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Tesla Model S burns in Seattle

A Tesla Model S crashed and burned on Tuesday morning in Seattle. The electric-vehicle manufacturer told Bloomberg that the Model S “collided with a large metallic object in the middle of the road, causing significant damage to the vehicle.” More specifically, the object struck the Tesla's battery. The report worried investors, and Tesla stock fell 6.2 percent on Wednesday.

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.

Jaguar XFR-S arrives ahead of LA debut

The Jaguar XFR-S – Jaguar’s most powerful saloon car to date – has leaked out ahead of its debut tonight at the Los Angeles Auto Show. We’re hoping that Jaguar has managed to bestow extra power on the very appealing XFR without wrecking the stuff that makes Jaguar saloons so appealing – the dynamic/ride balance – which, if they have, will make the XFR-S a more appealing bonkers sports saloon than the German offerings. The promise is all there with a new butch front end, a more aggressive body kit, chunks of carbon fibre, a huge rear wing for extra downforce, a new diffuser at the back, stiffer springs, a new rear subframe with stiffer bushes, a tweaked active diff and a tweak of the stability control for more fun.