The German website auto-press.de has released official pictures of the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-class, ahead of the car’s scheduled unveiling at the Detroit auto show next week. The pictures show both the “sport” and “luxury” versions of the new E-class, which has been completely redesigned for 2017.
As is Mercedes custom, the sport version (at top) has a large three-pointed star and thick, horizontal bars within the grille, below which is a more aggressively sculpted lower front fascia. The luxury version (above) has a more traditional, chrome-plated Mercedes grille, topped by a stand-up hood ornament. The luxury version best shows off the close relationship between the design of the new E-class and that of the larger S-class—although a kinship to the smaller C-class is evident as well.
That relationship also can be seen in the E-class interior, images of which the company has already revealed. Top-spec models will boast dual 12.3-inch LCD screens, and the 2017 E-class also features small touch pads on the steering-wheel spokes.
The E-class is expected to launch in the States as an E300, an E450 AMG Sport, and a Mercedes-AMG E63 S. Diesel and plug-in-hybrid versions are likely to follow. Later, the E-class coupe/convertible will go in for their redesign as well. We’ll have more U.S.-specific info on the new E-class when it’s unveiled—officially this time—next week. In the meantime, you can head over to auto-press.de for more images.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1ZKQAGx
via IFTTT
The automotive world and beyond is buzzing about the massive airbag recall covering many millions of vehicles in the U.S. from nearly two dozen brands. Here’s what you need to know about the problem; which vehicles may have the defective, shrapnel-shooting inflator parts from Japanese supplier Takata; and what to do if your vehicle is one of them.
The issue involves defective inflator and propellent devices that may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, shooting metal fragments into vehicle occupants. Approximately 34 million vehicles are potentially affected in the United States, and another 7 million have been recalled worldwide.
Initially, only six makes were involved when Takata announced the fault in April 2013, but a Toyota recall in June this year—along with new admissions from Takata that it had little clue as to which cars used its defective inflators, or even what the root cause was—prompted more automakers to issue identical recalls. In July, NHTSA forced additional regional recalls in high-humidity areas including Florida, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to gather removed parts and send them to Takata for review.
Another major recall issued on October 20 expanded the affected vehicles across several brands. For its part, Toyota said it would begin to replace defective passenger-side inflators starting October 25; if parts are unavailable, however, it has advised its dealers to disable the airbags and affix “Do Not Sit Here” messages to the dashboard.
While Toyota says there have been no related injuries or deaths involving its vehicles, a New York Times report in September found a total of at least 139 reported injuries across all automakers. In particular, there have been at least two deaths and 30 injuries in Honda vehicles. According to the Times, Honda and Takata allegedly have known about the faulty inflators since 2004 but failed to notify NHTSA in previous recall filings (which began in 2008) that the affected airbags had actually ruptured or were linked to injuries and deaths.
Takata first said that propellant chemicals were mishandled and improperly stored during assembly, which supposedly caused the metal airbag inflators to burst open due to excessive pressure inside. In July, the company blamed humid weather and spurred additional recalls.
According to documents reviewed by Reuters, Takata says that rust, bad welds, and even chewing gum dropped into at least one inflator are also at fault. The same documents show that in 2002, Takata’s plant in Mexico allowed a defect rate that was “six to eight times above” acceptable limits, or roughly 60 to 80 defective parts for every 1 million airbag inflators shipped. The company’s study has yet to reach a final conclusion and report the findings to NHTSA.
UPDATE 11/7/2014, 9:44 a.m.:The New York Times has published a report suggesting that Takata knew about the airbag issues in 2004, conducting secret tests off work hours to verify the problem. The results confirmed major issues with the inflators, and engineers quickly began researching a solution. But instead of notifying federal safety regulators and moving forward with fixes, Takata executives ordered its engineers to destroy the data and dispose of the physical evidence. This occurred a full four years before Takata publicly acknowledged the problem.
UPDATE 11/7, 5:29 p.m.: Two U.S. Senators have now called for the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation on this matter. Takata has stated that “the allegations contained in the [New York Times] article are fundamentally inaccurate.” The company went on to state that it “takes very seriously the accusations made in this article and we are cooperating and participating fully with the government investigation now underway.”
Read more about these developments on this C/D page.
UPDATE 11/13, 11:10 a.m.: Takata has released a more formal statement saying that the allegations made in last week’s New York Times article “are fundamentally inaccurate” and that it “unfairly impugned the integrity of Takata and its employees.” The company says (in this PDF) that there were no tests of “scrapyard airbag inflators” in 2004, that after-hours tests in 2004 “were not ‘secret tests’ . . . [but] were done at the request of NHTSA to address a cushion-tearing issue unrelated to inflator rupturing,” and that it “did not suppress any test results showing cracking or rupturing in the inflators,” whether to automakers such as Honda or to NHTSA.
For its story aboutTakata‘s statement, the Times spoke again with one of its two sources for the November 6 article. That anonymous person is quoted as saying: “What Takata says is not true . . . They are trying to switch things around.”
On November 12, we reported about a change in Takata’s chemical makeup of its airbag propellant, which the company says is unrelated to the ongoing recall situation.
UPDATE 11/18, 6:10 p.m.: In light of a recent airbag failure in a 2007 Ford Mustang in North Carolina—which was not part of the original “high-humidity areas” Takata recall—the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is calling for a nationwide recall of cars equipped with the defective Takata driver’s-side airbags.
UPDATE 11/20, 5:35 p.m.: Automakers, officials from Takata, and motorists injured by defective airbags met for a hearing with Congress. NHTSA was accused of not responding quickly enough to the Takata airbag situation, and automakers also took heat for being slow with fixes. As of now, the recalls remain regional, but it seems only a matter of time before they’re blanketed nationwide.
UPDATE 11/26, 1:00 p.m.: The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has formally demanded that Takata push through a nationwide recall of cars equipped with the suspect driver’s-side airbags. Also, officials in Japan are calling for a recall expansion, after an airbag from an unspecified car not covered by previous recalls ruptured in testing.
