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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.

Peugeot 308 R heading for production

It looks like the Peugeot 308 R (pictured) is heading for production With the Peugeot RCZ R managing to go from range-topping performance concept to production, it seemed likely Peugeot was aiming at producing a new range of performance cars. And it seems the next could be the Peugeot 308 R. Arriving at the Frankfurt Motor Show as a concept, the 308 R comes with a strange two-tone paint job (meant to evoke the Peugeot Onyx Concept), but with far more to offer than just a paint job that makes it look a different car at the back than the front.

New Honda Vezel crossover on sale in U.S. mid-2014; new turbo engines coming

Honda is ready to take a run at one of the U.S. auto industry's fastest-growing segments: compact, sporty crossovers. The Honda Vezel -- a small crossover based on Honda's redesigned Fit subcompact -- goes on sale in Japan on Dec.