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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.

Record Breaker Aiming High With Audi

NOT content with falling out of a balloon from a great height, Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner is tackling his next big challenge on the famous Nordschleife circuit of the Nurburgring in Germany. Teaming up with Audi, the Austrian will obtain a racing license and become a driver with the Audi race experience team for the grueling Nurburgring 24 Hours in June. He’ll also be swapping his recording-breaking balloon for a race-prepared Audi R8.

New Fiat Panda (2012) arrives

New Fiat Panda 2012 - arrives at Frankfurt The Fiat Panda has always been simple motoring, in many ways much more the keeper of Fiat’s heritage than the funky Fiat 500. True, there is, in the current iteration, the Panda 100hp which is a long way from basic and probably the most fun there is to be had on four wheels in a city. But even the Panda 100hp keeps it simple.