Autoblog

Bertone has landed in some very hot water and is facing Italian bankruptcy court within a week. The courts in Turin seem to think that the best thing for the company's 1,300 employees would be for it to shut down and go into bankruptcy protection. But before it draws its last breath, the famous Italian carrozzeria has one last trick up its sleeve, which is expected to be revealed later today.

The coachbuilder has long since evolved from being the small design house it once was into a major manufacturing facility, with capacity to produce 70,000 cars each year. But in order to break even, it needs to build at least 30,000 per year. It was building a special-edition MINI, but that ended over a year ago, and production of the Astra convertible ended two years ago. Over the last three years, according to reports, Bertone has lost €37.3 million ($55.4 million).

Industry insiders are speculating as to what Bertone's plan of action might entail, fueled by a release from chairman, CEO and owner Lili Bertone, which stated that the company received "a letter of intent from an industrial group with a strong track record in the automotive field." That hardly narrows it down, but speculation points towards former Fiat and Telecom Italia exec Gianmario Rossignolo, who is tipped to be preparing to produce a new SUV in Italy. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - subscription required]

The Bentley Boys aren't sitting around, resting on their plush leather laurels. Having just released the new Brooklands land-yacht coupe, it's on to the next project at Crewe, with the hot-selling Continental GT receiving a planned update..

The successful W12-powered coupe is scheduled for a complete overhaul in early 2010, but to hold sales strong until then, Bentley is planning to release a facelifted version of the current model by the end of this year. The updated Conti will get a few extra horses out of it's 6-liter W12 engine, bringing output up to 560hp, as well as some cosmetic changes to keep it looking fresh, including a revised front fascia and some new rims.

Although the surfacing reports say the facelift is due for the Continental GT coupe, we can expect the new features to carry over to its siblings, the already sold-out GTC cabrio and the Flying Spur sedan. Which, of course, means all those Fort Lauderdale yachtsmen, Hollywood movie stars and British footballers will have to be trading up.

[Source: AutoTelegraaf via Motor Authority]

Project X has now officially been renamed the Recovery and Transformation plan by the Chrysler Group, which plans to reduce its workforce by 13,000 people between now and 2009. About 11,000 employees will be hourly workers, while 2,000 will be salaried employees. In addition, total production capacity for the Chrysler Group will be reduced by 400,000 units per year, aided by the immediate elimination of shifts at its Newark Assembly Plant and Warren Truck Plant, along with cancelling a shift at its St. Louis South Assembly Plant in 2008. In 2009, the Newark Assembly Plant will be completely idled. There's also the standard restructuring moves you'd expect in the plan, like reducing the number of dealers, selling less to fleets, and offering retirement and attrition packages to current workers not affected by the layoffs.

Chrysler Group hopes the R&T plan will return the company to profitability as early as 2008. It's main weapon is cost reduction by the aforementioned layoffs and plant closings. The idea seems to be that if the company can reduce costs enough, its operating profit can offset the quarterly losses it will be facing in the near term.

It's not all slash and cut though, as Chrysler also announced a $3 billion investment in new engines, transmissions and axles that will focus on producing more fuel efficient power and drivetrains. One such product will be a dual-clutch transmission it's commissioned Getrag to produce and a new V6 engine dubbed "Phoenix". There's a slew of BLUETEC diesel vehicles on the horizon, and the 2008 Dodge Durango will host the company's first two-mode hybrid, as well.

One item of note in the press release issued is DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche's statement that, "we do not exclude any option in order to find the best solution for both the Chrysler Group and DaimlerChrysler," which some analysts have taken to mean that selling off the Chrysler Group wholesale is still on the table as a viable option.

Check out the Chrysler Group's full press release after the jump for all the nitty gritty details, and let us know in the comments whether or not you think the Recovery and Transformation plan has what it takes to turn Chrysler around.

[Source: Chrysler Group]