Chennai-based TVS Motor Company has announced financial results for the third quarter ended December 2008 reporting net loss of Rs 95.86 lakh.

The company posted a net profit worth Rs 5.83 crore during the corresponding period in 2007-08.

It witnessed decline of 2% in net sales, which stood at Rs 852.82 crore as compared to Rs 875.02 crore in same period last year.

The total income of the company during the third quarter was Rs 868 crore as against Rs 889 crore for the same period last year.

With the aim to increase the range of bikes for its customers, all new sports commuter motorcycle, the Bajaj XCD 135 DTS-Si has been unveiled by Bajaj Auto.

It has been learnt that bike, which otherwise would be meant for regular use, is sporty and offers decent performance and styling. There would be many first-in-class features in this bike, which has been created keeping in mind the customers in the value segment, like a 135cc DTS-Si engine, a 5 speed gear box, auto choke, gas filled Nitrox absorbers, digital speedometer and LED tail lamps. Electric-start and disk-brake are other of its prominent features.

Seoul  - Hyundai Motor Co's profits for the fourth quarter of 2008 dropped 28 per cent year-on-year as the South Korean automaker struggled with rising warranty and marketing costs.

Net income for the months from October to December dropped to 243.6 billion won (176.8 million dollars), the company said Thursday.

Sales of South Korea's leading carmaker rose by 1.1 per cent to 8.8 trillion won while operating profit was down 8.9 per cent to 581 billion won, compared with 637.8 billion won in the same quarter last year.

After Maruti, Tata Motors formerly known as TELCO (TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company), has started its pre-owned car business in major cities and plans to take it across the country in a phased manner.

A company official stated that the certified pre-owned programme has been started on a pilot basis with 15 dealers in 10 cities and the programme caters to customers willing to exchange their existing cars for new Tata cars.

The cities list includes Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Vapi.

Hero Honda Motors Ltd has announced financial results for third quarter of this financial year. The auto maker reported 7.1 per cent increase for Q3 despite 4 per cent drop in sales.

It should be recalled that government had announced 4 per cent excise duty cut in the economic booster package which helped to propel demand in automobile sector. Banks had also cut auto interest rates in line with key rate revision by Reserve Bank.

New York  - Japan's Toyota Motor raced past General Motors to become the world's largest car manufacturer, a position that the US car giant has held for 77 years.

GM said Wednesday its sales in 2008 fell 11 per cent, with fourth- quarter sales plunging 26 per cent, as the company lost its world top ranking to competitor Toyota.

Detroit, Michigan-based GM said it sold 8.35 million vehicles last year, of which fourth-quarter sales were 1.7 million.