UPDATE 12/2, 5:45 p.m.: Toyota and Honda have released similar statements urging for an “industry-wide joint initiative to independently test Takata airbag inflators.” Meanwhile, Takata’s chairman stated today that he’ll create a “quality assurance panel” to scrutinize the company’s production procedures. Takata and NHTSA officials today made statements before the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. NHTSA is still pushing for a nationwide expansion of the still-regional airbag recall—but for defective driver’s-side airbags only; the agency says a coast-to-coast recall on passenger-side airbags isn’t necessary. Such a large-scale recall, many say, would squeeze the limited supply of replacement parts in the most at-risk (read: humid) regions of the country.
UPDATE 12/4, 10:25 a.m.: Chrysler, Ford, and Toyota have expanded their recalls of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags.
Chrysler’s recall update adds the passenger-side airbags of roughly 149,000 2003 Ram pickups (1500, 2500, and 3500), which were already part of a driver’s-side airbag recall. The recall remains regional, encompassing trucks “sold or ever registered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands.” Chrysler says it is unaware of any accidents or injuries related to these airbag inflators and that no failures have occurred in laboratory tests. NHTSA has already stated is dissatisfaction with Chrysler’s move: “Chrysler’s latest recall is insufficient, doesn’t meet our demands, and fails to include all inflators covered by Takata’s defect information report.”
Ford’s expanded recall is very similar to Chrysler’s, adding passenger-side airbags to the repair list of about 13,000 vehicles (2004–2005 Rangers and 2005–2006 GTs) already involved in the regional Takata recalls. Ford is even more selective with the targeted locations: it covers vehicles “originally sold, or ever registered, in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It adds certain zip codes with high absolute humidity conditions in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Guam, Saipan, and American Samoa.”
Toyota has recalled some 190,000 vehicles in China and Japan, many of them similar to the company’s U.S.-market vehicles listed below.
UPDATE 12/5, 3:15 p.m.: Honda has announced the addition of 3 million vehicles to its list of affected cars—and also that its recall is now nationwide. Read more on this development in this story.
UPDATE 12/18, 10:50 a.m.:Ford has expanded the breadth of its recall for Takata driver’s-side airbags, adding nearly 450,000 vehicles—all Mustangs and GTs—to its list. (Rangers are part of a separate action.) Mazda also expanded its recall to be nationwide for 2004–2008 Mazda 6 and RX-8 vehicles, upping its total of affected cars by about 265,000. Also, Chrysler recently added roughly 139,000 vehicles from the 2003–2005 model years to its regional recall, which now includes the previously unaffected areas of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, American Samoa, Guam, and Saipan. (Also, the 2006–2007 Charger is now listed below, compensating for an oversight on NHTSA’s outdated master list.)
UPDATE 12/19, 7:00 p.m.: Giving in to NHTSA’s demands, Chrysler has drastically expanded its now-nationwide recall—by more than 2 million vehicles. A number of 2004–2007 model-year products, included below and specifically called out in this press release, are being called back to have their driver’s-side airbag inflators replaced. The company reports only one related injury. According to The Detroit Free Press, BMW is now the last automaker (of five) holding out from NHTSA’s demand for a nationwide airbag recall on affected vehicles.
UPDATE 1/20/2015, 4:00 p.m.: Six panelists—including one who oversaw the Cerberus ownership of Chrysler—will join an independent review board in looking into Takata’s manufacturing processes and recommending best practices for what has become one of the largest-ever auto recalls. Former U.S. transportation secretary (1989–1991) Samuel K. Skinner will lead the panel.
UPDATE 2/11/2015, 10:25 a.m.: Takata—finally—is increasing its capacity to produce replacement airbag inflators at its plants around the world. By September, according to Automotive News, Takata will be able to make 900,000 replacement units per month. Upgraded assembly lines at a factory in Mexico have already increased that plant’s capacity from 300,000 units per month to 450,000. Meanwhile, reports of people being seriously injured by these defective airbags continue to arise.
UPDATE 2/20/2015, 4:10 p.m.:Takata faces civil fines of $14,000 per day for its alleged refusal to cooperate with a federal investigation over these defective airbags. The supplier has provided plenty of paperwork to NHTSA, but the agency found the “deluge of documents” unsatisfactory.
UPDATE 3/12/2015, 12:10 p.m.: Honda has announced that it is instituting a voluntary advertising campaign urging owners of Honda and Acura automobiles to check for open airbag and safety recalls that may affect their vehicle. See one of the ads and read more in our story.
UPDATE 3/19/2015, 2:25 p.m.:Honda has added about 105,000 vehicles to its recall list. These include nearly 90,000 Pilots from the 2008 model year as well as some 2004 Civics and 2001 Accords that previously weren’t part of the recall. Our list below has been updated.
UPDATE 3/23/2015, 1:40 p.m.:According to a new survey, a surprising and unnerving number of Americans evidently haven’t bothered to get these potentially lethal airbags repaired. Just 12 percent of all cars recalled for faulty Takata airbags in the U.S. have been repaired. In Japan, conversely, a full 70 percent of the 3 million cars under recall have been repaired.
UPDATE 4/14/2015, 2:30 p.m.:Honda has stated that the driver of a 2003 Civic was injured by a ruptured airbag during a crash in Florida on March 20.
UPDATE 4/21/2015, 10:15 a.m.: Nissan has added another 45,000 Sentras from the 2006 model year to its large-scale recall for defective Takata airbags. Owners will be notified via FedEx. Affected cars, according to Nissan, are those “that currently are or previously were registered in Florida and adjacent counties in southern Georgia; Hawaii; Guam; Puerto Rico; Saipan; American Samoa; U.S. Virgin Islands; and coastal areas of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.” This action was partially prompted by the investigation of a March crash in Louisiana in which a woman was injured by airbag shrapnel from her 2006 Sentra.
UPDATE 5/13/2015, 3:15 p.m.:Toyota and Nissan announced new and expanded recall activity to replace potentially deadly Takata airbags in nearly 6.5 million vehicles worldwide. The recall affects nearly 1 million vehicles in North America. The Toyota RAV4 (model years 2004 and 2005), previously unaffected by these recalls, is now on the list; Toyota is recalling some 160,000 of the models to replace their driver’s-side airbags. The RAV4 has been added to our comprehensive list below.
