Stockholm  - Troubled Swedish car maker Saab was hit by another blow Wednesday as the Swedish Customs agency halted the flow of imported parts for its assembly over unpaid customs duties, Swedish radio news reported.

Last week Saab filed for bankruptcy protection and launched a reorganization process after its US owner General Motors said it planned to shed the loss-making brand.

Saab cannot import parts for its cars or export assembled cars from Sweden until it can show it can pay the customs duties, the report said.

Berlin  - Berlin's help for the German auto industry by offering a trade-in fee for new car purchases could see higher car sales this year, the German Car Industry Association (VDA) said Wednesday.

Instead of sales declining to 2.9 million this year, VDA chief Matthias Wissmann said he now expects auto sales to reach 3 million, after the government launched its plan to encourage passenger car owners to abandon their old models and buy new ones.

Paris  - The French government has used its new Strategic Investment Fund (FSI) to purchase part of one of the world's largest auto equipment suppliers, Valeo SA, an official with the fund said on Wednesday.

The FSI paid 18.5 million euros (23.8 million dollars) for a 2.35 per cent share of Valeo. Added to the shares purchased previously by the state bank CDC, that raises the government' s share of Valeo to 8.33 per cent.

The purchase is the first transaction by the fund, which was created in December to enable the government to inject capital in struggling firms in order to prevent them from failing or being taken over by foreign companies.

Brussels - The European Union's executive will use the force of the law to fight c

London, Feb. 25: A deal to save hundreds of jobs at the TATA-owned carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is on the anvil.

According to Sky News, the deal with the unions should save JLR 60 million pounds.

Staff at the firm has been voting on proposals to cut their hours and freeze pay in exchange for the guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for two years.

Under the deal, workers would work a four-day week, with hours cut from 35 hours to 32. They would also give up bonuses and have their pay frozen until October 2010.