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Autoweek in review: What you might have missed

In a nutshell, here's what happened this week: --Two-time Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon died on Sunday after a 15-car crash at the Izod IndyCar Series' season-ending race in Las Vegas. He got caught up on lap 11, went airborne and slammed into the track's outside wall. Read the full story here.

Volkswagen hits back, weighs making a bid for Porsche

Volkswagen is considering an audacious reverse-takeover bid for its majority shareholder, Porsche, in a twist in the drawn-out struggle for control between the two German carmakers. The Volkswagen Group's supervisory board is said to be weighing the possibility of purchasing Porsche AG, in a move that would relieve its holding company, Porsche SE, of massive debt that industry analysts suggest the company may not be able to fund should the world's financial crisis drag on well into 2010--a scenario put forward this week by the International Monetary Fund. The secret plan emerged as shareholders were set to convene at Volkswagen's annual meeting on Thursday, and it comes after Porsche revealed that it is carrying some 9 billion euros ($11.73 billion) in debt, most of it owing to interest on loans taken out to purchase its 50.8 percent stake in VW.

Ford confirms Fiesta EcoSport SUV debut in India

Fiesta EcoSport SUV (rendered by Car & Driver Brazil) Ford has confirmed they will reveal an all-new vehicle planned for introduction in India and other global markets which we assume is the EcoSport SUV. A week or two back we reported that Ford in India has inadvertently posted some details about the upcoming Ford Ecosport, a high-riding compact SUV based on the same platform as the Fiesta. We speculated that the EcoSport would arrive at the Auto Expo 2012 in New Delhi in January, and it looks like Ford has confirmed that.