The largest Indian passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki, launched a new car model A-Star on Wednesday. A-Star is developed at the Manesar facility of the company and it is the fifth model in A2 segment. The car would also be exported in Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Africa. The company has set a target to sell 50,000 units of A-star in Indian market while one lakh units would be sold in international markets. The company is optimistic to export 2 lakh units by 2010-11.

Toyota, major Japanese Automobile Manufacturer, has put the launch of Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle on hold, owing to a steep duty structure and inability to fix a competitive price.

Toyota was working on bringing Prius at a price tag of Rs 20-22 lakh. But Honda is already offering the Civic Hybrid at Rs 13.36 lakhs, a price which makes Prius a bad deal for the end customer. Honda recently reduced price of Civic Hybrid by Rs 8 lakh due to low demand.

Bangkok  - In one of the first blows to be felt from the "Hamburger Crisis" in Thailand, General Motors Thursday announced plans to close its Thailand plant for two months, paying employees 75 per cent of their wages.

"If we don't close down we will have an oversupply," said GM spokesman Chartchai Suwannasevok, confirming the US giant's plan to close its plant in Rayong province for the months of December and January.

Bonn, Germany  - A David-and-Goliath takeover offer for the German factories of General Motors sent the share price of the bidding company, SolarWorld, crashing 16 per cent lower Wednesday.

SolarWorld, which assembles and installs smaller electricity generating systems that rely on wind or the sun, asked GM to give it four factories, a German research centre, the Opel brand and 1 billion euros (1.25 billion dollars).

The Bonn-based company said it would inject an additional 1 billion euros of its own cash and loans to convert Opel into "Europe's first green automobile maker," designing cars with low- emission engines.

Paris  - Renault is showcasing a three-in-one concept of the Sand'Up at the Sao Paulo Motor Show. The new take combines aspects of a pick-up, convertible and coupe.

Based on the concept version of the Dacia Sandero hatchback, the Sand'Up allows three body structures with a load area that can be extended by 40 centimetres to 1.7 metres when the seats are folded down.

In addition, the Sand'Up can be fitted with a hard-top roof. It also features electro-hydraulic doors and a split tailgate. The 45- centimetre wheels are fitted with 235/50 off-road tyres.

Wolfsburg, Germany  - The new Golf VI generation has been given a top safety rating in the independent EuroNCAP crash test.

Testers described the model as an improvement on the predecessor Golf V, which scored lower marks against its main competitor, the Opel Astra.

The Golf scored 36 out of 37 possible points on occupant, pedestrian and child safety, with a maximum five-star rating for occupant safety.