Hyundai, the second-biggest car maker in India by sales volume, has launched the all new Verna with luxurious interiors and improved exterior features to lure domestic customers.

The newly launched Verna range includes two petrol variants - 1.6 VTVT & 1.6 SX VTVT - and two diesel variants - 1.5 CRDi VGT & 1.5 SX CRDi VGT, which will be available with both - a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic transmission.

Since the demand fell due to economic uncertainty and tight credit, there was a fall by 3.2 percent in January in the sales of cars in India, which marked the sixth drop in seven months.

On Monday, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) displayed that 110,212 units in the month were sold by car makers, down from 113,894 sold a year earlier.

Sugato Sen, senior director at SIAM, reported, "The auto industry was going, to a large extent, due to the easy availability of credit. But now banks have significantly cut their exposure to auto loans."

Paris - The French government is set to announce a loan of 6 billion euros (7.75 billion dollars) to aid France's two large auto makers, Renault and PSA Peigeort Citroen, several dailies reported on Monday.

In exchange for the loans of 3 billion euros to each company, at interest rates significantly below market levels, Renault and Peugeot have committed themselves not to shut any French factory or outsource production abroad for the period of the loan, which is five years.

Tokyo  - Nissan Motor Co revised downward its earnings forecast for the full fiscal year after the yen surged against other major currencies and consumer appetite for cars waned owing to the global recession, the company said Monday.

Japan's third-largest automaker after Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co estimated it would incur an operating loss of 180 billion yen (1.96 billion dollars) for fiscal 2008 that ends in March, which would be the first operating loss for Nissan in 14 years.

Wa

Electric car maker Reva Electric Car Co has informed that it will launch a new model powered by advanced battery technology this year.

The latest model will be powered with lithium-ion based battery and would be launch by May this year.

Sources revealed that the new car with a single charge will cover an approximate distance of 120 km, and will be ideal for city driving conditions.