Hamburg - The rugged Mercedes-Benz G-Class is as boxy and utilitarian as the day it made its debut 30 years ago and that's exactly the way customers want it to stay.

The German maker's recent proposed dropping of this most Teutonic of all-terrain vehicles from the range sparked an outcry from dealers and fans with the result that the G-wagon is going as strong as ever.

Crewe, England - Luxury carmaker Bentley will launch its first ever biofuel-powered car at the Geneva show from March 5-15, the company has announced.

Teaser shots from Bentley show a model which appears to be based on the Continental GT. The car runs on bio-ethanol and is being billed as the "fastest, most powerful production car" ever made by the company.

Duelmen, Germany  - The German sports car manufact

Tokyo  - Mitsubishi is showcasing a zero-emission i MIEV Sport Air concept car, built on the basis of the i MIEV minicar already available in Japan, at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March.

Teaser images released by the Japanese car maker show a two-door coupe-style vehicle with pronounced alloys emphasizing the sporty image.

Almost the entire roof is made of glass featuring integrated solar cells, giving the interior plenty of light and extra energy to the lithum-ion batteries positioned in the floor.

Washington  - US car sales tumbled by more than 30 per cent in January, with struggling domestic carmakers continuing to lead the way as consumers cut back sharply on spending.

The US "Big Three" all reported declines of 40 per cent or more compared to January 2007. General Motors Corp dropped 49 per cent, Ford Motor Co fell 40 per cent and Chrysler LLC declined 55 per cent.

Japanese makers did only a little better. Toyota Motor Corp fell 34 per cent in January from the year before, while its rival Honda Motor Co was down 31 per cent. Nissan Motor Co fell 30 per cent.

Berlin - The global car industry crisis has tightened its grip on Germany's key automakers with sales tumbling by 14 per cent in January, figures released Tuesday showed.

Published by Germany's Assocation of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) and the country's carmakers' association (VDA) said car orders in Germany alone dropped by 13 per cent in January compared to the same month in 2008.

German car exports plunged 39 per cent to 222,700 vehicles, the VDA.