Sata Jet Nr 2000 1.4 on 2040-parts.com

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.

Hertz Supercars: Rent a McLaren MP4-12C & Mercedes SLS AMG

Hertz Supercars car hire Hertz UK has teamed up with Première Velocity to offer a range of Supercars for rent, including the McLaren MP4-12C and Mercedes SLS AMG. When most of us hire a car we look for something economical and cheap to blat around at the end of a train journey or on holiday. As long as it looks alright, goes alright and has AirCon, it’ll do.

Jaguar Land Rover reports record sales and profits for 2012/2013

Jaguar Land Rover – record sales, revenue and profits Tata must be thanking their lucky stars they took a punt on Jaguar Land Rover 5 years ago when the rest of the car world thought they were a bit of a lost dog, because it’s now JLR that are the shining star in the Tata group, with Tata motor sales languishing in troubled waters. JLR has reported record figures for the 2012/2013 year, with vehicle sales hitting 374,636 (up 22 per cent), revenue up at £15.8 billion (up 17 per cent) and pre-tax profits at £1.675 billion (up 11 per cent) on the back of continuing success for all models – and especially the Evoque – and the launch of more new models to offer great promise for even better figures in 2013/2014. This models have included the new Range Rover, the Jaguar XF Sportbrake, new 4WD versions of the XJ and XF (although not for the UK) and new engine options too.