London, Dec 28 : The first proper-performance, four-seater electric car from Mitsubishi, a major car manufacturer, which is eco friendly and has zero tailpipe emissions, is all set to be launched on the UK market.

According to a report in The Independent, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) could herald a new dawn for electric motoring.

Offering zero emissions from its tailpipe, it is the first crash-tested all-electric four-seat vehicle from a mainstream carmaker that will be available in the UK.

The i-MiEV can fit four 6ft adults plus 246 litres of luggage, and reach a top speed of 87mph.

On Friday, the country's leading passenger car maker, Maruti Suzuki announced that it had started to export its newly launched small car A-star to Europe.

M.M. Singh, the company's managing executive officer (production) informed, “This dispatch of first consignment of A-star from Gurgaon railway station is a quantum leap for Maruti Suzuki towards the company's future as a small car manufacturing hub for Suzuki, Japan.”

The first batch of A-star exports has left in an especially designed wagon from the Gurgaon railway station for Mundra port in Gujarat.  

Bangkok - Rapidly sliding global demand is expected to cut Thai automobile production by more than 35 per cent next year, said a report Saturday.

The number of vehicles produced could drop from 1.4 million this year to less than 1 million, if domestic sales fall 10 per cent and exports crash 50 per cent, Wallop Taisiri, director of the Thailand Automotive Institute, was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post.

Thousands of workers have already lost jobs and more are at risk, the report said.

Auto makers may extend production cuts in the wake of the severity of global financial crisis and slowdown in the coming times. Both commercial and passenger vehicle segments reported decline in the month of November and auto sector growth rate may further decline as per reports.

New Delhi, Dec 25 : Chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. R C Bhargava has said that sales of automobiles have not picked up due to lack of easy loans from Banks.

Talking to reporters during a National Road Safety Mission programme here on Wednesday, Bhargava said, "It''s not about loans being cheap, till the time these loans won''t be available easily, automobile sector will have problems, lot of loan applications are getting cancelled. There are many banks which are not ready to provide loans, to the customers, who want to buy cars."

Soon we would see a Volvo which would drive on its own and at the same time it would be coming up with the first ever "accident-proof car". The motions would be controlled by the car as it drives through the traffic using radar to control the distance.

At the Detroit motor show next month, the Swedish manufacturer is to make a proud presentation of Volvo S60, with automatic brakes. By 2010, it will hit he roads.