NEW YORK —PepsiCo Inc () said on Friday it was launching new drinks, including the caffeinated Propel Invigorating Water and a lighter version of the Gatorade sports beverage.

The new Gatorade, called G2, has fewer calories than the original and is aimed at people when they are not working out.

Pepsi said its bottlers would begin delivering the new products to convenience stores, independent retailers and gas stations later this year.

The world’s second-largest soft drink maker behind Coca-Cola Co. () first mentioned the new products in July, but did not say what they would be called.

Pepsi is aiming to boost sales growth of Gatorade, one of its biggest brands, since it has slowed recently, in part because of cooler weather and price increases.

The slowdown, coupled with the acquisition of “vitaminwater” maker Glaceau earlier this year by Coca-Cola, has led analysts and investors to question Gatorade’s future prospects.

However Sanford Bernstein analyst Robert van Brugge said in a recent research note that the threat to Gatorade from vitaminwater was modest, since people tend to drink Gatorade when they are exercising and vitaminwater at other times.

G2, however, may compete more directly with vitaminwater because it also is not meant for athletic activities.

Van Brugge forecast that Gatorade growth would rebound next year in the absence of price increases by Pepsi and discounts by Coke on its Powerade sports drink.

Morgan Stanley beverage analyst William Pecoriello estimates that the new products will boost earnings per share for Pepsi Bottling Group Inc (PBG.N), the drink maker’s largest bottler, by 2 cents in 2008 and 3 cents in 2009.

He did not change his earnings estimates for PepsiCo, but said G2 should help limit risks from the slowdown.

G2 will help the company “by holding onto consumers who were leaving the brand for lower-calorie options, attracting a slightly older/more female user than core Gatorade and holding onto or expanding Gatorade’s share of non-sport occasions,” Pecoriello said.

PepsiCo shares were down 37 cents at $68.19 in morning New York Stock Exchange trade, while Pepsi Bottling was up 19 cents at $34.97.

A VAN driver who fell asleep at the wheel and killed an Edinburgh woman when he ploughed into an oncoming car was jailed for 42 months today.

The High Court in Glasgow heard the family of victim Clare Hyder, 42, has forgiven Andrew Knox.

Knox, 26, who had driven from Manchester to Glasgow and was returning south, failed to take a bend.

He drove on to the wrong side of the road and crashed head-on into the Ford Focus being driven by principal civil engineer Michael Russell, horrifically injuring him.

Mr Russell’s passenger, civil engineer Miss Hyder, was sitting in the back seat because she was in plaster and using crutches as the result of an Achilles tendon injury.

She suffered horrific head injuries and two fractures to her pelvis and died in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, six days later.

Jailing Knox, judge Lord MacLean told him: “I take into account your early plea and expressions of remorse.”

He banned him from driving for five years.

Solicitor advocate Bill McVicar said: “He was aware of feeling tired, but wasn’t aware that he had nodded off. He accepts he should have pulled over and rested, because his actions have devastated two families.”

Knox, of Newmoston, Manchester, admitted causing the death of Miss Hyder by driving dangerously and allowing himself to be overcome by sleep.

The accident happened on the A701 Dumfries to Beattock road near Amisfield, Dumfries, on June 19, last year, around 3.30pm.

The court heard that first offender Knox had travelled that morning to Glasgow to install worktops and was on his way home. He left the motorway because he was stopping off en route to give a customer a quote.

Mr Russell and Miss Hyder were driving back to Edinburgh after attending a meeting in Dumfries.

Mr Russell was driving Miss Hyder because she was unable to drive due to her injury.

Ronnie Renucci, prosecuting, said: “She preferred to sit in the back seat with her leg up. The circumstances suggest she wasn’t wearing her seal belt.

“The accused was driving normally until he got to the bend. Instead of turning into it carried straight on. He then braked heavily before colliding with the Ford Focus.

“Mr Russell would have seen the van only at the last second and had no time to react.

“The accused was not badly hurt, but in shock. He told police he was asleep. He said he must have nodded off or been asleep.”

The court was told that Miss Hyder’s mother, father, brother and sister-in-law are devastated by her death, but described Knox as “another victim of the accident rather than as the villain of the piece”.

Mr Renucci added: “After Miss Hyder’s death various organs were donated.”

The court was told that Mr Russell suffered fractures to his pelvis and severe injuries to both arms.

He had to undergo eight major operations and now takes 20 painkillers a day.

He is still unable to return to work.

August 21, 2007 — Troubled Thornburg Mortgage, long seen as one of the most conservative mortgage lenders in the industry, said yesterday it was forced to swallow a $930 million loss as it scrambled to sell mortgage bonds in a desperate bid to stay liquid.

The once high-flying lender, whose business caters to the well-heeled, took the painful hit by selling $20.5 billion of mortgage bonds into the market last week in an 11th-hour bid to raise cash needed to pay off short-term debt after being shut out of the commercial-paper market.

The credit freeze had forced Thornburg - which specializes in jumbo mortgages of $417,000 or higher to borrowers with good credit - to temporarily stop taking new loan applications.

But the much needed infusion left Thornburg almost immediately.

The company used $8.4 billion of the money to pay down its commercial-paper balance, and used $12 billion to meet obligations resulting from credit-line borrowing after a tidal wave of margin calls over the past month.

The mortgage desk at Bear Stearns handled most of the sales - about $15 billion out of the $20 billion - and, according to a Bear executive, Santa Fe, N.M.-based Thornburg managed to secure about 95 cents on the dollar.

While the mortgage-backed securities market’s woes are well-documented, Bear was able to execute the trades because of the unusually sharp discount in price attached to the triple-A rated bonds. These bonds have barely one-tenth of the underlying default rates of its subprime competitors.

Thornburg released a statement confirming that it had sold, “most of its lowest yielding and negative spread assets as part of these asset sales,” and that it “expects to remain profitable on an operating basis in the third quarter.”

Rosy spin aside, Thornburg President Larry Goldstone acknowledged that it is likely to book a loss for the year.

Even with a new lease on life, Thornburg is going to be very different, at least in the near-term.

The lender’s funding sources are at least temporarily sharply limited.

Bank credit lines are likely available, but are more expensive and time-consuming to access. What’s more, the secondary mortgage market has shown that, at least for now, it is only interested in Thornburg paper at a discount.

Investors were not happy with the news, sending Thornburg’s shares down almost 11 percent to $13.50. For the year, the stock is down 50 percent.

roddy.boyd@nypost.com