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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.

Mission: Impossible 4 movie gets green action with BMW electric supercar

BMW is casting a green starlet for its automotive role in Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol, slated to hit theaters in mid-December. Behind the wheel, Tom Cruise will probably continue to defy all realities of city driving--but this time he'll at least be sending fewer emissions into the atmosphere. He'll be driving a BMW Vision EfficientDynamics electric supercar, a concept vehicle that the company claims will evolve into the BMW i8 before it hits series production in a few years' time.

Canada urged to adopt European car safety standards

CANADA has been urged to adopt European standards for new vehicle safety by the president of Mercedes-Benz Canada. Tim Reuss told reporters that if EU rules, which apply to all cars built by European industrial powerhouses like Mercedes and the Volkswagen Group, were in place Canada would already have new, more efficient, safer cars. At present Mercedes cannot import the A-Class because of the expense associated with modifying it to conform to Canadian safety requirements, and Mr Reuss argues that the current approach lacks common sense.