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Crunch watch Feb 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Ben Whitworth Motor Industry 02 March 2009 18:11 Monday 2 March• The Volkswagen Group announces a 5% rise in sales revenues in the 2008 tax year and a 3% increase in operating profits, up to €6.3 billion. Chairman Martin Winterkorn said the group's multi-brand strategy and low CO2 cars had helped sustain sales, although he admitted that 2009 would see a fall in demand and revenues (Volkswagen) Friday 27 February• Jaguar Land Rover announces a significant order for 13,000 cars from a Chinese business. It's a morale boost for JLR which has been hit by a slump in demand with the global slowdown (BBC News)• Opel this afternoon agreed to a restructuring plan designed to save as many jobs and factories as possible – but it needs a €3.3 billion lifeline from the state.

Subaru BRZ tS is the ‘Sporty’ BRZ STI with no more go

Subaru BRZ tS (pictured) more show – no more go When we ran the tease photo for what appeared to be the Subaru BRZ STI, we did hope this would be the BRZ with more power. After all, STI (Subaru Tecnica International) is the go faster bit of Subaru so it seemed to be pointing in the right direction, a direction lovers of the BRZ (and its sibling, the Toyota GT86) have been hoping for since it arrived – one with more power. But this isn’t the Subaru equivalent of a BMW M or a Mercedes AMG, its more the equivalent of BMW Performance Parts, where Subaru’s STI division have kitted out a standard car with bolt on modifications and called it the Subaru BRZ tS.

Audi A1 E-tron, A8 Hybrid at Geneva motor show 2010: first official pictures

Audi’s A1 was only officially unveiled at the 2010 Geneva motor show, but such is the plethora of new Ingolstadt product on the way that an A1 E-tron electric concept shared the stage with the production supermini. Also on display was the new A8 Hybrid. Yes, after the R8-based concept and the R4-previewing show car, and Audi wants E-tron to become a zero emissions brand in its own right, just as the Quattro tag is inexorably linked to its four-wheel drive models.