Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co said Friday that its net profit fell 42.8 per cent to 52.8 billion yen (505 million dollars) in its first quarter from the same quarter a year before, mainly because of the rise in the yen.

Operating profit also plunged 46.1 per cent in the April-to-June quarter to 79.9 billion yen.

Japan's third-largest automaker saw its sales fall 4.1 per cent to 2.35 trillion yen.

Nissan's global sales were up 6.9 per cent for the quarter to 936,000 units.

To compete with local and foreign heavy vehicle rivals, Ashok Leyland, India's second giant heavy vehicle manufacturer announced that it is working on developing an all-new full range truck platform for global markets.

The proposed new truck platform named Unitruck, will not only meet all safety and emission norms for developed markets, but it will also create variants to meet different geographies, road and load conditions, different applications and legislative requirement.

London, July 30 : A British designer has come up with a sports car that can be folded in half to park it in tight spaces.

Daniel Bailey, 22, has revealed that the BRB Evolution jacks up on its nose with its back wheels sliding underneath on two rollers, and thus uses 50 per cent less parking space.

He says that motorists will have to step out of the car before it morphs into its "upright" parking pose.

He adds that the car will run on electricity or hydrogen fuel, and will be more "sexy, sleek and mean" than other eco-cars.

According to him, his invention is inspired by the Lamborghini Murcielago and Peugeot 908.

Munich - BMW is ending the production of the current Z4 convertible