Munich - Occupants of small mini cars such as the Fiat 500 have hardly any chance of surviving a head-on collision with a big Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), according to Germany's automobile association ADAC.

Summing up the results of a crash test conducted with an Audi Q7 and the new Fiat 500, the ADAC pointed out that even a small car with an above average safety standard stood no chance in a crash with an SUV.

Although the safety cell of the Fiat 500 has been classified as one of the best in its class, it could not withstand the sheer mass of the SUV with the main supporting strut of the Q7 boring itself into the safety cell of the Fiat, the test showed.

Munich - BMW is hoping to transfer hybrid technology from its Formula 1 cars to the M sport model range as part of a plan to make the cars more fuel efficient, according to BMW's head of technology research Albert Biermann.

The effectiveness of combining a combustion engine with an electric or hybrid drive was limited. In the long term, the company was looking at more technology transfer from the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) that will be used for the BMW-Sauber Formula 1 cars in the 2009 racing season, Biermann said.

Munich - BMW is planning to test a fleet of several hundred Mini cars with zero-emission electric drive in the coming months, the car maker has announced.

BMW's CEO Norbert Reithofer said in Munich this would help gather more know-how on how "mobility can be efficiently ensured with vehicles running only on electric-drive."

The Minis, built in Oxford, England, would be shipped to the BMW plant in Munich where they would be modified for electric drive.

Munich  - HypoVereinsbank (HVB) chief Wolfgang Sprissler defended Tuesday the German bank's takeover by Italy's Unicredit saying it had been in HVB's best-long term strategic interests.

Speaking at HVB's last annual shareholders meeting, Sprissler said that it would also help the bank "through periods of weak economic conditions."

Sprissler also said the Munich-based HVB's second quarter had turned in a satisfactory second-quarter performance despite the turbulence in global financial markets.

Unicredit owns more than 95 per cent of HVB and plans to take over the remaining stakes held by small shareholders as part of a so-called Squeeze Out.

As a result, HVB will not hold any further annual general metings.

Munich - Giant German electronics group Siemens AG said Tuesday it had reached an agreement with

Munich - German conglomerate Siemens decided Tuesday to sue two former chief executives for setting up a system of corruption that paid kickbacks to secure lucrative foreign contracts.

The supervisory board of the German electronics and engineering group decided claims should be brought against 10 former members of the main executive board who left as the scandal was exposed.

They include two former chief executives, Heinrich von Pierer and Klaus Kleinfeld. The company accuses them of lapses from their duty to keep the company organization well-run in the period 2003 to 2006.

The decision to sue is a first in the normally cosy world of big German corporations where past management errors are usually ignored.