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GM Dealership Closures Sketchy

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It was good news for General Motors dealerships when earlier this month GM announced it would keep over 600 dealerships open. Despite a congressional deadline of July 15, many dealerships targeted for closure are still not sure which dealerships will be closed and which will be saved. According to attorneys and auto industry executives, some dealerships are in negotiations while others have heard no news at all.

Details are limited due to a confidentiality agreement between GM and the dealers. Dealers don’t want customers to know they might close chasing away potential buyers of vehicles still on the lot. GM has also declined to identify dealers, saying it is up to the dealers to disclose whether they were being reinstated or not.

Toyota Prius Recall Fueled By Mass Hysteria?

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In February 2009 over one hundred complaints had been made to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office in regards to 2010 Prius brakes that do not always function correctly. An internal NHTSA agency memo indicated that the issue was a “short delay” in regenerative braking when hitting a bump. Japan’s Ministry of Transportation ordered Toyota to investigate Prius braking problems after it received 14 complaints, and Toyota received 77 complaints in Japan. On February 9, 2010 Toyota announced a voluntary global recall of third generation 2010 Prius models. A total of 133,000 Prius vehicles in the U.S. and 52,000 in Europe received software updates to fix the problem.

NHTSA has received at least 10 reports of unintended acceleration on Prius models that Toyota claims to have already been fixed under its recall. The Associated Press reported on March 5, 2010 that additional complaints may be a psychological response of “mass hysteria” to “relentless media coverage” of the Toyota recalls.

Below are two accounts of runaway Prius’s that Toyota concluded the problem was driver related as they could not find anything wrong with the car.

On March 8,2010 the California Highway Patrol (CHP) received a 911 call from a man speeding down a California highway at 90 mph in his 2008 Toyota Prius. James Sikes, the driver of the vehicle claimed that his gas pedal was stuck and pressing the brakes would not slow down the car. The highway patrol officer at the scene says he could see the brake lights turn on and off periodically, and he could smell the heated brakes from a quarter mile away.

When the officer told Sikes to shift to neutral Sikes refused, later telling reporters he feared shifting to neutral would cause him to loose control of the car. Eventually, the car stopped on its own by applying the foot brake and parking brake at the same time.

Toyota’s investigators examined the car and found that the accelerator pedal was functioning normally with no mechanical binding or friction. However, the front brakes showed severe wear and damage from overheating. One of the most surprising Toyota findings was evidence of numerous, rapidly repeated on-and-off applications of both the accelerator and brake pedals. Sikes insisted he was pressing hard on the brakes to stop the car, so repeated application of the gas pedal does not seem to make sense, says Toyota. Toyota’s engineers also purposely overheated the brakes, but could still stop the vehicle.

On March 9, 2010 a similar story in New York involved a housekeeper who said that the 2005 Toyota Prius she was driving sped up on its own down a driveway and crashed into a stone wall. The driver of the car was not seriously hurt, but the car was totaled.

The NHTSA said the computer data from a Toyota Prius showed that at the time of the accident the throttle was open and the driver was not applying the brakes.

GM Developing Heads Up Display For Autos

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General Motors R&D, Carnegie Mellon University and The University of Southern California are working together to develop a heads up display for automobiles. Working similar to the heads up displays for aircraft, the technology will make driving at night and in bad weather safer.

The vehicle will be armed with infrared cameras that identify where the edge of the road is and lasers will be used to paint the edge of the road onto the windshield so the driver can see it. When driving in weather with reduced visibility the enhanced vision system combines night vision with the head-up system to identify and highlight the precise location of people, animals, and even road signs along the side of the road that they may not be seen by the driver

Enhanced vision systems are a 21st Century take on Head up display technology that GM was the first to market in 1988. They were designed to help keep driver attention on the road by displaying important information such as vehicle speed, lane change indicator status and vehicle warning messages directly into the driver’s field of vision. Heads up display systems are currently available on the GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Corvette, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac STS.

Ford To Sell Volvo To Chinese Company Geely

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Some final documentation, financing and government approvals are the only thing holding back Fords sale of Volvo to major automaker Geely Holding Group, which would make Volvo the first major automaker to become Chinese owned. Ford expects the formal signing of the sales documents will take place in the first quarter of 2010 with the deal being closed in the second quarter.