UPDATE 5/19/2015, 6:15 p.m.:Takata has declared as defective nearly 34 million vehicles, which will lead to even more extensive recalls of vehicles with the company’s airbags (individual automakers will elaborate on the specific cars added to the recalls in the very near future). In its testing of the suspect parts, Takata also found that driver’s-side airbags in 2003–2007 Toyota Corolla and Matrix models (plus the Pontiac Vibe, a twin to the Matrix), as well as 2004–2007 Honda Accord models, are at the highest risk.
In a news conference today, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx called the expanded recall “the most complex consumer-safety recall in U.S. history.” He added: “Up until now Takata has refused to acknowledge that their airbags are defective. That changes today.” Also, the company has agreed to pay the U.S. government significant fines for not cooperating in the investigations of numerous injuries and deaths; the exact amount will be announced at a later date.
UPDATE 5/20/2015, 1:00 p.m.: Unnamed sources have told Bloomberg that Takata changed its airbag propellant in 2008 to reduce the risk of overly forceful deployment and to address the moisture-related degradation of the propellant.
UPDATE 5/27/2015, 10:00 a.m.: Next Tuesday, June 2, a panel from the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a hearing to follow up on the status of this ongoing situation. “We have endured a year of Takata ruptures and recalls, and families are still at risk. No excuses. Michiganders, and all Americans, have a right to answers,” committee chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said in a statement. The most recent Congressional hearing took place in December.
UPDATE 5/28/2015, 10:00 a.m.: Honda has added 259,479 vehicles to its Japanese-market recall tally, according to Automotive News. Affected model years are from 2002 through 2008, which marks the first time that 2008 Hondas have been included in this huge airbag recall. Honda soon will announce additional airbag recalls for the United States, which will be part of the massive recall expansion announced last week.
UPDATE 5/28/2015, 1:25 p.m.: Chrysler and Honda have added hundreds of thousands of vehicles to their U.S.-market recall lists; this follows Takata’s announcement last week that 34 million total vehicles were subject to action. At this point, Honda is saying only that it will add roughly 350,000 vehicles to its list, although “most of the vehicles deemed at risk in Takata’s defect-determination report were already subject to previous voluntary actions taken by Honda.”
The Chrysler expansion details approximately 1.2 million of its vehicles that were part of last week’s announcement, many of which are from model years that previously hadn’t been flagged. Accordingly, the following have been added to our list below: 2009–2010 Chrysler 300, 2008–2010 Dodge Charger, 2009–2011 Dodge Dakota, 2005–2010 Dodge Magnum (no Magnums were previously recalled for this problem), 2009 Ram 2500 and 3500, 2009–2010 Ram 4500 and 5500, and 2008–2010 Mitsubishi Raider.
UPDATE 5/28/2015, 5:00 p.m.:Ford has added more than 900,000 vehicles to its list of recalls for potentially defective airbags from Takata. The 2009–2014 Mustang and the 2006 Ranger are new additions to the list. The later-model Mustangs—recalled for driver’s-side airbags—are by far the newest cars to be included in this incredibly broad recall action.
UPDATE 6/2/2015, 10:30 a.m.: A Congressional hearing on this matter is scheduled for today at 2 p.m. We’ll cover the event throughout the afternoon. Meanwhile, yesterday a Takata executive announced that the company proposes “to replace all” of the troublesome “ ‘batwing-shaped’ propellant wafers” installed in North America. We should know a lot more later today.
UPDATE 6/2/2015, 3:35 p.m.: Highlights so far from today’s Congressional hearing come mostly from NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind. He encourages consumers to frequently visit safercar.gov to see whether their vehicle and its VIN have been added to the list; he promises that the website will have VIN information for every single individual car affected by these expansive recalls within two weeks. Rosekind is calling for carmakers to be more diligent in tracking down vehicles that have passed through multiple owners over the years so that the current owner gets recall notices as quickly as possible. If NHTSA had the authority, Rosekind says, it would have forced off the road vehicles affected by the Takata recalls sometime in 2014. Rosekind also points out that the suspect Takata airbag inflator has 10 different configurations, which complicates discernment of the root cause.
Also, Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has pointed out that, “The messaging around these airbag recalls has been tortured at best,” and notes that Takata is trying “to perfect an innumerable set of manufacturing variables, which for 10-plus years have resisted perfection.”
UPDATE 6/2/2015, 4:55 p.m.: Sitting before the Congressional committee, Takata executive VP Kevin Kennedy states that he believes ammonium nitrate—a propellant that he admits is “a factor” in these rupturing airbags—is safe to use in his company’s products, including airbags installed as replacements in these recalls. He admits, though, that all of the defective airbags discovered in testing have used this type of propellant; Takata is, Kennedy says, transitioning to using guanidine nitrate, a propellant that other airbag suppliers already use. He reassures consumers that not all of the millions of recalled airbag inflators are defective and also that his company is testing components “outside the scope of the recall” to make sure that the callbacks are far-reaching enough. He also claims that his company shipped 740,000 replacement kits in May, in addition to supplying loads of airbags for new-car production.
UPDATE 6/4/2015, 3:00 p.m.: Takata has informed Reuters that at least 10 percent of the 4 million replacement airbag inflators installed as part of these recalls will have to be replaced again. The number could be much greater, as Reuters notes, “the safety of more than 3 million replacement parts [is also] in question.” A NHTSA official said the agency will push Takata and individual carmakers to “demonstrate to us that the remedy parts are safe for the life of the vehicle.”
UPDATE 6/5/2015, 10:10 a.m.: Mazda has added more than 100,000 vehicles to its list of recalls, bringing the total to roughly 450,000. New to the list are the 2003 Mazda 6 and the 2006 B-series pickup; additional Mazdas from previously noted model years in the rundown below, including the RX-8 and the Mazdaspeed 6, are part of this expanded recall. The cars are being recalled for driver’s-side airbag inflators, while the pickups are called back for their passenger-side airbags.
UPDATE 6/10/2015, 10:00 a.m.: A lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court in Lafayette, Louisiana, alleges that a 22-year-old woman was killed in early April when her 2005 Honda Civic’s driver’s-side airbag “violently exploded and sent metal shards, shrapnel and/or other foreign material into the passenger compartment,” Automotive News reports. Her car hit a telephone pole on April 5, two days before she received a recall notice for her car’s Takata-supplied airbags. She died on April 9. Her death, if it was indeed caused by the airbag, would become the seventh attributed to a failed Takata airbag. The other six fatalities have all occurred in Honda vehicles, and only one crash happened outside of the United States.
