Toyota Toyoace Dyna 2001 Front Left Leaf Spring Assembly [4751000] on 2040-parts.com

Crunch watch Jan 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Gareth Evans Motor Industry 30 January 2009 12:39 Friday 30 January 2009• Honda is about to close the Swindon factory for four months when Friday's shifts are finished; the shutdown will affect 2500 of the 3700 staff, who will receive full pay for two months and then 60% pay for the next eight weeks (BBC News)• Porsche has announced a sharp drop in sales and likely profits. It forecasts a 27% drop in 911, Boxster, Cayman and Cayenne sales to around 34,000 units in the six months to the end of January 2009 (Financial Times, subscription required)• Ford wants Washington to do more to stimulate car sales, after posting a record loss of nearly $14.6 billion earlier this week (Detroit News)• Honda's quarterly profit has crashed by 90% – forcing the Japanese car maker to halve its annual profit target (Detroit Free Press)Thursday 29 January 2009• Ford of Europe is a bright spot in the Blue Oval's quarterly results today, making $1.06 billion pre-tax profit in 2008 (up from $997m in 2007). It's the first profit of more than $1bn since 1989 (Automotive News Europe, subscription required)• Volvo suffered a 'disastrous 2008' with a pre-tax loss of $1.46bn.

Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo brought to life by Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo brought to life by Mercedes-Benz The new Gran Turismo 6 is a big deal (out on 6th December) and Mercedes-Benz are making sure they’re able to grab a bit of the glory by building a full scale concept of the Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo Supercar. The Vision Gran Turismo car has been created by Mercedes design team without the constraints of the real world, so we get a Mercedes supercar that goes a little beyond practical realities. There’s a great big statement grill that looks like an evolution of a 1950s Mercedes racer, a long bonnet, a compact cabin area and a back end with a tapered roof construct and huge bulging arches.

Hydrogen cars to storm London

A CONSORTIUM of car makers, infrastructure suppliers and energy consultancies has signed an exciting new agreement to turn hydrogen-powered cars into an everyday reality. The pioneering deal, dubiously named the HyFIVE project (Hydrogen For Innovative Vehicles), is the largest of its kind in Europe. The five manufacturers have agreed to deploy a total of 110 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at several European locations and develop new clusters of hydrogen refuelling stations – and London is high on the list of targets.