Washington  - General Motors, under the government's gun to prove its viability and bracing for a worsening economic downturn, Thursday announced an unprecedented series of nationwide plant shut- downs over the summer aimed at reducing ballooning inventory.

The company said it would shut down 13 assembly operations in North America for multiple weeks, staggered across the summer, with the aim of removing 190,000 vehicles from the production schedule for second and third quarters of this year.

The joint venture between the Honda Motor Company Limited, Japan and Siel Limited, a Siddharth Shriram Group company – Honda Siel Cars India, Limited (HSCI), which is presently the biggest player in the mid-size car segment, has announced to launch the latest hatchback model Jazz, with which the company is aiming to enter the flourishing small car market of India.  

Bangkok  - With street violence and assassination attempts on the rise in Thailand, automobile companies have found a lucrative new growth market - bulletproof cars - news reports said Thursday.

This week Germany's BMW AG launched its X5 Security Plus model in Thailand, marketing the vehicle as the first to offer protection against AK-47 assault rifle attacks while Ford Motor Co has offered two bulletproof cars to the deputy prime minister in charge of security, The Nation newspaper reported.

Revenue increased by 23 % YoY for fourth quarter and 19% for the year driven by improved sales numbers cloaking 37.22 lakh vehicles for the year a growth of 12% over previous year which was more than double the overall industry growth.

Operating profit increased by 33% for the quarter YoY & 26% for the year driven by decrease in the input costs mainly driven by a huge fall in the steel prices in the fourth quarter.

Other income decreased by 20% for the quarter & was down by 2% on the full year basis.

Arjeplog, Sweden - Car makers are very creative about hiding their prototypes from amateur photographers and paparazzi just waiting to snap a spy shot of the new model.

"The natural enemy of the prototype is the horsepower paparazzi," says Peter Gyllenberg, who runs a test centre in Arjeplog, Sweden, where many car makers hold winter tests.

Stuttgart - Mercedes is giving its luxury S-Class a makeover with several technical improvements and a hybrid version of the S 400 that will be unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show.

The car maker describes the S 400 as the first standard production hybrid drive fitted with a lithium-ion battery, making it the most economic petrol-engined luxury sedan.

Fuel consumption is listed at 7.9 litres per 100 kilometres which translates to carbon dioxide emissions of 186 grammes per kilometre.