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GM and Chrysler in merger talks

By Ben Oliver Motor Industry 13 October 2008 09:12 General Motors and Chrysler are in talks to merge and create the world’s biggest car company. Reports in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal say the talks have been underway since the start of October 2008, and sources close to the possible deal put its chances of success at ’50-50’. All three US car makers have seen their sales decimated in recent months and have been forced to deny that they might seek bankruptcy protection.

Ford Figo – Cool for India

The Ford Figo - made in India For has spent a few bob – around £300 million – expanding its car making facilities in India at Chennai to make the plant capable of producing 200,000 cars a year which, as Alan Mullaly, Ford’s CEO said, does show how serious Ford are about the Indian market. The Figo – which is apparently colloquial Italian for ‘Cool’ – shares Ford’s small car platform, which means that under the skin it’s a Fiesta. It looks like a Ford too, with the usual ford ‘Kinetic’ design cues written all over it.

Toyota says quake-hit plants escape major structural damage

Toyota Motor Corp. has released the first damage report for its northern Japanese factories in the region hammered by Friday's massive earthquake, saying some equipment and fixtures will need repairs but that the plants sustained no major structural harm. For days after the quake, Toyota had trouble contacting it plants in the northern Japan quake zone, making it difficult to assess their status.