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Crunch watch August 09: the auto industry

By Tim Pollard, Alex Michaelides, Ben Pulman and Freddie Fulton Motor Industry 31 August 2009 10:00 Welcome to CAR's news aggregator as we round up the seismic change in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour  Monday 31 August 2009• Bank holiday today in UK; staff on a well earned break from Crunchwatch!Friday 28 August 2009• Toyota will stop producing vehicles at the New United Moor Manufacturing plant in California next March. Company officials and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the decision, which comes in the wake of factory partner GM’s announced that it would abandon the venture back in June (Detroit News)• Tengzhong may finalise its deal to buy Hummer from GM next week, well placed sources told AN (Automotive News, subscription required)• German economics minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says it is 'hardly realistic' for GM to keep hold of its European outfit Opel and Vauxhall (Automotive News Europe, subscription required)• Ford's US cop car favourite, the Crown Victoria, is going to cease production in 2011 (Detroit News)Thursday 27 August 2009• Nissan and Chrysler have abandoned plans to build cars for each other in the wake of Chrysler’s alliance with Fiat.

Ford collaborates with DIY workshop for Detroit location

Detroit inventors will soon have access to the ultimate do-it-yourself workshop. Having joined forces with Ford, TechShop is scheduled to launch one of its open-access facilities in the Motor City this winter. The facility will provide artists and inventors with machinery they might not otherwise have access to, like sheetmetal equipment, CNC plasma cutters and three-dimensional printers.

Lincoln MKT concept

By Liz Turner First Official Pictures 14 January 2008 17:27 Ford’s Geordie design boss, Peter Horbury is working hard to return long-neglected Lincoln from a brand driven by old ladies with poodles to the kind of luxury car presidents might ride (or get assassinated) in. The T in MKT stands for Touring, and he says: ‘When I think of touring, I imagine long journeys in extreme comfort.’ So passengers sit in seats inspired by the first-class cabin of an aircraft, surrounded by fine wood, leather and silk. It’s guilt-free luxury, though.