UPDATE 6/11/2015, 10:25 a.m.: There are many millions of vehicles involved in these recalls, but it seems as though 34 million, a figure that Takata announced in mid-May, might be far too high. (That figure was for inflators, not vehicles, although few cars seem to be afflicted with multiple defective airbags.) Reuters reports that the number is probably more like 16.2 million vehicles. Keep in mind, though, that Nissan and Toyota may not have yet announced their recall expansions in response to Takata’s aforementioned mid-May announcement. The figures in our chart below, as it appears today, add up to 15.97 million vehicles, which is within two percent of Reuters’ figure.
UPDATE 6/12/2015, 11:35 a.m.:Honda has announced that its financial results for the fiscal year that ended on March 31 will take a $363 million hit because of costs associated with repairing vehicles involved in the Takata recalls.
UPDATE 6/14/2015, 7:00 p.m.: Honda has confirmed that the death of Kylan Langlinais, whose 2005 Civic crashed in Louisiana on April 5 and which we detailed above on June 10, was indeed a result of the ruptured Takata-supplied airbag in her car. Automotive News reports that this is the second of seven deaths—all in Honda vehicles—where “a driver received a [recall or safety-campaign] notification too late.” Honda has recalled roughly 5.5 million vehicles with Takata airbag inflators in the United States.
UPDATE 6/16/2015, 12:10 p.m.: Daimler has recalled 40,061 Sprinter vans for their passenger-side airbags. Dodge-branded Sprinters from 2006–2008 are included, as are Freightliner-badged Sprinters from 2007–2008. Vans in both 2500 and 3500 capacities are being recalled.
UPDATE 6/16/2015, 3:15 p.m.:Toyota has announced that 1,365,000 more vehicles are subject to its airbag recalls. All of these particular vehicles are being called in for their passenger-side airbags. Specific models involved are: 2003–2007 Corolla and Corolla Matrix, 2005–2007 Sequoia, 2005–2006 Tundra, and 2003–2007 Lexus SC430. Takata recalls now cover some 2.9 million vehicles in the United States. A report in Automotive News notes that 24 incidents of “incorrect deployments” of Takata airbags have been recorded worldwide in Toyota vehicles, with at least eight reports of injuries and no deaths.
UPDATE 6/18/2015, 11:15 a.m.:NHTSA finally knows the full scope of this massive, ongoing airbag recall. The 11 carmakers involved have identified every vehicle identification number (VIN) covered by the recall. Check your VIN by using the government agency’s search tool. Also of note: The Senate Commerce Committee will meet next week to hear testimony from NHTSA experts, the Transportation Department’s Office of the Inspector General, and representatives from Takata and automakers regarding the recall.
UPDATE 6/19/2015, 4:50 p.m.: General Motors has added some 243,000 Pontiac Vibes to its tally of the already-recalled hatchback, which was built alongside the Toyota Matrix in the mid-2000s. The Vibes in this action, from the 2003–2007 model years, are being recalled for their passenger-side airbags. The 2006 and 2007 model years previously had not been affected.
UPDATE 6/20/2015, 12:15 a.m.: Honda has confirmed that an eighth person’s death was caused by a defective airbag in one of its products. The woman who died was involved in a crash last August in Los Angeles; she was driving a rented 2001 Civic. Bloomberg reports that this particular vehicle was part of four airbag-recall campaigns between 2009 and 2014, each of which resulted in notifications being mailed to the car’s registered owner, who never had the recalls addressed.
UPDATE 6/23/2015, 11:30 a.m.: Another hearing on this matter is happening in Congress today. Early points of note include:
• NHTSA’s Mark Rosekind estimates that the 34 million defective airbag inflators are installed in 32 million vehicles, so only a small percentage of affected cars have more than one defective airbag. Those figures may still not be entirely accurate, however.
• For months, NHTSA has been coming under fire for how it has handled the Takata situation and other recent large-scale automotive recalls. Staffing and funding are an issue for the government agency, but Senator Claire McCaskill said this morning that “I’m not about to give you more money” until major reforms are made.
• Fiat-Chrysler has hired TRW to supply replacements for the defective Takata parts in its recalled vehicles. Takata has been supplying the industry at large with a major portion of the required replacement airbags thus far. FCA senior vice president Scott Kunselman said during the hearing that his company would only use replacement airbags from TRW and is confident that customers will not need to return for subsequent repairs.
UPDATE 6/23/2015, 3:45 p.m.: Takata still does not know the root cause of its airbag failures and stopped short of guaranteeing its replacement parts. The company’s executive vice president in North America, Kevin Kennedy, testified today during the company’s third Congressional hearing that “many of the replacement parts are alternative designs” but that it was continuing to test these replacements as it ramps up production to 1 million parts per month. “What we do know is that it takes a considerably long time for these problems to manifest,” Kennedy said to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
UPDATE 6/25/2015, 10:50 a.m.: Following Takata’s annual shareholders meeting in Tokyo today, company president Shigehisa Takada publicly apologized for the deaths, injuries, and issues that have been caused by the airbags produced by the company that his grandfather founded in 1933. “I apologize for not having been able to communicate directly earlier, and also apologize for people who died or were injured,” Takada said, according to Bloomberg. “I feel sorry our products hurt customers, despite the fact that we are a supplier of safety products.” The apology came on the heels of Toyota and Honda adding another 3 million vehicles to the worldwide list of those recalled.
UPDATE 6/26/2015, 10:30 a.m.: Reuters reports that Takata president Shigehisa Takada took a major pay cut last year, earning less than 100 million yen (about $810,000) compared with the $1.67 million he took home the year before. His wages could have been much less than ¥100 million, since, as Reuters says, “Japanese companies are required to disclose individual executive compensation only if it exceeds 100 million yen.” Other senior executives at Takata also earned less money last year.
