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News watch October 2012: today's industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hou Wednesday 31 October 2012• It's emerged GM's European 2012 earnings are down nearly half a billion dollars in Europe, where it now expects to lose $1.5bn to $1.8bn before interest and taxes for the full year (DetNews)• Ford has posted a third-quarter net profit of $1.63bn (£101bn) - almost matching its eventual profit total for the entire year 2011. Despite painful losses in Europe (Ford expects to lose $1bn in Europe alone this year) a resurgent North American market has buoyed Fords sales even higher than previous forecasts (Automotive News Europe)• Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has weighed in against Republican presedential nominee Mitt Romney, who argued that a move towards Chinese production would harm American jobs.

Nissan BladeGlider EV Sports Car Concept for Tokyo Motor Show

The Nissan BladeGlider EV Sports Car Concept (pictured) will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show Nissan are trying to push the envelope for road-going electric cars with the BladeGlider electric car concept that will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show this month and looks – at least in some form – to be heading for production. Inspired by the aero industry – and taking inspiration from Nissan’s DeltWing Project – the BladeGlider gets a very narrow front track and a much wider rear, wrapped in carbon fibre reinforced plastic with an interior that offers a 1+2 seating arrangement. Nissan say the extremely narrow front track reduces drag and enhances manoeuvrability for extreme cornering, and its 30/70 rear-biased weight distribution could give plenty of tail-out fun.

Jaguar XE Configurator goes LIVE

Jaguar XE Configurator goes Live Jaguar fully revealed the new XE – the car they hope will be a runaway success in the premium compact sector – at the Paris Motor SHow this week, and they’ve been quick to get a configurator for the XE live so potential buyers (and time-wasters) can get stuck in and see just what’s on offer. And there’s plenty to choose from. With a range of prices for the new XE starting at £26,995 for the XE 2.0i 200PS and rising to £44,870 for the XE 3.0i S/C 340PS, there’s an XE to suit a wide range of budgets.