Munich - BMW is planning to test a fleet of several hundred Mini cars with zero-emission electric drive in the coming months, the car maker has announced.

BMW's CEO Norbert Reithofer said in Munich this would help gather more know-how on how "mobility can be efficiently ensured with vehicles running only on electric-drive."

The Minis, built in Oxford, England, would be shipped to the BMW plant in Munich where they would be modified for electric drive.

Ingolstadt, Germany - Audi is working on a "green" traffic management system of the future that will make it possible to drive in a city without having to stop at traffic lights.

After two years of research, the car maker announced the pilot project in cooperation with the city of Ingolstadt and the department of traffic engineering at the Technical University of Munich.

The system has already been implemented at 46 traffic lights in Ingolstadt. Software optimizes the entire network of traffic lights, significantly reducing the duration of stopping times for cars.

Bangkok  - Thailand's automobile exports during the first half of 2008 increased 26 per cent, earning the kingdom 174.8 billion baht (5.2 billion dollars), industry sources disclosed on Tuesday.

During the January to June period, Thailand exported 385,870 pickup trucks and passenger cars, a 26 per cent increase over the same period last year, said Surapong Paisithpatanapong, spokesman for the Auto Club of the Thai Federation of Industries.

Thailand's main export markets for vehicles include Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Middle East and Europe.

Tokyo - Japan's automakers posted declines in domestic sales and increases in exports in the first six months of 2008, attributing the falls to surging oil prices and stronger exports to rising demand in other Asian nations, mainly China.

Toyota Motor Corp and its subsidiaries, Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, saw a 1.7-per-cent drop in sales in Japan in the January-June period to 1.18 million units, compared with the same period last year.

The company's exports, however, grew 3.6 per cent to 1.47 million units.

Its global production rose 5.8 per cent to 4.98 million units.

London - India's Tata Motors group, which owns British luxury car maker Jaguar and Land Rover, has said it plans to revive the super-luxury Daimler brand to appeal to wealthy customers from Asia, Russia and the Middle East.

Ratan Tata, head of the Indian conglomerate, has told investors of his plan to resurrect the Daimler marque in direct competition with luxury brands Bentley and Rolls-Royce, Britain's Times newspaper reported Monday.

Tata had earmarked 1 billion pounds (2 billion dollars) to develop new models at its British-based manufacturers, the report said.