Following up on news that we first covered on June 12, Honda has restated its operating profit for last year after taking into account costs associated with repairing vehicles fitted with potentially defective Takata-supplied airbags. The effective cash loss of about $363 million remains as previously stated, bringing Honda’s operating profit for the fiscal year that ended in March to $4.92 billion.
UPDATE 6/30/2015, 10:30 a.m.: According to a recent audit by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General, NHTSA—the agency that has been at the forefront of the examinations of these Takata airbag recalls—is full of incompetent, mismanaged staff who are practically set up by their superiors to fail. Read our analysis here.
UPDATE 7/8/2015, 9:55 a.m.: The airbag in a Nissan X-Trail started a fire after the Takata-supplied device went off with excessive force during a crash in Japan, according to Automotive News. The passenger-side airbag “exploded, smashing the passenger-side window and sending high-temperature fragments into the dashboard, causing a fire.” The driver sustained minor injuries in the crash.
UPDATE 7/9/2015, 9:35 a.m.: Honda has recalled another 4.5 million vehicles, bringing the total number of its cars and SUVs involved in Takata-airbag-related actions to 24.5 million. None of this newest batch were sold in North America; more than one-third are in Japan. This latest recall expands upon a mid-May recall of 4.8 million non-North-American Honda vehicles.
UPDATE 8/12/2015, 11:50 a.m.: Takata soon will begin a large-scale regional advertising campaign focused on raising awareness around the installation of replacement airbag inflators in affected vehicles. According to Automotive News and Bloomberg, the campaign is “a robust digital advertising campaign” that will include red “Urgent Airbag Recall Notice” banner ads on websites such as CNN and Facebook. Only high-humidity locales will be targeted with the ads: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Also, a direct-mail campaign will target 85 percent of the U.S. market.
UPDATE 8/18/2015, 10:00 a.m.: Volkswagen is now part of NHTSA’s probe on Takata-supplied airbags, following the rupture of a side airbag in a 2015 Tiguan during a crash involving a deer in June, Automotive News reports. No one in the vehicle was hurt. If this problem is related to that which spurred the massive recall for Takata’s front airbags, it would be notable as the first report of the issue affecting side airbags, Volkswagen vehicles, and a model later than the 2011 model year (with the exception of the 2014 Ford Mustang). A Takata spokesman told AN, “We believe [this malfunction] is unrelated to the previous recalls, which the extensive data suggests were a result of aging and long-term exposure to heat and high humidity.”
Automotive News points out that Volkswagen and Tesla are the only carmakers currently using Takata inflators that so far haven’t been subject to the recall actions detailed here.
UPDATE 8/20/2015, 2:45 p.m.: Following news earlier this week about the rupture of a side airbag in a 2015 VW Tiguan, two U.S. senators on the committee investigating these defective airbags are calling for the immediate recall of all vehicles that use Takata-supplied airbags. A statement on Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal’s website concludes: “In light of the most recent incident, which did not occur in one of the regions originally designated as ‘high humidity,’ and which involved a 2015 vehicle not currently subject to recall, we urge you to voluntarily recall all vehicles containing Takata airbags.”
UPDATE 8/21/2015, 3:45 p.m.:Toyota said it would consider using replacement airbag inflators from other suppliers, including Autoliv, Daicel, and Nippon Kayaku, as Takata faces a production backlog and scrutiny over whether its replacement parts are just as defective. From the beginning, Takata had agreed to let its competitors produce replacement parts alongside its own. Toyota has about 12 million cars affected worldwide.
NHTSA’s updated figure is much closer to the total number of vehicles represented on our list below, which currently stands at 18.6 million.
UPDATE 9/28/2015, 12:30 p.m.: These recalls could soon grow to include additional carmakers. Via letter, NHTSA recently contacted seven automakers that aren’t currently included in the Takata recalls but which have used Takata-supplied airbags containing the suspect ammonium-nitrate propellant. The companies are Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki, Tesla, Volkswagen, Volvo (trucks), as well as specialty manufacturer Spartan Motors. According to The Detroit News, NHTSA said in the letter that the “remedy programs that are individual to each of the affected vehicle manufacturers have created a patch-work solution that NHTSA believes may not adequately address the safety risks presented by the defective inflators within a reasonable time. . . . This process is intended to produce solutions for the prioritization, organization, and phasing of remedy programs, and to appropriately address the multitude of factors contributing to the complexity of these recall programs.”
UPDATE 10/19/2015, 5:35 p.m.: General Motors is recalling a few hundred 2015-model-year cars and crossover vehicles for potentially faulty Takata-sourced side airbags; these vehicles aren’t yet shown on our comprehensive list below, but they’re called out in the post linked here. Unlike these GM products, all of the vehicles currently noted below are being recalled for front airbags, and nearly all of them are from the 2011 model year or prior. Also, NHTSA is planning to disclose more details—including additional manufacturers subject to the recalls beyond the current eleven—during a hearing on October 22.
UPDATE 10/22/2015, 12:50 p.m.: In a public hearing today, NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind revealed more information about this massive recall situation. Nationwide, only 22.5 percent of recalled vehicles have actually been fixed. It’s only slightly better in the humid Gulf of Mexico region, where recalls have been completed in 29.5 percent of affected vehicles even though airbag inflators in those locales are more likely to explode upon deployment. Some inflators have been replaced with newer, but still at-risk, identical components. Of the 115,000 removed inflators that Takata has tested, 450 have ruptured.
At NHTSA’s request, the 11 affected automakers conducted a risk assessment, which found that six million total inflators in the United States “are in the highest-risk group that should take top priority for replacement parts,” according to Automotive News, while roughly 11 million are in the middle-priority group and two million are least at risk. In general, the older the vehicle and the more humid the environment, the higher the priority that the airbag inflator(s) be replaced.
UPDATE 10/26/2015, 11:30 a.m.: The Volkswagen Group is gathering and testing Takata-supplied airbags, Automotive Newsreports. The company expressed to NHTSA a concern about the supply of replacement parts, if the Takata recalls are expanded to VW’s brands, which seems likely at this point. VW is currently unaffected by these extensive recalls, but as we noted in August, a 2015 Tiguan experienced a side-airbag rupture. All told, U.S.-market VW Group products are fitted with roughly 2.4 million Takata airbag inflators.
