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Daimler-Renault alliance approved, report says

An international alliance between Daimler and Renault has been approved by the companies' boards and is set to be announced on Wednesday, Bloomberg is reporting. The pact would allow the German and French automakers to collaborate on a range of products, including small cars, commercial vehicles and engines. AutoWeek first reported on the alliance last week.

Driven: Chevrolet Orlando

Chevrolet recently launched the new Orlando crossover in the UK market. The seven passenger vehicle – which eschews a conventional monovolume MPV package in favor of a more bulky, upright one that aims to fill the same need – will be sold in the North American market as well as in Europe. Cloaked in crossover skin, the Orlando is not to be taken lightly.

Crunch watch Dec 08: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard and Simon Stiel Motor Industry 31 December 2008 14:05 Wednesday 31 December 2008• GMAC, GM's finance arm, said it would immediately revise its criteria for providing loans, after the US government bail-out of the General's credit arm. It will now supply credit for anyone with a score of 621 or more on the Fico scale, the scale used to assess Amercian customers' creditworthiness (Financial Times)• The news means that 80% of US consumers would now qualify for a loan from GMAC – which should improve sales in the depressed US market (Detroit News)• Chrysler is being lambasted for taking out full-page adverts in the American national press thanking the nation for supporting its auto industry. But critics point out this is a fresh waste of bail-out resources, as pages in the Wall Street Journal – one of the titles in which the ad ran – reportedly cost up to $264,000.