the automaker's head of sales and marketing. "To build a Porsche for 30,000 euros [$37,800 at current exchange rates] currently doesn't fit our brand," Bernhard Maier told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Monaco on Thursday. "The extraordinary purchase experience is not for free and the entry price is currently covered with the Boxster and in the future by the Macan." He said Porsche's plan to double sales won't compromise exclusivity.