Munich - BMW is offering the 1-Series convertible with new options and giving the buyer the choice of two diesel engines for the 2009 model year, the car maker has announced.

The 118d motor has an output of 105 kW/143 hp with an average fuel consumption of 4.9 litres per 100 kilometres. Carbon dioxide emission is at 129 grammes per kilometre. The second diesel, the 123d, fitted with a twin-turbo unit has an output of 150 kW/205 hp with a consumption of 5.4 litres.

Cologne, Germany - Most gender differences in motoring habits have been confirmed in a survey conducted in Germany on the basis of 150,000 insurance policy holders.

The poll, conducted by the business consultancy Nafi on behalf of the Capital Investor finance weekly, confirmed most perceptions of men and women drivers.

Only 16 per cent of men allow friends to drive their car while the figure is about 25 per cent for women. Men prefer to take the wheel of a car that is in general more expensive than the vehicle owned by a woman.

Hamburg, Germany - The days of the huge SUVs such as the Hummer, Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7 are numbered as high fuel prices and a bad eco-image are causing sales to plunge and comes as manufacturers are offering a better alternative in the compact SUV segment.

Hollywood stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron were often seen driving the fuel-guzzling Hummer in the 1990s, making it the ultimate male status symbol in wealthy suburbia.

The trend toward full-sized SUVs then spread rapidly from the US to many European countries. In London, the Range Rover Sport was a favourite among the jet-set who did not have to worry about exorbitant parking fees, taxes or fuel prices.

Nuerburgring, Germany - Fiat has revived the Abarth name for its tuning division and the car maker is mooting plans to release several new sports models under the label after the sales launch of the tuned Fiat 500 and Grande Punto Abarth.

Speaking at the launch of the two models at the Nuerburgring race track in Germany, a Fiat spokesman said cars such as the 1951 Coupe Abarth had plenty of charm but that new sports cars would have to be economically viable.

There have been several reports that Fiat is negotiating with Lotus to use the aluminium chassis of the Elise generation to build a small light convertible with a Fiat engine.

After almost three continuous years of positive growth, the Motown car industry fell into negative terrain as sales dipped 1.71% to 87,724 cars this July. During the same month of last year, the industry had a sale of 89,250 cars.

The RBI restrained money supply to stem retail growth and this had an adverse effect on the automobile industry, as it had to face two big problems of high inflation and credit squeeze.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), expressed its concern and said that the rise in the fuel prices and high interest rates has limited the demand of the cars so badly that it may adversely effect the industry’s target of tripling annual sales to 3-million vehicles by 2016.

New York - The US rating agency Moody's has lowered several of its credit ratings for the struggling US automaker Chrysler because of lagging demand for SUVs and pickup trucks in the US.