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Barack Obama’s auto task force is highly disappointed in GM and Chrysler and has given both automakers failing grades for their turnaround efforts. We’ll get more official details later today, but White House officials have said that President Barack Obama is willing to provide an additional $6 billion to Chrysler, only if it can wrap up its proposed alliance with Fiat S.p.A in 30 days.

If Chrysler fails to close a deal with Fiat and give it a 35 percent stake by the end of April, it will be forced to survive as a stand-alone business.

Government officials said that there is still a lot of work to do on the proposed partnership and that agreement terms would need to be modified.

Chrysler has so far declined to comment on the requirements set by the government. We’re scheduled to get an official statement later today after President Barack Obama’s announcement.

A woman uses virtual-reality technology to preview a vehicle's options.

(Credit: CATER)

Many new-car buyers face a similar dilemma: You want to customize a new car but don't know if you'll like the maroon leather interior that looks great in the catalog but always seems too ...

Today is my “what to do in case of Automotive Industry emergency” news day. All of the major news networks are steadily reporting today updates of the Obama administration’s plans for the automotive industry. It seems they already want federally regulate everything else so why not do it with the Automotive industry. I mean, heck, they already gave Rick Wagoner, GM’s CEO, the boot and now they will guarantee the federal government paying for any warranty repairs on a General Motors or Chrysler vehicle if either company can’t because of financial problems or a bankruptcy filing. That’s actually good news now that I think about it because all my neighbor has to say about his Chevy Tahoe other than it is gas guzzler is that GM may not be able to fulfill their 100,000 mile warranty if they go under.

This has been the topic of discussion for thousands who happen to drive a GM or Chrysler vehicle currently. Many of these cars are still under warranty considering the 100,000 mile warranty offered in the past couple of years by both GM and Chrysler.

“Given where the industry is, these highly unprecedented actions are consistent with the unprecedented times we’re in,” Standard & Poor’s analyst Robert Schulz told Reuters today.

Let’s face it, bankruptcy is a very feasible option for Chrysler and GM and many are finally realizing this. We all knew it may come to this. I guess for now it is good that the government and/or Obama administration is on our side… or are they?

We already knew everyone was going after BMW right? Even Honda’s luxury division, Acura, has its eyes on targeting the Bavarian pacesetter even when it comes to BMW’s latest sports crossover vehicles including the X6. What is Acura’s answer to the BMW X6? It is the Acura ZDX crossover which is slated to debut at this year’s New York International Auto show this week. Also news about the new Acura ZDX is that it will be going on sale this fall. Expected power plants may include a turbocharged version of the widely used 3.7-liter 305hp V6 found in the MDX and RL or it could be derivative of the TL’s 3.5-liter engine with the addition of a turbo.

[source: Acura]

Images and Press release below after the jump:

All-New Acura ZDX to Debut at New York International Auto Show

Acura announced it will debut a prototype of the all-new ZDX luxury four-door sport coupe at the New York International Auto Show. The prototype features striking coupe-like styling with the added benefit of a commanding presence and flexible utility to define a new luxury category.

“The ZDX prototype is unlike anything you have ever seen before from Acura,” said Jeff Conrad, vice president, Acura sales. “The prototype showcases a new level of luxury, style and refinement for Acura and speaks volumes towards our commitment to advancing the brand.”

The production version of the ZDX prototype will bring a new level of prestige to the Acura lineup when it arrives at dealerships this fall and offer the latest advancements in performance, technology and safety.

The ZDX prototype will be introduced at the New York International Auto Show on April 8, 2009 at 11:00 am in the Acura booth.

Known lately for its sleepy, leaping cats, Jaguar has taken its fangs off the nightstand and stuck them back in. The sporty “R” designation gets pinned to the tail of the pretty and still-pretty-new $52,000 XF, the mid-size sedan below the big XJ. The result: 510 tech-infused horsepower and a price hike to $80,000. The driving sophistication is high, and some test numbers we managed to quickly extract during the XFR’s introduction are 10 degrees north of wow: 4.3 seconds to 60 mph, a quarter-mile pierced in 12.7 seconds at 115 mph. The M5 flinches.

Jaguar likes to talk about root icons such as the shark-finned Le Mans D-types and the blaze of XK120 headlights on the rain-swept Italian roads of the Mille Miglia. Ah, cracking good stuff—buried under a manure pile of more recent mediocrity. Arriving in late June, the 2010 XFR, like the aluminum-bodied XKR coupe, which also receives the supercharged, 5.0-liter direct-injection V-8, is a solid start at redemption.

Keep Reading: 2010 Jaguar XFR - Short Take Road Test

Maybe it was the perfect place for a Lamborghini Gallardo—about 5000 feet above Tenerife island in the Canary Islands off Morocco, where the winding climb finally levels off onto an utterly empty, treeless moonscape of volcanic desolation. Welcome to God’s frying pan, this one with a two-lane blacktop running across its center. In the ’60s, Raquel Welch madeOne Million Years B.C. one island over, because that’s what the place looks like.

Towering into view up ahead on this plateau is the cone-perfect peak of the El Tiede volcano, 12,000 feet from the Atlantic waters below. It looks like a Salvador Dalí playground without the melting clocks, and we expected at any moment some prehistoric killing bird to come screeching and flapping out of the sky, snapping and biting and hissing, providing a real moment for that busload of tourists that just pulled off the road behind us, all of them now padding around in their Nikes on the crunchy volcanic ash.

About a half-mile up the road, a brand-new, chalk-white Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder makes a U-turn. Its driver can see there is no place for cops to hide in this sorrowful emptiness. In a moment we hear the first explosive sounds of the guy laying into it. Suddenly the car’s howl seems to split the sky open. The tourists turn fearfully, and begin to move to the road’s edge. The paddle shifts comeone-two-three and there’s that piercing cry of an F1 car that a moment later turns into an eye-bulging Pavarotti high note—and yes, itdoes look like some killer pterodactyl coming at you, hugging the ground, hawk-eyed, closing quickly, just wailing. And when it blows by flat out, it whips a whoosh of wind across the faces of a busload of open-mouthed but definitely thrilled Spanish tourists.

That would sell about anybody, this mid-mounted, 5.2-liter V-10 engine in full song. All 552 hp just flung out of the box, it honks to 60 mph in about four seconds and to 100 mph in just over seven. Given enough room, it will go a claimed 201 mph.

Keep Reading: 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder - First Drive Review

The Hyundai Genesis sedan keeps adding to its already impressive resume. Already the 2009 North American Car of the Year and a Top Safety Pick by the IIHS, Hyundai is now playing in the big league if it wasn’t already before.

Images of the Hyundai Genesis Prada edition have been released prior to the car’s debut at the 2009 Seoul Motor Show. That’s right - Prada, the Italian fashion label has joined forces with Hyundai for a special edition of the Genesis saloon (just sounds more exquisite than sedan).

Two images were released showing the upgrades which include a dark-blue matte-finish paint on the outside along with 20-inch wheels, illuminated flooring and white “Saffiano” leather seats and dash.

Hyundai and Prada worked on only three examples of the Genesis Prada. The one you see here will be in Seoul and will be later put on display at Hyundai’s headquarters. The other two units will be auctioned off at Prada Transformer with the proceeds going to charity.

Hyundai Genesis Prada:

- By: Kap Shah

Source: Hyundai-Blog