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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.

2011 Subaru Impreza WRX gets the wide-body look of the STI

The 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX will look more like the WRX STI model by adopting the STI's wide-body look, including a wide track front and rear, and wider tires. The front and rear tracks of the 2011 WRX are 1.5 inches wider, compared with the 2010 model. Wheel diameter remains at 17 inches, but the wheels get an inch wider at 8 inches.

Laurenz Schaffer Appointed President of BMW Group’s DesignworksUSA

There's a game of musical chairs being played at DesignworksUSA, the BMW Group's design consultancy subsidiary. Starting December 1 this year, two key executives will be taking on new roles within the design consultancy, while the company's current President will be moving on to a new position within BMW Group Design. The first appointment is that of Laurenz Schaffer, currently Director of the Munich studio of BMW Group DesignworksUSA.