General Motors Corp said it is recalling about 313,000 passenger car and crossover vehicles to fix a fluid leak that could lead to the driver losing control of the vehicle.

The recall involves 275,936 vehicles in the United States, including the 2005-2007 Cadillac CTS and STS sedans, 2005-2007 Cadillac SRX crossovers, and 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice and the 2007 Saturn Sky convertibles.

About 38,000 additional vehicles are under recall in Mexico, Canada, the Middle East and Asia, GM said.

GM said the seal on the rear axle pinion, which provides power to the wheels, does not meet all specifications and could leak fluid.

GM spokeswoman Carolyn Markey said the leak could lead to the drive while jamming up and locking while the vehicle is being driven, possibly causing the driver to lose control.

The recall is expected to begin in February 2008 and dealers will replace the pinion seal free of charge.

Importers and manufacturers of tires in Pakistan have said that the increased volume of tire smuggling has hit their business hard, as the consumers prefer smuggled tire due to the obvious price difference.

The increased volume of smuggled tires in the country has put a dent in the business of tire importers & manufacturers, on account of the substantial price difference.

The border with Afghanistan is the main route of smuggling.

Smuggled tires are mainly of Indian and Japanese origin.

Pakistan has a demand of over two million tires of four-wheel cars annually. To meet the local demand, approximately 70 percent of the total tires sold have been smuggled into Pakistan through Afghan Transit Trade.

Pakistan to conduct survey about requirement of from abroad the government in Pakistan has accepted one of the major demands of car assemblers pertaining to putting a mechanism in place for conducting a survey to ascertain the actual demand for used car according to media reports on the internet.

The car assemblers have been pressing the government to impose a complete ban on the import of used cars in the new auto policy .

This demand has practically been accepted as the government has agreed to set a mechanism in place for conducting  the survey said an official.

The official however declined to give any detail what type of mechanism would be formulated for conducting the survey

He also refund to tell anything whether this mechanism would have a representation from one of the powerful cartels of car assemble

Currently there is no detail with the government about the actual demand for used cars being important in the wake of facilities by the government in the last two fiscal years

Some  consumer would object to such a study or survey, as so far the car assemblers could not bridge the gap between supply and demand for cars, especially small cars, which are in high demand in Pakistan.

A buyer said he booked his car in November 2006and the month for tentative delivery given on the booking order is April .there could more delay in the delivery of his car.

Auto industry in Pakistan urged the government to put restrictions on import of used vehicles by enforcing the registration of vehicles in name of returning Pakistani expatriates for at least one year.

They also suggested that the government should exclude trucks and buses from gift and transfer of residence import schemes, according to recent media report on the Internet.

After a ban on the import of five-years-old cars in Pakistan & setting the limit at three-year-old vehicles in the budget for fiscal years 2007-08, the prices of used cars have increased.

As a result of higher prices of these imported cars, sales of such vehicles have come down.

Although there had been a decrease in the imported of used cars from 46,425 units in 2005-06 to 28,493 units in 2006-07 these imports were still 14 per cent of the domestic passenger car market of Pakistan.

Pakistan government’s sudden ban on the import of five-years old cars had affected the business of importers as orders for around 11,000 vehicles were cancelled.