GM plans 1,000 fuel cell cars in California By Nichola Groom SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - General Motors Corp plans to have 1,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in California between 2012 to 2014 to comply with the state's goal to put thousands of cleaner cars on its roads. GM has about 60 Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell vehicles in Southern California now, the automaker's vice president for research & development and planning, Larry Burns, said at the National Hydrogen Association conference here.

Tata Motors, GM, Ford, Toyota Among Firms Hiring Auto Designers from IITs, NID Pramugdha Mamgain NEW DELHI

The lines are shut at the second plant of Hyundai Motor India (hmil) near Chennai and hundreds of unfinished i 10s are sitting on the brand new assembly line as journalists tour the new facility that the South Korean carmaker has established at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore.

>> In the latest plan to stem the flow of the mud volcano that erupted last year in East Java, Indonesia, a US $69 million-proposal has been chalked out. A concrete dam will be built to check the mud flow, which has already displaced around 15,000 people (see

Plastics are a health hazard

Companies working with Ford Motor Co (F.N), Chrysler Group and General Motors Corp [GM.UL] received more than $600 million on Wednesday to further development of batteries for hybrids and electric cars.

The awards were part of $2.4 billion in grants being announced by the Obama administration as part of its "green" economy vision and efforts to enhance U.S. energy independence.

As General Motors Corp prepares to sell its best assets to a streamlined new entity, the worst of what it owns will be auctioned off in bankruptcy court, including contaminated factory sites, parking lots in Flint, Michigan, and a nine-hole golf course in New Jersey.

GM India has won the second prize in the automobile manufacturing sector at the National Energy Conservative Awards 2008 for energy conservation at its manufacturing facility in Gujarat. P Balendran, V-P, said,

Spiralling raw material prices are forcing car makers to contemplate a price hike as soon as June or July.