Stuttgart  - German luxury automaker Porsche, which holds a controlling interest in Volkswagen, reported Wednesday lower-than- hoped sales for its own Porsche cars, sending shares in the group sharply lower.

Porsche preferred shares slid 8.6 per cent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to 69.27 euros (97.67 billion dollars).

A company spokesman in Stuttgart suggested Porsche would limit output.

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Stuttgart - Mercedes-Benz is planning to offer every fifth car with hybrid-drive by the year 2015 starting with a new hybrid every year from 2009, the car maker announced recently.

The head of the car maker's marketing division, Klaus Maier, said that the combustion engine would remain a key element of the model line-up for the next 20 to 30 years.

Stuttgart - German motorists are offering curious excuses when stopped by police for using a cell phone behind the wheel, according to the Auto Club Europe (ACE).

"I didn't use it to make a call. The warm battery is against earache," said one motorist while another said: "It is a support for my seesawing jaw."

Both cases went to court, but the judge rejected the "unconvincing excuse" in both cases.

A driver also failed to impress authorities with the argument that he was using an electric shaver whilst singing to a tune on the car radio.

Stuttgart  - Porsche has increased its stake in Volkswagen (VW) to 35.14 per cent, taking an effective controlling stake in Europe's largest carmaker, the luxury producer announced from its Stuttga

Stuttgart, Germany  - Daimler AG is pushing ahead with its programme on electrically powered cars, aiming at producing around 10,000 vehicles by 2012, Thomas Weber, director for research and development said in Stuttgart Saturday.

"By 2010 we will be very close to series production and aim to start with limited numbers in the hundreds," Weber told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

"Our aim is to cover costs by 2010. By 2012 we would be producing around 10,000 units," he said.

Daimler was also pushing ahead with research on fuel cells, Weber said.