Mychron Cylinder Head Thermocouple (cht) Sensor (1-piece) 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.

Lingenfelter offers look at car collection

Michiganders don't have to wait for the Woodward Dream Cruise to see an epic car collection in their home state. Car collector Ken Lingenfelter, cousin of the renowned NHRA racer John Lingenfelter, is opening his private garage--er, warehouse--to the public this Saturday. For $15, guests can see Ken Lingenfelter's collection of more than 150 vehicles, with proceeds going to the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology.

Cadillac ATS coupe bows at Detroit auto show

Cadillac's ATS range grows into an even stronger BMW 3-series/4-series competitor with the introduction of the coupe model, which marks the first time GM's luxury division has taken the plunge into the compact luxury coupe segment. The ATS coupe's 109.3-inch wheelbase is shared with its sedan brethren, but wears a lot of its own bodywork including a unique roof, doors, fenders, trunk lid and front fascia to not only give the coupe its own distinctive look, but to dress the wider track the coupe gets over the sedan. The ATS Coupe will be the first production Caddy to wear the division's new crest when it goes on sales this summer.