Washington - Democratic leaders in Congress said Thursday they do not expect to pass an immediate bail-out for the struggling US auto industry, citing opposition from Republican legislators.

Christopher Dodd, a Democratic senator from Connecticut who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, said his party did not have the support for legislation to help the nation's three largest automakers, which are struggling to remain afloat amid a sharp downturn in car sales.

Berlin - German premium-car rivals BMW and Daimler are mulling plans to combine more of their parts purchasing operations, including industrial buying in China and the United States, a news report said Wednesday.

Together, the two companies can exert heavy pressure on supplier companies to obtain lower prices for components.

In its Thursday issue, the newspaper Handelsblatt was to quote BMW chief purchasing officer Herbert Diess saying, "we are talking about bundling our purchasing activities in certain markets such as China and the United States."

Automobile industry registered biggest decline in vehicle sale in eight years. Vehicle sale declined 14.42% in October with selling of 8.65 lakh units as compared to 10.11 lakh in the same period last year. Companies were optimistic to revive the growth of industry in the festival season but all these hopes ended in smoke with unexpected decline in auto sale.

Global slowdown, liquidity problem and high financing cost, severely impacted the automobile and commercial vehicle sector. Car purchase also declined following high finance rates by dealers.

Hamburg - This is a small car with a big mission: Alfa Romeo's new Mito hatch is designed to grab sales from BMW's iconic Mini and breathe new life into the famous Italian marque at the same time.

Getting the looks right is essential, if young people are to be lured to the brand and the makers of this sporty three-door hatchback have come up with a cheeky shape which oozes style.

Wolfsburg, Germany - Volkswagen is testing a wireless mobile Internet WLAN access on a VW Tiguan which it presented recently at the International Suppliers Fair (IZB) in Wolfsburg.

The Tiguan is in constant contact with the Internet portal, which provides it with information on current events in the city and various search engines. The selected information then appears in the display of the navigation system.

Munich  - The Toyota Prius hybrid continues to lead the Eco-Test rankings conducted annually by Germany's automobile association (ADAC) which measured fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in a special test.

None of the 800 cars tested achieved the maximum number of five stars. The ADAC says its test is more realistic than the fuel consumption tests conducted under laboratory conditions by the car makers. The Eco-Test takes the cars on motorways, stop-and-go city traffic while the air conditioning systems run.