UPDATE 11/3/2015, 6:00 p.m.: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued Takata a record civil penalty of at least $70 million. The airbag supplier could be responsible for paying NHTSA as much as $200 million total if further violations are discovered. As part of the issuance, NHTSA has ordered that Takata “phase out the manufacture and sale of inflators that use phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate propellant.”
UPDATE 11/4/2015, 9:45 a.m.:Honda has announced that it will no longer use airbag components from Takata. In a statement, Honda said: “We have become aware of evidence that suggests that Takata misrepresented and manipulated test data for certain airbag inflators.” According to Automotive News, Honda has been Takata’s biggest customer for many years.
UPDATE 11/6/2015, 9:55 a.m.: Following Honda’s lead, both Toyota and Mazda have said they will stop purchasing airbag inflators from Takata, at least those that incorporate ammonium nitrate. According to Automotive News, Mitsubishi and Subaru also are considering dropping the airbag supplier. Nearly 40 percent of Takata’s sales in 2014 came from airbag parts.
UPDATE 11/9/2015, 10:35 a.m.: Nissan has now joined Toyota, Mazda, and Honda in announcing that it will no longer use Takata-supplied airbag inflators. The Automotive News report on Nissan’s declaration also notes that Takata lost $70 million in the second quarter of 2015.
UPDATE 11/23/2015, 1:45 p.m.:Ford is the latest carmaker to declare that it will no longer use Takata airbag inflators with ammonium-nitrate propellant in its new cars. Ford is the first non-Japanese company to take this step.
UPDATE 11/25/2015, 11:00 a.m.: Internal employee communications reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show Takata withheld airbag-inflator failures in reports to Honda in 2000, four years before that automaker began its own initial investigation of a ruptured Takata airbag in a customer car. The documents show Takata’s U.S. employees were voicing concerns over their Japanese colleagues doctoring data as “the way we do business in Japan.” Takata says the “lapses were and are totally incompatible with Takata’s engineering standards and protocols.”
UPDATE 12/4/2015, 11:00 a.m.: Japan’s transport ministry has banned Takata airbag inflators that use ammonium nitrate as the propellant (and without a moisture-absorbing desiccant) from being installed in future cars. According to Automotive News, such airbags “will be phased out from driver-side airbags by 2017 and passenger-side devices by 2018.” Vehicle models that are subject to Takata-related recalls have a six-month-shorter time frame for the phase-out. As noted above, NHTSA announced a similar ban for U.S.-market vehicles on November 3.
UPDATE 12/23/2015, 12:15 p.m.: NHTSA announced today that another person has died as a result of a faulty Takata airbag inflator. The fatal July 2015 crash occurred in a 2001 Honda Accord. Although the crash happened in Pennsylvania, the car had spent several years in the humid Gulf region. Also, the agency has been informed of five new ruptures to passenger-side airbags, which is “likely” to result in expanded recalls of the 2002–2004 Honda CR-V, the 2005–2008 Mazda 6, and the 2005–2008 Subaru Legacy. (The Honda and Mazda models and model years are already reflected on the list below.)
UPDATE 1/4/2016, 3:00 p.m.:The New York Times has detailed the contents of some internal Takata emails from more than nine years ago. As far back as 2000, internal reports revealed that there were “several instances [of] ‘pressure vessel failures,’ or airbag ruptures, . . . reported to Honda as normal airbag deployments.” One airbag engineer, according to the in-depth NYT story, wrote in a 2005 report “that he had been ‘repeatedly exposed to the Japanese practice of altering data presented to the customer,’ adding that such conduct was described at Takata as ‘the way we do business in Japan.’ ” In the same report, the engineer “warned that while the fudging of the data had initially not changed the fundamental conclusions of the data, the practice had ‘gone beyond all reasonable bounds and now most likely constitutes fraud.’ ” In 2006, the same engineer wrote “Happy Manipulating!!!” in an email to a colleague about how to graphically deemphasize the “bimodal distribution” of some tests conducted at high temperatures. He also suggested that his co-worker use “thick and thin lines to try and dress it up, or [change] colors to divert attention.”
Takata maintains that “the emails in question are completely unrelated to the current airbag inflater recalls.” A Honda spokesman wouldn’t comment on the emails but said that his employer was “aware of evidence that suggests that Takata misrepresented and manipulated test data.”
Meanwhile, Automotive News reports that some Japanese carmakers “may jointly invest in Takata” in order to soften the financial hit that the airbag supplier is facing as a result of these massive recalls.
AFFECTED VEHICLES (total U.S.-market number in parentheses, if known):
BMW (approximately 765,000): 2000–2006 3-series sedan and wagon; 2002–2006 3-series coupe and convertible; 2001–2006 M3 coupe and convertible; 2002–2003 5-series and M5; 2003–2004 X5
Chevrolet (330,198, including GMC): 2007–2008 Chevrolet Silverado HD
Chrysler: 2005–2010 Chrysler 300; 2007–2008 Aspen
Daimler (40,061): 2006–2008 Dodge Sprinter 2500 and 3500; 2007–2008 Freightliner Sprinter 2500 and 3500
Dodge/Ram (approximately 5.63 million, including Chrysler, not including Daimler-built Sprinter): 2003–2008 Dodge Ram 1500; 2005–2010 Charger and Magnum; 2005–2011 Dakota; 2004–2008 Durango; 2003–2009 Ram 2500 and 3500; 2008–2010 Challenger, Ram 4500, and Ram 5500
Ford (1,509,535): 2004–2006 Ranger; 2005–2006 GT; 2005–2014 Mustang
Toyota (approximately 2,915,000, including Lexus): 2002–2007 Toyota Sequoia; 2003–2007 Corolla and Corolla Matrix; 2003–2006 Tundra; 2004–2005 RAV4
We will update this list as soon as new information is available, but you can access NHTSA’s ownrunning tally of affected vehicles here. For further information about your specific vehicle, go to the manufacturer’s consumer website or use NHTSA’s VIN-lookup tool.
This story was originally published on October 21, 2014. It has subsequently been updated to reflect the latest findings and official list of affected vehicles.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1DFdGDA
via IFTTT
Chrysler’s fourth-generation Uconnect system will add Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability, the company announced at the Consumer Electronics Show—as the initial trickle of automakers offering the technologies is turning into a flood.
