Crew, England - Bentley will debut the Continental Flying Spur and Continental Flying Spur Speed at the London Motor Show later this month, the car maker has announced.

The 2009 Flying Spur has undergone a subtle evolution with changes to the front and rear design. The grille is upright with a bolder lower air intake accentuating the distinctive Bentley profile, while a new rear bumper gives a sleeker and more aggressive appearance.

The 552 hp car also offers more comfort with a comprehensive range of noise-absorbent measures including acoustic glazing, the car maker said.

Hamburg - Within a decade, most new cars will be equipped with clean-drive technology and a host of easy to serve technical gadgets that will make driving much more comfortable and safer than today.

Engineers are currently working on several technologies that were still fiction in the 1980s American television series Knight Rider in which David Hasselhoff is partnered by an autonomous car called KITT with artificial intelligence.

San Carlos, California - The U. S.

San Francisco  - Paving the way for the introduction of its plug-in electric vehicles in 2010, General Motors announced Tuesday that it was teaming up with 37 utility companies across the US and Canada to design and build the nationwide infrastructure needed to recharge the vehicles.

The ailing auto-giant has been hard hit as skyrocketing petrol prices cause people to dump the gas-guzzling models produced by the company in favour of smaller cars not offered by US auto makers.

The net profit of the country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki fell down by 6.75 percent for the first quarter ended June 2008. This fall in the profit is due to rising cost of raw materials, a change in accounting norms and a loss from derivative instruments. Maruti reported a net loss of Rs13.90 crore from derivative instruments.

Herzogenaurach, Germany  - Privately owned German ball- bearing manufacturer Schaeffler increased Monday its unsolicited takeover offer for its larger listed competitor Continental to 70.12 euros per share.

Schaeffler, controlled by widow Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, 66, and her son, stunned Germany a week ago with the bid for brake and tyremaker Continental and plans to combine the two auto-industry suppliers.