Washington  - General Motors Corp, the largest US automaker, Tuesday unveiled plans to eliminate 10,000 salaried jobs around the world and cut pay by up to 10 per cent in an effort to prove to Washington it is a viable company.

The company is trying to hang on to 13.4 billion dollars in government loans, which could be withdrawn if GM does not come up with a survival plan.

About 3,400 of 29,500 US salaried workers are to be dismissed by May, the Detroit-based automaker said in a statement, Bloomberg financial news reported.

India's No. 2 motorcycle maker, Bajaj Auto plans to increase its stake from 25% to 30% in KTM Power Sports, Europe`s second-largest sports bike manufacturer.

During a press conference, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing director of Bajaj Auto, disclosed that the company is tightening its grip on KTM Power Sports and the stake hike would be concluded in six to eight weeks.

As 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.

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."