Chrysler’s news came right on the heels of a similar announcement from Ford at CES, which is fast-becoming a venue at which automakers feel they must make technology news. Unlike Ford, however, Chrysler is not giving much in the way of specifics as to when or in what cars the updated Uconnect system will appear. The company is saying only that it will be “in select models during 2016.” Nor has the company indicated whether owners of current Chrysler products will be able to upgrade to the new system, as Ford has said some of it owners will be able to do. Besides Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the new Uconnect system promises faster processing speeds, sharper resolution, and a more-responsive touch screen.
Looking beyond the latest Uconnect, the company also showed a working mock-up of future in-car connectivity. The concept features car-to-X communications, community tagging (allowing the driver to identify roadway hazards for the benefit of other drivers, Ã la Waze), follow-me mode (in which a driver can request another car to follow them), and various personalization features that for now are part of the tantalizing future.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1PGmXkY
via IFTTT
General Motors and Toyota had their massive scandals. Now it’s Volkswagen’s turn. The company, which owns 70 percent of the U.S. passenger-car diesel market, is in major trouble for cheating on diesel-emissions tests. After years of promoting “Clean Diesel” as an alternative to hybrid and electric vehicles—the company even marched on Washington with a squadron of Audi TDI models—Volkswagen is stewing in its own toxic vapors. Here’s our handy guide to what’s happening.
What happened?
Volkswagen installed emissions software on more than a half-million diesel cars in the U.S.—and roughly 10.5 million more worldwide—that allows them to sense the unique parameters of an emissions drive cycle set by the Environmental Protection Agency. According to the EPA and the California Air Resources Board, who were tipped off by researchers in 2014, these so-called “defeat devices” detect steering, throttle, and other inputs used in the test to switch between two distinct operating modes.
In the test mode, the cars are fully compliant with all federal emissions levels. But when driving normally, the computer switches to a separate mode—significantly changing the fuel pressure, injection timing, exhaust-gas recirculation, and, in models with AdBlue, the amount of urea fluid sprayed into the exhaust. While this mode likely delivers higher mileage and power, it also permits heavier nitrogen-oxide emissions (NOx)—a smog-forming pollutant linked to lung cancer—that are up to 40 times higher than the federal limit. That doesn’t mean every TDI is pumping 40 times as much NOx as it should. Some cars may emit just a few times over the limit, depending on driving style and load.
Which cars are affected? Will my car pass state inspection?
The following Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche diesel models have been cited by the EPA for emissions violations. There is no recall and the cars pass all state inspections, at least for now. Remember, VW has admitted to violating federal emissions laws, and as such, it’s neither a state nor a safety issue. However, if Volkswagen does issue a recall, some states (particularly California and some that follow Partial Zero Emission Vehicle standards) may prevent owners from renewing their registration if they don’t complete the fix.
Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche dealers can’t sell any new diesels. Additional certified pre-owned diesels are also under stop-sale orders. The following cars cover models and model years that go beyond those cited by the EPA, which has not ordered VW to halt sales. This list of banned diesels comes directly from VW corporate, although more models could be added. Other 2016 diesel models scheduled to debut, such as the 2016 Passat TDI, have not even entered dealer inventory and may not for months.
Right now, this is unclear. Volkswagen has said only that it would begin repairs in January, but the U.S. market has not been singled out for specific service jobs. There are three generations of the 2.0-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder, and all will require different fixes (from simple software updates to complete, and potentially performance-crippling, hardware retrofits). Then there’s the 3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6, which VW executives in Germany deny even has a problem. On those models, Audi said on November 23 it would update the software and “resubmit” its emissions applications after the EPA found undocumented “auxiliary emission control devices” that were allowing excessive levels of NOx. About 85,000 Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen models use the 3.0 TDI engine.
On November 25, Volkswagen detailed a fix for European 1.6-liter diesel engines that installs a mesh insert within the air intake, plus a software update for the newest EA189 2.0-liter diesel engines. No changes have yet been announced for U.S. models.
Don’t all automakers tailor their cars to ace the EPA test cycle? Why single out VW?
Automakers optimize powertrains for each second of the EPA’s dynamometer tests (Federal Test Procedure 75, the one VW’s computers detect, runs for 1370 seconds). They have to, because they’re required to self-certify every model on sale. The EPA verifies roughly 15 percent of those tests each year. In rare cases, automakers grossly overstate fuel economy (as Ford and Kia did) and can take advantage of loopholes in the certification process.
Yet these standardized tests, flawed as they may be in comparison to real-world driving, are critical. Performed correctly, they’re at least an accurate method to assess legal compliance and provide a fair comparison for consumers. Right now, there’s no indication that automakers program their cars to run in a wildly different fashion on the road, even as the EPA and the German government attempt to prove otherwise. Volkswagen explicitly did, and that’s why it’s getting hammered.
What are selective catalytic reduction and urea injection?
Diesel fuel is carbon-rich and close in composition to home heating oil. As such, it’s inherently dirty and sooty when burned. While heavy-duty diesel pickups, vans, trucks, and other commercial vehicles follow looser environmental standards, light-duty vehicles have it tough—and nowhere is it tougher to certify a diesel car or truck than in the U.S. In order to trap particulates and curb nitrogen oxide in practically all new diesel engines, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and urea injection must be used.
A three-way catalytic converter in gasoline vehicles treats exhaust gas by both oxidizing (adding oxygen to convert carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water) and reducing (removing oxygen to convert nitrogen oxide to nitrogen and water). But diesel engines burn so lean that they require separate oxidation and reduction catalysts. After diesel exhaust passes through the oxidation catalyst and a particulate filter, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF, branded by VW as AdBlue) is injected into the stream before entering the reduction catalyst. DEF is a precise mixture of one-third urea and two-thirds deionized water and must be refilled (typically at manufacturer-recommended oil-change intervals) from a separate tank.
