Berlin  - German carmakers Opel and BMW said Tuesday they were calling a temporary halt to production, following a fall-off in demand triggered by the global credit squeeze.

Opel announced it was halting production in nearly all its European plants for periods of up to three weeks from October 13.

Luxury carmaker BMW said production at its Leipzig plant in the eastern part of Germany would stop for four days in the last week of October, affecting 2,800 vehicles.

London, Oct. 7: Iran's biggest motor manufacturer has decided to take the country's gender sensitivity to new levels by producing a car especially for women.

According to a report appearing in The Guardian, the car will be fitted with features common on the international market but seen as female-specific in Iran's male-dominated culture.

TATA motors have started to relocate to a new place, its much hyped small car project after leaving Singur. Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Tata is expected to meet Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa within a week. 

The Large and Medium Industries Minister of state, Murugesh Nirani said that the government is ready to acquire land for the small car manufacturing plant of TATA.

Brussels  - Europe's carmakers Monday asked governments to provide them with a 40-billion-euro (54-billion-dollar) loan and to approve an incentives scheme for the scrapping of old vehicles to help them develop more environmentally-friendly vehicles at a time of financial and economic crisis.

"Car makers face increasingly hesitant consumers and call on governments to respond, stimulate the economy, relieve the credit crunch and restore consumer confidence," said Christian Streiff, head of the automobile industry's trade association, ACEA.

"Only then will consumers have the means and the confidence to invest in new vehicles," said Streiff, who is also the CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Leading automobile manufacturer, Hindustan Motors launched a new sports utility vehicle ‘Outlander’ on Friday. It would also launch some other vehicles in the coming months.

Outlander is an ‘all wheel control’ (AWC) sports utility vehicle that supports 16 valve MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve Timing and Electronic Control system) petrol engine. It supports advanced control systems, safety and luxury features. 

Tata Motors has finally decided to leave Singur following stiff opposition from various political and social groups. The company faced many violent protests and agitations on land acquisition issue. It was also forced to halt work at the project site at Singur by the farm community and workers of Trinamool Congress.

The state government of West Bengal tried its best to retain the project but all its efforts ended in smoke due to inflexible attitude of Mamta Benergee. The state had also announced a fresh compensation package but it was also failed to yield consensus on the matter.