Report: Insider reveals trouble brewing at Ferrari

An anonymous inside source has contradicted claims that Ferrari is holding up fine during the global financial crisis, claiming that things are not as rosy as the Maranello automaker would have us believe. According to the source, mainline production of the four-seater Ferrari 612 Scaglietti has been halted among other issues.

The insider also revealed to Edmunds that the newly launched entry-level California model has caused sales of the F430 supercar to drop significantly, although the 599's order books are still filled for the next couple of years. Rumors that Ferrari may have to lay off around 300 or so workers soon are still circulating, and analysts are predicting that Ferrari will have to cut back staff in 2009 in order to slash costs.

Additionally, the anonymous insider spoke of Ferrari's new sponsorship deal with Indian conglomerate Tata. Tata's involvement with Ferrari has been known for some time, and the company routinely sent a team of engineers to every F1 race this season. The ties between the two companies also stretch beyond motorsports, and the head of Tata, Ratan Tata, is also already heavily involved with Ferrari’s parent company Fiat, joining the Italian carmaker’s board back in 2006 after he was recommended by the Agnelli family. Tata and Fiat are already tied up over an engine supply deal, and Tata is contracted to build the Fiat Grande Punto and the Fiat Linea for the Indian market.

While there has also been talk of Tata taking over Marlboro's position as Ferrari's number one sponsor, other reports have countered those rumors, claiming that the Tata name will not appear anywhere on Ferrari F1 cars, racing uniforms or merchandise, but rather the company's corporate logo will be seen.

According to the insider, Ferrari’s new California has weakened sales of the F430 significantly

GM's Project Driveway fuel cell program rolls past 500,000 miles next week

With all that's going on in Washington lately, the slow economy and a general apathy or even hostility toward the automotive industry, it's nice to see a technological bright spot on the horizon. While it's not a ground-breaking or earth-shattering development, General Motors' fuel cell test fleet breaking the 500,000mi (800,000km) mark demonstrates a certain maturity of the technology that reminds us that slow and steady progress can win the day.

Hydrogen fuel cells are not the widely-regarded front runners for the next generation of vehicular power sources. There are any number of reasons for this, but the primary one is that the distribution of hydrogen is inherently more costly and problematic than distribution of raw electricity.

Nevertheless, GM is forging ahead with its Project Driveway experiment, developing not only the cars but also the infrastructure necessary to support the cars. In the early stages, filling a tank of hydrogen required 20 minutes or more, but that time has been cut to 6-7 minutes thanks to user feedback and technical advances.

The user feedback itself is so far strong, according to GM. We at MotorAuthority, having driven a fuel cell Equinox, can agree that the driving experience is essentially indistinguishable from driving a standard vehicle, with the exception of the abnormally quiet ride.

Some of the systems used in the Project Driveway vehicles overlap with current production vehicles, including regenerative braking systems, and data gathered during testing has helped to improve the Saturn Vue, Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon 2-mode hybrids as well.

UK, France, Germany, Italy agree on CO2 limits

Italy has reportedly dropped its objections to a European Commission plan to introduce softer CO2 emission limits on new cars, leaving the door open for an EU-wide agreement on a 130g/km fleet wide CO2 limit.

While still not official, inside government sources in Germany told Reuters that an agreement between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had been made. The proposal now has to be approved by the European Parliament, with talks between parliament, member states and the European Commission scheduled to take place on November 24.

The European Commission had proposed cutting CO2 emissions from cars by an average of 18% to 130g/km by 2012, but the plan was rejected by some member nations such as Germany, which claimed that its luxury-based industry will still have a harder time meeting the targets than the smaller-car producing French and Italian industries.

More lenient standards were contrary to the central thesis of the EU's new emissions laws, according to Italy's government. Environment minister Stefania Prestigiacomo spoke out recently on the issue, calling the proposal unacceptable because it disadvantages carmakers that have already taken steps to build more efficient cars.

Italy, though home to some of the world's most renowned supercars, is also home to some of the world's favorite minicars, including the Fiat 500.

Several Mercedes plant workers accused of corruption

Several employees at a Mercedes plant in Sindelfinger, Germany, are under investigation for corruption and bribery

Several employees of the Mercedes Benz plant in Sindelfinger are under investigation, following allegations of corruption and bribery, according to a number of German news sources. The beginning of a preliminary investigation was confirmed by the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office on Sunday, although no charges have been laid as of yet against the employees.

The first report of the allegations came from the German news magazine Focus, which reported that several employees had been caught intentionally producing defective cars. By producing these defective cars, Daimler's internal quality control measures would require an external company to repair the cars, and essentially the employees were drumming up business for this firm, with the firm allegedly providing rewards of expensive gifts and overseas holidays in return.

The preliminary investigation is attempting to ascertain whether the employees had in fact produced defective cars intentionally, however Daimler has already come out with a statement stating that there are no defective cars on the market, or defective parts. From what we can gather, this makes sense as the employees were allegedly producing defective cars with the key purpose of having them repaired by this external firm, and not with the purpose of intentionally releasing defective cars to market.

While there are no concrete facts or figures as to the number of defective vehicles produced, one German news source estimated that the losses incurred by Mercedes could be in the millions of Euros range.