Toyota to close Australian design studio

Toyota designers at its Technical Center Asia Pacific Australia (TTCAP-AU) are to lose their jobs as part of Toyota's decision to scale back the facility's activities as well as halting all manufacturing within the country by 2017. The TTCAP-AU, which carries out all its Australian design and evaluation operations, employs 150 designers and modelers and it's possible that its activities with the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion models could be scrapped, raising doubts over its future. Around 2,500 employees at Toyota's Altona manufacturing plant are expected to lose their jobs, although the effects are likely to be wider ranging.

Crunch watch June 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Peter Adams Motor Industry 30 June 2009 11:35 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  Tuesday 30 June 2009• Porsche says it is no longer applying to the German Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau central bank for a €1.75 billion bridging loan. This means it'll now have to seek finance elsewhere (Porsche) • Seat announces its best-ever month for used car sales; it sold 915 second-hand cars in May (Seat)Monday 29 June 2009• Jaguar Land Rover has opened its first showroom in India.

2015 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG may pack 480 hp

Mercedes-Benz's new-from-the-ground-up 2015 C63 AMG has reached a final stage of durability testing, with prototypes hitting public roads near company's technical center in Germany. The BMW M3-fighting four-door is will debut at the Paris motor show in September. The new twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8-powered performance sedan is set for North American sale exclusively in its rear-wheel-drive-only guise.