- U.S. states meld zero-emission car plans in drive to sales goal – Automotive News: California, New York and x other states aiming to get more than three million zero-emission vehicles on the road in the next decade, unveiled steps to help achieve that goal including harmonizing consumer incentives and encouraging fleet purchases.
- UK: Ford’s Mulally warns on Europe overcapacity – Just-auto: Ford CEO Alan Mulally has sounded a warning over continuing excess capacity for the auto manufacturing industry in Europe.
- US: GM ignition switch engineer ‘forgot’ design change – report – Just-auto: The General Motors engineer at the centre of the ongoing ignition switch recall enquiry reportedly told Congressional investigators he had forgotten about the design changes he signed off without a new part number.
- Location of GM ignition suit litigation to be decided by U.S. panel – Automotive News: GM wants to return to a New York courtroom to fight at least 90 ignition-switch defect lawsuits while some car owners are driving for the cases to be heard by a California judge seasoned in auto litigation.
- Sorry I’m late for work boss, my car’s been hacked – Autocar: Could the self-driving cars of the future be prone to cyber attacks, disrupting traffic and your journey?
- UN Panel Gives Diesels Mostly Clean Bill of Health – Wards: “We conclude with a high degree of reliability that it is misleading to claim that people’s exposure to diesel engines of road motor vehicles is the cause of increased risk of lung cancer,” the UN panel’s report states.
- RUSSIA: Former Mercedes CEO cites sanctions reluctance – Just-auto: Former Mercedes CEO, Eckhard Cordes, is stressing the need not to rupture relations between Russia and the West as fallout from the Ukrainian situation continues its economic and political implications
- UK: Daimler’s car2go exits UK car sharing market – Just-auto: Daimler’s car2go car sharing unit is to quit the UK. It has been present in Britain with Daimler smart brand cars available for hourly rent in London and Birmingham but will be absent from both cities from 30 May.
- GM India Looks Overseas to Shore Up Slumping Sales – Wards: The model chosen for export is the Chevrolet Beat, a small hatchback considered well-built, affordable and well-suited to city traffic.
- Daimler axes Smart car-sharing scheme in Birmingham and London – Autocar: The German car giant withdraws its pool of vehicles from the UK as Car2go project fails to gain significant traction.
- Hyundai Motor unveils two sedans in South Korea to take on BMW, Audi – Reuters: Hyundai Motor Co unveiled two new sedans built for its home South Korean market on Thursday, an unusual step designed to fend off surging imports from the likes of BMW and Audi.
- Safety: Tests Show Improvements in Crash-Avoidance Systems – NY Times: Automakers are improving systems that aim to keep drivers from colliding with vehicles ahead, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
- GM engineer says he didn’t remember changing ignition switch part – Automotive News: The GM engineer who approved modifying a faulty ignition switch design in 2006 without changing the part number or pushing for a recall told congressional investigators this month that he forgot ever authorizing the change.
- Mercedes allows Chinese to peek under hood in Asia growth push – Reuters: Battling to catch up with German rivals in China, luxury carmaker Daimler is shifting gears, giving local authorities unprecedented access to new Mercedes models and even tailoring engines destined for its home market to Chinese regulations.
- Hyundai Unveils New Luxury Sedan – WSJ: Hyundai Motor has unveiled a new luxury sedan aimed at halting the flow of customers to imported premium brands on the South Korean auto maker’s home turf.
- Ex-GM CEO Akerson: Barra ‘unaware’ of ignition switch problem – DetN: Former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson says he believes his successor Mary Barra was unaware of the ignition switch problems that led to the eventual recall of 2.6 million vehicles linked to 13 deaths and 47 crashes.
- Hyundai Unveils Luxury Car as Competition From BMW Rises – Via Google News: The carmaker introduced the new front-wheel drive premium sedan codenamed AG at the Busan International Motor Show today, according to an …
- How to Sell a Cadillac XTS in China – CarNewsChina.com: Busy times at the Yiwu Auto show in the great city of Yiwu in Zhejiang Province. Visitors check out the Cadillac ATS sedan and then some babe. Cadillac had two babe on the booth, both shaped very impressive. The strategy appeared to work very well.
- Reuss: GM employee morale high despite recalls – Automotive News: In spite of a slew of recalls that have dogged the company for months, General Motors white-collar employees are working with high spirits, a top GM executive said Wednesday.
- Wheelies: The Maybe Someday Edition – NY Times: DeltaWing released an image of what its four-door passenger sedan might look like; G.M. and Ford both made announcements on safety belt technology.
- GM exec: Employee morale good despite recall crisis – DetN: General Motors Co.’s employee morale is faring well despite the recall crisis and has improved over employee responses in 2012, the company’s head of global product development said Wednesday.
- Auto dealer owner shoots teen who tries to steal car, deputies say – Via Google News: The owner of a South Florida automobile dealership shot a teenager who tried to steal a car from the lot a night after the keys to all of the cars for sale …
- Akerson Claims Barra Didn’t Know About Problem – thedetroitbureau.com: Former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson came to the defense of his successor, Mary Barra, saying he doesn’t believe she knew about the ignition switch problem that kicked off the recall of more 2.6 million small cars. In an article in Forbes magazine, Akerson said the board didn’t “throw her under the bus” with the problem.
- Hindustan Motors Long-Lived Ambassador May be Dead – thedetroitbureau.com: Ford Mustang fans in the U.S. and mavens around the world have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first pony car. However, in India, many are mourning the apparent death of a car with an even longer history: the Hindustan Ambassador.
- Honda Accord: Most Stolen Vehicle Model – Via Google News: The Honda Accord is the most stolen vehicle for the fifth time in a row, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and the tracking and …
- Google Car: beep-beep – FT: Driverless cars will not need twitchy meatbags. How about empowered shareholders?
- Ford names Mustang, F-150 team leader new Europe design chief – Automotive News: Ford has named Joel Piaskowski to head its design team in Europe. He will succeed Martin Smith on July 1. Smith, who has led Ford’s European design for 10 years, will retire at the end of the year.
- DeltaWing Unveils 4-Seat Passenger Car Concept – thedetroitbureau.com: The radical DeltaWing race car created quite a buzz when it made its debut a few years back, and this equally radical 4-door passenger car concept is likely to stir things up even more.
- Aerodynamic DeltaWing sports car could deliver race car speed at 70 mpg – Via Google News: DeltaWing Technologies has released a study showing one of its race cars as a street-legal sports car.