Washington  - Democratic congressional leaders held out hope Thursday that a compromise on an emergency loan for the US car industry was still possible, after another day of haggling with more skeptical conservative lawmakers.

The House of Representatives approved a 14-billion-dollar emergency loan for the car industry Wednesday night, imposing strict oversight rules in exchange for keeping General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy at least until April.

But Senate Republicans vowed to oppose the same deal in the upper legislative chamber, where Democrats hold a much slimmer majority than in the House. They argued the legislation still provides the loan without forcing tougher restructuring moves on the companies.

Washington  - US president-elect Barack Obama Thursday called on Congress to prevent a collapse of the country's automotive industry, but Senate Republicans were almost certain to block a legislative deal.

The House of Representatives approved a 14-billion-dollar emergency loan for the car industry Wednesday night, a move that would keep General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy at least for the coming few months.

The lowest ever sales in history has been experienced by the Indian automobile industry with overall domestic sales shrinking by 17.98% in the month of November 2008 since there was a huge decline in the commercial and passenger vehicle sales.

For the month of November, the total vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 711,281 units as against 867,243 units in the corresponding month a year ago, claims the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Auto manufactures have started to slash prices of various vehicles following the recent excise duty cut, announced by the union government. Two-wheeler companies such as Hero Honda, Bajaj and Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India has slashed motor cycle prices in the range of Rs 1,000-2,000. Hindustan Motors also slashed price of the Ambassador by Rs 10,000-14,000.

Tokyo  - Japan's largest carmaker, Toyota Motor Corp, pummeled by sharply falling demand, will cut its global sales target for next year by more than 1 million units to less than 8.5 million, news reports said Thursday.

Toyota expects a prolonged drop in demand in 2009 in Europe and the United States, while sales are expected to remain flat in Japan, the Nikkei business daily said.

Sales in the United States dropped by 34 per cent in November.

Washington  - The US House of Representatives Wednesday approved a 14-billion-dollar emergency loan to keep the country's car industry out of bankruptcy, sending the bill to a more skeptical Senate.

House lawmakers approved the legislation by 237-170 after weeks of negotiations. The Senate could vote on Friday, but a group of Republican senators have vowed to oppose the loan and appeared to have enough support to block the legislation.