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News watch April 2010: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR'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-hourThursday 29 April 2010• The European Commission has published a document outlining plans to encourage the take-up of electric cars. It includes a strategy for a common charging socket (Financial Times)• BMW has leapfrogged Toyota as the world's most valuable automotive brand, according to the BrandZ Top 100 survey.

One-fourth of U.S. drivers have trouble paying for auto repairs, AAA says

Americans have difficulty paying for costly vehicle repairs and are driving older cars longer, according to a survey released by AAA. One quarter of American drivers said they would be unable to pay for repairs to their vehicle of more than $2,000, and one in eight said they would be unable to pay for repairs of more than $1,000, the survey said. More than half of drivers said they are still driving an older vehicle “because they do not want the financial burden of a new one,” the survey said.

Visiting Scaglietti: A look inside Ferrari's aluminum artistry

Carrozzeria Scaglietti should ring a bell for anyone familiar with famous Ferrari models old and new. Though it once was one of Italy's respected independent coachbuilding enterprises, the Modenese company is now wholly owned by Ferrari. It focuses on prototyping and building aluminum body structures for the 599 GTB Fiorano, the 458 Italia, the FF and the California.