China’s commercial hub of Shanghai, suffering from power supply problems, has ordered its 2 largest automotive manufacturers to halt production for more than a week. According to Reuters, VW halted operations for 10 days, while cross-town rivals GM has a similar stoppage. Years of under-investment in electric capacity and transmission has left China facing its worst power crisis in decades says Reuters.

DaimlerChrysler AG’s commercial truck unit says it will add jobs in North America as demand rebounds. The auto maker may add as many as 2,000 jobs in the region in the coming months and predicts 220,000 heavy trucks will be sold in the market this year, a level not previously expected until 2005. DC has been trimming its commercial truck staff in recent years. Staffing levels have been cut from 22,000 to 11,000, and 3 plants have been closed.

DaimlerChrysler workers in Germany have agreed to work longer hours to save jobs and cut costs. The agreement calls for a 40 hour week to be implemented for some jobs, for break times to be reduced in order to save 6000 jobs in Germany and save 500 million Euros a year from 2007. Meanwhile, DaimlerChrysler’s management board has agreed to take a 10% cut in overall remuneration.

Delphi says it is establishing a scholarship program at Shanghai’s Tongji University to further its goal of sourcing $1billion in components from China by 2007. Chairman J.T. Battenberg III says, “We hope to encourage students to pursue formalized academic training in automotive-related fields, including global supply management, and that they will choose to make their career at Delphi.”

Fiat and Microsoft have signed a partnership to make the inside of a car as tech-friendly as a state-of-the-art desk with Internet, phone and digital organizer, but with no need to use your hands. The new venture aims to enable drivers to talk to a computer to surf the Web, tell the sound system to play a different song and even let a garage engineer check out the car's electronic system from afar.

Ford and Visteonare offering $35,000 to hundreds of older, higher-wage hourly workers as an incentive to retire early in an effort to cut costs. In December, Ford agreed to several changes in its spin-off agreement with Visteon including transferring high-wage union workers back to Ford plants, in return for guaranteed price cuts on parts Visteon makes for its former parent company.

Faurecia will invest $36.5 million to open a factory in Slovakia to produce front and rear car bumpers and instrument panels for PSA, which is building a 700 million-euro factory in the country. Slovakia, has been attracting several foreign investors due to its proximity to western and eastern markets, a cheap labor force and flat 19 % tax rate.

Faurecia has devised a new technology for vehicle interior surfaces which have become known as ‘slush skins’. DaimlerChrysler’s new SLK roadster is the first vehicle to use the polyurethane cast skins to give an extremely high quality, soft-touch finish. Faurecia produces the two-tone skins for the SLK by casting them in polyurethane to give a perfectly controlled thickness, which leads to a very uniform surface and thus high perceived quality

GM is to move its Asia-Pacific head office to Shanghai to be closer to the world's fastest growing car market and build a $250 million testing ground in the city. GM plans to invest $3 billion in China, and will shift its main office from Singapore. The facility for testing safety and road handling will be the company's largest, outside Michigan.

GM is considering scrapping the Daewoo badge for its Korean-made cars in Europe and replacing it with the Chevrolet name it uses in North America and China. The review comes in spite of an intensive 18-month advertising campaign designed to rebuild the Daewoo brand - GM bought a 44.6% stake in the Korean carmaker in October 2002 after it went bankrupt. A decision is likely before the end of the year.

Harbour Consulting says aggressive actions must be made now by North American suppliers to win future business with Asian automakers, who are projected to capture an unprecedented 37% market share in North America by 2008. Harbour says that though some suppliers are claiming there are no more efficiencies to be made, in truth, there is room to better align product design, process design and manufacturing to find the necessary quality and cost gains that will be needed to secure Asian OE business.

Hyundai has announced contracts with Austria’s AVL and the U.K.’s Ricardo PLC to develop commercial-vehicle engines. The decision, part of a 3-year, $260 million project, comes in the wake of the dissolution of a partnership with DaimlerChrysler. Trucks and buses currently comprise less than 7% of Hyundai sales. But Hyundai also has plans to expand its commercial-vehicle unit in China.

Land Rover is planning to replace its iconic Defender SUV. The Defender was launched in April 1948 and is sold in more than 140 countries. Land Rover was bought by Ford Motor Co. 4 years ago. It sells 27,000 Defenders a year. The next Defender may be built on the Land Rover T5 platform. Land Rover, which is reducing its platforms from 4 to 2, has had only 7 new products in its 54 year history.

