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News watch March 2012: 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 Friday 30 March 2012• Fiat is suffering from its decision to suspend new product innovation during the recession, argues ANE. It is losing ground on account of delays to its Punto range, which won't be replaced until 2014, and the ageing Bravo, which was launched in 2007 and has no successor in sight (Automotive News Europe)• Mercedes plans to build the new four-door coupe spun off the A- and B-class architecture at its new Hungarian factory (Automotive News Europe)• Opel denies rumours it may sell the Eisenach factory in east Germany where it builds the Corsa supermini (Automotive News Europe)• Mercedes is cutting the time it takes to build a car from 43 hours in 2008 to nearer 30 hours by 2015, according to production boss Wolfgang Bernhard.

'Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish': A tribute to Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

The recent passing of Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, has found us mourning the loss of a visionary who brought not only technology and functionality to the product design industry, but also transcended the boundary into automotive design. Jobs succeeded in making what was at the time a foreign invention – the personal computer, a device impeded by its lack of usability – attractive to the masses by making it simpler, intuitive and essentially more functional for those who didn't hold a PhD in physics. From his previous experience with the artistic qualities of calligraphy, Jobs took a sector that was so inward looking that it risked alienating the consumer – regardless of its capability – and wrapped it up in a warm, aesthetically appealing package that could be more easily understood.

Treasures from West Germany lurk at Sonoma Raceway

In my role of Chief Justice of the 24 Hours of LeMons Supreme Court, I travel to Sonoma Raceway, aka Sears Point, at least twice per year. Most of the time I'm there, I'm stuck disciplining miscreant racers with incomprehensible penalties, but every so often I slip away in my Race Organizer Review car to shoot some action photos of the competitors. A good area for shooting LeMons cars is from the access road that runs parallel to the track between turn 10 and turn 11, and getting there takes me past an area of shops and garages… and I always spot some interesting cars parked there.