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Crunch watch Dec 08: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard and Simon Stiel Motor Industry 31 December 2008 14:05 Wednesday 31 December 2008• GMAC, GM's finance arm, said it would immediately revise its criteria for providing loans, after the US government bail-out of the General's credit arm. It will now supply credit for anyone with a score of 621 or more on the Fico scale, the scale used to assess Amercian customers' creditworthiness (Financial Times)• The news means that 80% of US consumers would now qualify for a loan from GMAC – which should improve sales in the depressed US market (Detroit News)• Chrysler is being lambasted for taking out full-page adverts in the American national press thanking the nation for supporting its auto industry. But critics point out this is a fresh waste of bail-out resources, as pages in the Wall Street Journal – one of the titles in which the ad ran – reportedly cost up to $264,000.

What does owning a car really cost you?

Not many things are more terrifying than looking at your bank statement every month to see how badly you blew it. But aside from the day-to-day expenses, ever wonder where exactly all of your money is going? Our friends at The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch site say that AAA's annual report on driving costs for 2013 suggest that it's your car sucking the life out of your bank account.

State of Ferrari: Supercar maker evolves, strives for exclusivity in consumer age

Ferrari means a great deal to a great many, but there are some things it is not--and will never be, says chairman Luca di Montezemolo. That means no full electric cars, four-doors and even fewer Ferraris. All of this is meant to preserve equity in the famous Ferrari brand, believed to be one of the most valuable in the world in any segment of consumer products.