Magna Steyr is looking to build a new manufacturing plant, to produce around 150,000 vehicles a year, in either eastern Europe or North America. Magna says it could be a greenfield project or it could take over an existing plant. In eastern Europe it is looking at Hungary, the Czech Republic or possibly Romania. Today, Magna assembles vehicles for Mercedes, Jeep, Chrysler and Saab at its plant in Graz, Austria.

Maruti in India is possibly the first manufacturer to announce a scheme where two-wheelers are traded in for cars. Maruti will set up a company owned vehicle exchange centre where potential customers and owners of both cars and two-wheelers will have a variety of old and new car to choose from. Dealers will get a chance to display their reconditioned vehicles in the centres too. The first will open by Diwali this year, that’s a festival around November when many new purchases are made.

Oshkosh Truck Corporation, the Defence, fire and emergency truck maker which supplies transporters to the British Army, has agreed to acquire 75% of the ownership interests of Italien BAI Brescia Antincendi International S.r.l. for €15 million. Oshkosh has the option to acquire the remaining 25% after 3 years. BAI sells municipal and airport fire trucks and firefighting equipment, worldwide.

Protomotors, an engineering firm from South Korea, plans to start producing a car of its own - the Spirra, in August this year. This is a 170 mph lightweight 2 seater with carbon fibre bodywork and lift up doors. Protomotors’ main activity is research and development for car firms in Korea and China, but it now has plans to build 500 Spirras a year and gain European certification. The firm becomes Korea’s 6th official car manufacturer.

Skoda plans to establish a research and development unit in India, encouraged by a recent annual budget in India announcing a 150% tax deduction on an in-house R&D unit. "The deduction will benefit companies who have plans to increase R&D budgets and activities in India and would enable more foreign players to enter the country's market,'' Skoda India managing director Imran Hassen said.

On the lighter side .... some strange but true stories.

A driver who escaped death when his car overturned into a river as he drove to work has been sent a 100 Euro bill for polluting the water. Craig Sanderson, 40, who was trapped inside his car for 15 minutes as it filled with water, has been sent a bill from the UK Environment Agency for the cost of an investigation into engine oil in the River Dearne.

An old age pensioner who took both hands off his steering wheel to make ‘V-signs’ at a speed camera has been fined for not being in control of his van. Frank Benson, 71, who had been caught speeding by a camera 2 weeks earlier and fined 100 Euro, assumed that he would not be caught again since he was travelling at only 20 mph in a 30 mph zone. However, the picture caught on camera clearly showed that both hands were off the wheel. Mr Benson was fined 150 Euros.

Amusing signs have been erected in Mt Holly, New Jersey, in a bid to slow down speeding drivers. Slogans include ‘Meet our judge – exceed 25mph and get Free speeding tickets ahead’.

Two motorists who crashed into each other on a level crossing near Vetrego were so busy arguing that they were nearly run over by a train travelling at 90 mph.

The A31 through the Moselle region of France was shut for 3 hours so that motorists were not hit by stray gunfire during a wild boar cull.

A thief in Germany who stole 100,000 Euros from a bank in Bielefeld locked himself in a car boot to hide. But he was caught after he got claustrophobic and shouted for help.

A gunman in Melbourne, Australia who robbed a shop, forced a shop assistant to carry the cash to his getaway car. Before leaving he gave her a $50 tip for her trouble.

A motorist in Jerusalem has been banned from driving for 2 years after he was caught driving while holding mobile phones to both ears and steering with his elbows.

American singer Glen Cambell, 67, has been banned from driving after being caught above the legal alcohol limit. He told police that he had been ‘over served’ in a local bar.

A company in Moscow is using its breakdown trucks to help drunk-drivers get home after a night out on the Vodka. The breakdown lorry caries the car, while the motorist rides in the cab with the operator.

A Belgium man caught speeding near the city of Metz was wearing ski goggles. He explained to magistrates that it was because there was snow on the side of the road.

In Belgium, the number plate SEX 001 is one of 74 registrations banned by officials for being too rude. The authorities fear it would be too distracting for other motorists.

In Brazil, a thief stole a hearse complete with a corpse inside after raiding an undertaker. The crook was caught after he held up a garage 2 hours later near Sao Paulo with the coffin still on board.

A bank robber in Kentucky was arrested after he locked the keys in his getaway car. Police caught him trying to smash the windows to retrieve them.