One of the earliest 540K models known to exist, this 1936/1937 Mercedes-Benz Special Roadster by Sindelfingen sold for a whopping $9.9 million at the RM Sotheby’s Arizona sale. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing. 

Today’s headlines:

+   Porsche will eventually offer hybrid versions of all its models, starting with the 911 in 2018, CEO Oliver Blume told the German daily newspaper Westfalen-Blatt. More at Automotive News Europe. 

+   Toyota will halt production at all of its car assembly plants in Japan for one week due to a materials shortage following an explosion at an Aichi steel plant. More at Reuters. 

+   The Detroit Free Press announced that Ed Welburn, General Motors’ vice president of design, will be its first recipient of its Automotive Difference Maker Lifetime Achievement Award. More at the Detroit Free Press. 

+   In the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the Ford GTs suffered electrical glitches in their racing debut, factory Corvettes finished 1-2 within inches in the GTLM category, and the Extreme Speed Honda Ligier P2 of Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, and 22 year-old sensation Pipo Derani took the overall victory. More at Racer. 

+   Jacques Daniel, head of Renault’s new joint venture with Chinese partner Dongfeng, says production could double or triple from the Wuhan plant’s initial output of 150,000 vehicles annually. More at The Fiscal Times. 

+   Asif Kapadia, who directed the award-winning documentary Senna, will direct a film about Rolls-Royce founders Charles Rolls and Henry Royce called Silver Ghost for producer Martin Scorcese. More at Top Gear. 

+   Honda posted net income of $1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015, well below analysts’ estimates of $1.23 billion, as the automaker struggled with Takata airbag recalls. More at Bloomberg.com. 

+   At the 2016 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California, the 1932 Ford highboy roadster of Darryl Hollenbeck won the prestigious America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) award. More at the Hot Rod Network. 

+   Toyota, which currently owns around 51.2 percent of Japanese microcar maker Daihatsu, will obtain the rest of the company’s shares in a stock swap worth $3 billion. More at UK Auto Express. 

+   At $9.9 million, a Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster by Sindelfingen at the RM Sotheby’s sale set an all-time price record for the Arizona auction season. More at Classic Cars.com.

+   While Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is confident that the U.S. Grand Prix will proceed in 2016, Circuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein says a decision will not be reached until sometime in February. More at Planet F1. 

Read the previous Executive Briefing from January 29 here. 

Photo courtesy of RM Sotheby’s. 

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