Ulm, Germany - Daimler has launched a new urban car pool system in the German city of Ulm allowing motorists access to a fleet of 50 Smart minicars any time and any where within the city limits.

The "car2go" system will be available to all persons with a driver's license. After a one-off registration process, the customer's driving license is given an electronic chip to unlock the car.

Once the trip has been completed, the driver simply parks the rental Smart within the city limits. Charges are based on time for an amount of 0.19 euro cents (0.23 dollars) per minute including fuel, taxation and insurance costs.

Tokyo - The Toyota lux

Stuttgart - Mercedes is introducing a new diesel engine generation this autumn starting with a four cylinder in the C 250 CDI that offers higher performance and lower fuel consumption, the car maker has announced.

The BlueEfficiency Prime Edition has an output of 150 kW/204 hp, accelerating from zero to 100 km/h in seven seconds on the way to a top speed of 250 km/h. At the same time, Mercedes lists an average fuel consumption of only 5.2 litres per 100 km with a carbon dioxide emission figure of 138 grams per kilometre.

Kiev - Ukraine is a paradise for motorists addicted to chatting on mobile phones and driving at the same time, and the former Soviet republic's police face an uphill battle breaking the habit.

At a busy Kiev central city intersection on a sunny autumn afternoon, phone conversations audible through open windows displayed nothing less than epidemic violation of already-existing regulations banning phone calls behind the wheel. One in 10 drivers was on his or her mobile at any given moment, a Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa reporter estimated over a half hour of observation.

Frankfurt  - Germany's car industry on Tuesday cut its 2008 sales forecast in the wake of the global financial crisis and the deepening sense of economic gloom facing the Europe's biggest auto market.

The Federation of the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA) said that it expects new car registrations to come in at 3.1 million this year instead of a previous forecast of 3.2 million.

"The extent and the speed of the impact of the financial crisis on stock markets and the real economy was essentially not forecast," said VDA President Matthias Wissmann.

Munich - German luxury carmaker BMW said Tuesday that it was lowering its profits forecast for 2009, following disappointing third-quarter results.

Profits plunged 62.9 per cent to 298 million euros (375 million dollars) compared to the same quarter of 2007, the company said in a statement released in Munich.

Turnover was down 8.6 per cent to 12.59 billion euros as global sales dropped 4.2 per cent to 349,098 vehicles, the company said.