Berlin  - Car parts manufacturer Bosch announced plans Monday to reduce working hours for 9,000 staff, following Daimler's introduction Monday of a shortened working week for 40,000 of its employees in the German car industry.

Opel's parent, General Motors (GM), also announced Monday that it has struck a Europe-wide deal to meet a reduction in demand by cutting back on working hours in order to prevent job losses.

Since the bank lending has remained tight in the recent times, the sales of India's passenger car segment in domestic market declined for the fifth time in the last six months in December. The major reason was the slow economy which forced consumers not to purchase the new vehicles.

There was decline of 7% to 82,105 units in December in car sales from 88,272 sold in the same month last year.

The Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Monday, "Total automobile sales were down 18.2% at 597,622 units while exports grew by 33% to 138,258 units."

The latest report of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) paints a grim picture for the besieged Indian automobile industry.

The report said that the sales of the car in country fell 7 per cent in December, the fifth drop in six months as inadequate finance and a slowing economy hollowed demand in the traditionally weak month. The report predicts that carmakers sold 82,105 units in the month, below the 88,272 sold a year ago.

With the intention to boost its declining sales figures, two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto Ltd is all set to roll out six (6) new models in 2009.

The company will start with a new product, which is due for debut on January 21. It will directly target rival Hero Honda’s most-popular Splendor/Passion range, the 135 cc XCD priced at Rs 45,000.

After this, the company will launch two new models under value-segment (125-135 cc engine size) by April and July 2009 respectively.

Detroit, Michigan  - The mood was sombre at Detroit's annual auto show, which is usually a glitzy affair and time of celebration for the US car industry. But 2008 was a year like no other and saw car sales plummet to their lowest level in decades.

The North American International Auto Show, which opened for a three-day media preview Sunday, had domestic and foreign carmakers unveil their latest US models amid an uncertain future for the world's most lucrative car market.