News watch Jan 2010: today’s auto industry news

Wednesday 20 January 2010• Rolls-Royce has appointed Torsten Mueller as chief exec from the end of March 2010. He is currently BMW's global product management boss and will replace Tom Purves who will retire after 25 years with the BMW Group (Rolls-Royce)• Japan has bowed to pressure and extended its scrappage scheme to include American brand vehicles. Many had been barred from the scheme because they had different fuel economy standards (Automotive News, subscription required)• New GM Europe CEO Nick Reilly has vowed that Opel and Vauxhall will become a global company.

BAC Mono finally hits the U.S. (video)

Sector 111 – US importers of the epic BAC Mono – have finally revealed the first US Mono at Cars and Coffee in Irvine, California. It’s more than a year since we reported that Sector 111 would be offering the BAC Mono in the US and now, having completely sold their 2012 allocation of just 12 Monos, the first US built (well, bolted together from a CKD kit by Sector 111) has been revealed to petrolheads at the Cars and Coffee meet in Irvine, California. And the Cars & Coffee meeting is a great place for Sector 111 to show off their first Mono as its attended by a bunch of knowledgeable and wealthy Californians, just the sort of potential buyer Sector 111 are looking for.

Panasonic invests $30 million in Tesla Motors to develop batteries

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp. said late Wednesday it invested $30 million in Tesla Motors Inc. to cooperate on green powertrain development.