Since news of the first violation broke on September 18, one-third of the company’s market cap has been wiped out with its nosediving stock price, and the company has abandoned its goal at becoming the world’s largest automaker by 2018. Volkswagen has set aside more than $7 billion to cover recall-related costs, but CEO Matthias Müller has suggested the company may need more. On January 4, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Volkswagen on behalf of the EPA, which can technically fine Volkswagen up to $37,500 per car—a potential $18 billion punch. Given how the federal government has treated General Motors and Toyota in their respective scandals, VW probably won’t get hit that hard. But Volkswagen’s profits and cash reserves undoubtedly will suffer from the fines, lawsuits, and incentives, so much so that Müller has ordered a strict review of all 300-plus models across VW Group’s nine brands. Internal audits inevitably will lead to firings, restructuring, and other corporate changes. So far, though, even seemingly frivolous divisions like Bugatti aren’t getting axed.
What’s Volkswagen doing for customers?
As part of its “Customer Goodwill Package,” Volkswagen is handing out $1000 cash to every owner of a VW TDI named in the EPA’s first violation notice (not the second notice announced November 2). That means nearly 482,000 people can get a $500 prepaid Visa card to spend on anything and another $500 cash card valid only at Volkswagen dealerships (to use toward another car, service, or lots of VW hats). They also get free 24-hour roadside assistance for the next three years. Audi, Porsche, and VW TDI owners who took delivery after November 8 are not eligible (full rules here). Current owners of any VW model can get a $2000 cash rebate toward a new car. Dealers also have “discretionary” cash they can use to sweeten deals (and they’re getting guaranteed kickbacks for some models). Basically, if Volkswagen is on your shopping list, now’s the time to haggle like a pro.
All right, I’d like some more free money. How can I sue?
There are already a couple hundred lawsuits alleging economic harm against VW’s now-infamous “Clean Diesel” marketing campaign and the half-million cars under EPA violation. None have yet been consolidated before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, but expect most, if not all, to be sometime next year. For the time being, Hagens-Berman, a huge firm that squeezed $1.1 billion from Toyota and intends to sue General Motors for $10 billion, has a class-action lawsuit ready and waiting.
What are TDI owners actually doing?
As Greenpeace and other environmental groups lambaste VW, the obligatory news articles profiling angry TDI drivers have popped up. Granted, there are some people genuinely upset with VW for misleading them over their car’s emissions levels. But as we see it, the majority of TDI buyers are knowledgeable enthusiasts in love with sky-high fuel economy, torque, durability, and low running costs. Some really frugal types convert their TDIs to run on refined vegetable oil or biodiesel. These people are diehards.
If any fix Volkswagen proposes ends up hampering performance—be it increased fuel consumption or a loss of power—many TDI owners may very well ignore a recall. It’s a tricky legal situation, as neither the EPA nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can force individual owners to update their cars. Several bills in Congress have proposed banning registration renewals for car owners who don’t complete recalls, but they’re a long way from becoming law. For now, most TDI owners are continuing to putter about. It’s also too early to prove that resale values have dropped significantly. With more time, we’ll have a fuller picture.
This story was originally published on November 13, 2015; it is being constantly updated to reflect the latest developments in the VW diesel-emissions scandal.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1Ms1tEV
via IFTTT
The DOJ filed the suit on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, naming Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and each brand’s U.S. subdivisions. The complaint alleges that nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. were equipped with defeat devices that allowed the cars to pass emissions testing, but emit far more than the legal limit of certain pollutants in everyday driving.
“Car manufacturers that fail to properly certify their cars and that defeat emission-control systems breach the public trust, endanger public health, and disadvantage competitors,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The United States will pursue all appropriate remedies against Volkswagen to redress the violations of our nation’s clean-air laws alleged in the complaint.”
Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said, “so far, recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward. These discussions will continue in parallel with the federal court action.”
The complaint names nearly 500,000 2.0-liter TDI-powered Volkswagen models from 2009 to 2015, and roughly 85,000 3.0-liter TDI models from Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche, as violating U.S. environmental regulations. Volkswagen previously estimated that the cheating software was included in up to 11 million vehicles sold worldwide. You can read our full coverage of the scandal here.
The suit filed today provides the Department of Justice with the option of hitting Volkswagen with monetary civil penalties, although no dollar amount was specified in the filing.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1Z1FPgS
via IFTTT
Ford has announced that its Sync 3 infotainment system will support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone-mirroring from the factory starting with 2017-model-year vehicles. And owners of 2016-model Fords will be able to update their Sync 3 system to work with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well. It’s all part of a Sync 3 update that Ford announced in conjunction with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Besides the Apple and Android news, the Sync Connect app unveiled last fall at the debut of the 2017 Escape will be available throughout the 2017 lineup. The app allows you to monitor and control aspects of your vehicle—such as location, fuel level, and remote locking and unlocking—with a smartphone, via a 4G LTE connection. A five-year subscription is included.
With Sync 3 now able to share a vehicle’s location with various programs, other location-based apps are now available, including one from AAA/CAA that can provide navigation with traffic info as well as local fuel prices; a Concur business-expense-reporting app that can log business trips; and Eventseeker and Cityseeker, which look for local restaurants and entertainment.
The 2017 Ford Escape, which already made its debut at the L.A. auto show last November, will be the first factory model out with CarPlay and Android Auto. As to the ability of 2016 models to add the features, Ford says that will come “later in the year.”
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1O6DMTm
via IFTTT
Eying a British supercar, but not quite ready to take the full financial plunge? Your problems are solved, pal. McLaren just announced a new program with Ally Financial, making it possible to lease a British supercar for the very first time.
Yes, the all-new offer will allow you to plop a $185,000 McLaren 570S—the brilliant, 562-hp mid-engined “entry level” model in McLaren’s lineup—in your garage for a monthly payment starting at $2200. McLaren says you’ll also be able to lease the ridiculously quick 650S, which costs $270,000 to purchase outright, although the automaker didn’t specify the lease payment on that model.
The move makes sense for McLaren. As the automaker points out in today’s announcement, the 570S in particular competes in a market segment where leasing is a major factor, competing against vehicles like the Porsche 911 Turbo and Audi R8 V10. The leasing move also could open up a secondary market for McLaren, selling certified-preowned vehicles at the end of their lease terms, should the automaker so choose.
Mortgage a house, rent a fancy apartment, or lease a McLaren? You know which one we’d pick.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1JTi6Zc
via IFTTT
