Munich - BMW is ending the production of the current Z4 convertible

Stuttgart - Daimler will fit the petrol-engined Smart fortwo with a micro-hybrid start-stop system beginning in October this year, the car maker announced.

The system would reduce fuel consumption by an average 8 per cent with up to 20 per cent savings possible in city driving conditions, the company said.

In addition the Smart fortwo cdi will be equipped with a closed diesel particulate filter that almost completely eradicates particulate emissions.

Daimler lists average consumption of both the 52 kW/71 hp and the 45 kW/61 hp engines with a micro-hybrid at 4.3 litres per 100 kilometres with a carbon dioxide emission figures reduced to 103 grammes per kilometre.

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.

Stralsund, Germany  - A visit to the Baltic Sea by a 12- metre-long humpback whale, only the third recorded by German scientists since 1851, generated excitement Tuesday along the German coast.

Harald Benke, director of the Oceanography Museum in Stralsund, identified the whale from a photo taken off the German island of Ruegen. The species, Megaptera novaeangliae, is found in all the world's main oceans, the environmentalist group Greenpeace said.

Munich  - HypoVereinsbank (HVB) chief Wolfgang Sprissler defended Tuesday the German bank's takeover by Italy's Unicredit saying it had been in HVB's best-long term strategic interests.

Speaking at HVB's last annual shareholders meeting, Sprissler said that it would also help the bank "through periods of weak economic conditions."

Sprissler also said the Munich-based HVB's second quarter had turned in a satisfactory second-quarter performance despite the turbulence in global financial markets.

Unicredit owns more than 95 per cent of HVB and plans to take over the remaining stakes held by small shareholders as part of a so-called Squeeze Out.

As a result, HVB will not hold any further annual general metings.

Munich - Giant German electronics group Siemens AG said Tuesday it had reached an agreement with