American consumers have not used the technology in decades and an entirely new generation of buyers has entered the market since previous-generation diesels exited....More
As popular as review websites are, especially compared with dealer sites, car buyers most trust information gathered through social media when deciding what dealer to use for their next vehicle purchase....More
Newly developed “smart” textiles that can automatically heat and cool themselves could replace the thermo-conductive layers currently used by auto makers....More
Amko Leenarts, Ford’s global interior-design chief, says the influx of technology into today’s vehicles creates challenges such as finding space for the different components....More
Experts agree lighting must be integrated into the design process earlier, so it complements the styling pillars of a particular vehicle program....More
The Piquette plant built 12,000 Model T’s by 1910, and by then the car’s runaway success gave birth to yet another big idea: Ford’s Highland Park plant 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north, a hulking complex 10 times larger than the humble wood and brick Piquette facility that later was used to produce Studebakers....More
If John Wayne were asked to mosey in to a design studio and help create a pickup truck, chances are he'd rustle up something like the Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn....More
If you wager on where the automotive market is going, look at what will be required by future government regulations, what will be affordable and what will not resemble an economic stimulus for trial lawyers....More
Union rank-and-file workers have criticized their own negotiators, saying they rejected an April 26 deal because Hyundai was demanding a productivity increase in return for a small pay raise....More
OEMs that ignore the government’s incentive programs do so at their own risk, says an executive from the association of vehicle importers. In practice, companies that do not adhere to the program will have their IPI tax hiked 30% on imports....More
The auto maker needs stocks to remain above the industry average of roughly 80 days, because it has been idling assembly plants to changeover tooling for the ’14 models trickling in to dealers now....More
The achievement makes the auto maker a leader in local environmental responsibility, which is especially important as the heavily industrialized Rayong region is suffering the effects of growing pollution....More
For the second consecutive month, U.S. light vehicles attained record fuel efficiency even as sales continued to shift toward traditionally less-efficient segments....More
Ford and Nissan are the two biggest reasons industry capacity utilization is running at 100% or more, but they are getting a lot of help from manufacturers with only one or two facilities, nearly all of them on 3-shift/crew schedules....More
WardsAuto/AutomotiveCompass Global Vehicle & Powertrain Forecasts.
Interest in autonomous vehicles continues to grow, but technical, legal, regulatory and cost hurdles remain. When will true driverless cars reach the U.S. market?
Human-machine interface systems should be designed to enhance, not distract, the driving experience, panelists here say, acknowledging mistakes have been made and that future trends point to simpler interfaces....More
“Until cars assume complete responsibility for driving, the critical challenge is to design vehicles so that drivers clearly understand how the car works. Even small design changes can violate drivers’ expectations and confuse them.”...More
Most early connected-vehicle safety technologies making their way into volume vehicles, such as lane departure and forward collision alert, are bundled into expensive option packages....More
If you wager on where the automotive market is going, look at what will be required by future government regulations, what will be affordable and what will not resemble an economic stimulus for trial lawyers....More
Researchers are developing the capability to assess and rate the new technologies’ effectiveness and promote their adoption and uptake in new cars....More
Fully automated driving may come eventually, but in the meantime the technology’s building blocks could be the ultimate answer to distracted-driving concerns....More