Ford will continue to work with Volvo Cars “in several areas” after the sale but will have no financial interest in Volvo. The sale would ensure Volvo has the resources and capital necessary to strengthen the business and build its global franchise. Ford will focus on and implement its core ONE Ford strategy meaning they will return to the traditional Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands.

Can Toyota Survive Their Problems?

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According to Toyota’s company earnings results, it is estimated that Toyota’s unintended acceleration will affect almost 8.5 million cars world wide and could end up costing the company almost $2 billion. Analysts say that this is a conservative estimate and that the cost will more likely be almost $6 billion, if you include repairs for recalls, lost sales and the ever growing lawsuits being filed against the company.

Still, amongst all the bad publicity, Toyota has done a good job cutting costs over the past year, and it is still a leader in environmental technologies. Most analysts predict good profit growth next year as demand grows in markets like China.

“Toyota has announced plans to deal with the recalls, and is working to address the problems promptly,” said Noriyuki Matsushima, an auto analyst at Citigroup Global Markets Japan. “We think the recall story is likely to die down by April if its quality dealerships can quickly repair the problems while providing reassurance to customers.”

For now, Toyota’s incentives appear to be working. Dealers are reporting surging sales and expect to post a net profit of $885 million in the fiscal year ending March 31, coming back from a loss last year.

Black Boxes On Automobiles

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David Strickland the administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that the agency is considering mandatory installation of “black boxes” on all cars and trucks. These “black boxes” similar to flight recorders in aircraft will record critical automobile information leading up to an accident. The NHTSA had first encouraged black box technology in 2006, but because of Toyota’s unintended acceleration problems, the NHTSA hopes to make this technology mandatory and the information from these “black boxes” readily available.

Some feel the addition of this technology will only drive up the price of automobiles which will be passed down to the consumer. Others feel it will reduce our privacy rights by allowing our vehicles to be so closely monitored resulting in benefits for the insurance companies and auto makers but not necessarily the drivers of the automobiles. Even today, with technology such as “On star”, the consumer does not have the choice whether they want it on their vehicle and though it can be deactivated, consumers still wonder what information is being transmitted, and how can this information be used against us.

Distracted Driving When Saving Lives

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It has happened to everyone, you become distracted while driving and miss your turn off, almost cause an accident or even worse got into an accident. Distractions during driving has always been a problem and with todays computers on dashboards, sophisticated radios, navigation systems and cell phones it has become even worse. Many states have made it illegal to use these devices while driving in an attempt to keep people safe on the roads.

There are a few people who have no choice. This technology on police cruisers and ambulances helps the police and paramedics get instant access to essential information. Police can check license plate data, find information about a suspect and exchange messages with dispatchers. Ambulances receive directions to accident scenes and can use the computers to send information about the patient before they arrive at the hospital. Usually this is done before they start driving or by the drivers partner but often the partner is dealing with other issues and the driver ends up using these devices at high speeds in traffic.

Researchers are working to reduce the risks. At the University of New Hampshire they have been developing hands-free technology for police cars. The systems let officers use voice commands to operate the radio, lights and sirens and even speak a license-plate numbers into the on-board computer which comes back with basic information about the car. This voice command can be easily activated by a button on the steering wheel.

The solutions are not cheap though, especially for struggling states and local governments. “We can barely get patrol cars and motorcycles,” said Shawn Chase of the California Highway Patrol. “We would love to get this technology, but there are trade-offs.”

Data does not exist about crashes caused by police officers or medics distracted by their devices, but the combination of distraction and high speeds is almost certain to eventually lead to an accident.

CAS Urges NHTSA To Recall Grand Cherokees

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In early October 2009, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) filed a petition with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). In the petition, they asked the NHTSA to issue a recall for 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees because of defective fuel tanks that are prone to fires during accidents. CAS says that the fuel tank of the Grand Cherokee is plastic and extends below the rear bumper so there is nothing to protect the tank from a direct hit in a rollover or by a vehicle with a low front profile. The CAS claims that the 1993-2004 Grand Cherokee has a fatal crash fire occurrence rate that is about four times higher than SUV’s made by other companies. Chrysler says the Grand Cherokee meets and exceeds standards. The Center for Auto Safety continues to pressure the NHTSA, but a resolution still hasn’t been met.