Longbridge, England  - When the first Mini was unveiled to the public in August 1959, it was based on a concept that still applies in the 21st century - compact and economical small cars have a future in times of rising raw material and oil prices.

The British Motor Corporation (BMC) gave Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine "Alec" Issigoinis the task of developing a cheap, small car in the 1950s when fuel prices soared amid the Suez Canal crisis.

Cologne, Germany  - Ford is offering a super Green version of the Fiesta with consumption reduced to under four litres of diesel fuel in the Econetic version in fine-tuning the aerodynamics, improving the drive ratio and fitting low rolling resistance tyres.

Compared to the standard 1.6 litre-version with a consumption of 4.2 litres, the Econetic achieves 3.7 litres putting it on a par with the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive.

Rome  - The Italian Tazzari group is planning a production version of the Tazzari Zero electric vehicle for all major European markets by the end of 2009, the company has announced.

Customers will find a car fitted with a 15kW asynchronous centrally mounted engine, driving the rear wheels with maximum torque of 150 Nm. The lightweight construction gives it a weight of only 542 kilogrammes, enabling acceleration from zero to 50 kilometres an hour in five seconds.

One full six-hour charge of the Li-ion Fe battery unit gives it a range of up to 140 kilometres. The top speed is listed at 90 km/h.

VE Commercial Vehicles, a joint venture between AB Volvo and Eicher Motor Ltd (EML), has been facing tough times in the last few months with industry-wide commercial vehicle sales plummeting.

With the aim to prevent inventory build-up in the midst of ongoing slowdown in the domestic market, Honda, the Japanese car major would continue to cut its India output by over 45 per cent for the next six months.

It was confirmed by the company that its planned release of hatchback Jazz in the Indian market is on schedule. The company is also thinking to increase the prices of its various models.