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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.

Aston Martin outlines Centenary celebrations

Aston Martin celebrates its centenary year in 2013 and has outlined plans to celebrate 100 years of Aston Martin. Officially, Aston Martin was founded in 1913 – although it was not until after the first world war ended that they actually started proper production – and with 2013 marking 100 years of Aston Martin there are celebrations planned throughout the year. On 15th January – exactly 100 years since Aston Martin was incorporated – the oldest surviving Aston Martin – the A3 – will join the latest Aston Martin Vanquish at Henniker Mews in Chelsea, where Aston Martin originally operated, to unveil a plaque to commemorate the anniversary with the Aston Martin Heritage Trust Walter Hayes Memorial Lecture taking place that evening with Sir John Standing telling the story of Lionel Martin’s early experiences.

New Range Rover Sport in New York

The newly refreshed Range Rover Sport takes at bow at the New York Motor Show Land Rover are working hard to keep their main models up to date and fresh before an all new set of cars arrives in a couple of years. And the big news with the Range Rover Sport is really under the skin. Out goes the old supercharged 4.2 and the somewhat breathless 2.7 diesel, and in comes the brute of a 5.0 litre supercharged lump from Jaguar that has also gone in to the new Range Rover (and the LR4 – but not for the UK – why not?), and the terrific 3.0 litre diesel that also graces the Jaguar.