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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.

Alfa Romeo 4C to spearhead marque's return to the US

Alfa Romeo is coming back to the U.S. this summer, and at next month's New York auto show the company will present the 4C Coupe to the American public. We need to take a step back to point out that even though the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione was officially sold on our shores in a handful of locations (to a smattering of well-heeled buyers), the automaker's planned return this summer will offer cars for--ahem--a slightly larger audience.

2013 Porsche 911 GT3 (991) arrives UPDATED & OFFICIAL

We have the first photos of the 2013 Porsche 911 GT (991) ahead of its reveal this week at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. Update: Porsche has now caught up with the first photos arriving and we have official details of what the new 911 GT3 has to offer. A rise in weight from the last GT3 sees the new GT3 weighing in at 1430kg, but power is up to 468bhp and 324lb/ft of torque from a tweaked version of the 3.8 litre flat 6 which now revs to 9000rpm with power going to the back wheels through the auto ‘box.