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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.

Design Contest: ANFIA announces Italian Styling - Young Designers Competition 2004

The deadline for entries in the fourth edition of the 'Stile Italiano Giovani' design competition (Italian Styling - Young Designers) is coming up. The competition is a biennial event run by the designers of the ANFIA Coachbuilders Group, who have set out to help discover new talent in the field of car design. The target of the initiative is to find and select new talents from all over the world, capable of interpreting and fostering the tradition of Italian automotive design.

Public supports 20mph urban speed limits

78% of people think 20mph speed limits should be introduced as the norm in residential areas, around schools and in town centres, according to road safety charity Brake. It comes as the charity introduces its GO 20 campaign, calling on politicians to support changing the default urban speed limit to 20mph. Backlash at increase in 20mph areas predicted On Bing: see pictures of 20mph zones 20mph zones are already widespread in some areas – with Brake claiming these areas have seen significant reductions in crashes.