- ‘No other supplier other than Takata has used this ammonium nitrate’ – Automotive News: The emerging crisis over airbags traces back to a little-known Japanese company that for over 20 years has supplied the safety devices to automakers including Toyota, Honda and GM.
- Honda to take $53 million charge for recalls, including Fit – Automotive News: Honda Motor Co. said it will book 5.7 billion yen ($53 million) in additional recall charges for vehicles, including the top-selling Fit compact car and the new Vezel SUV.
- Tesla offers leasing options for new Model S in U.S. – Automotive News: Tesla Motors unveiled a leasing policy for its new Model S with an option for buyers in the United States to return the car within three months of purchase.
- Toyota’s global sales rise 3% as race with VW tightens – Automotive News: Toyota said worldwide sales climbed 3 percent through September as the carmaker battles Volkswagen to be the global sales leader. The race is playing out as automakers contend with mounting recalls and rising scrutiny over the safety of vehicles.
- Takata to form quality control committeee; CEO apologizes for airbag crisis – Automotive News: Takata said it will form a global quality control committee in response to an auto-safety crisis created by flaws in its airbags. The company’s CEO also issued an apology.
- JAPAN: Honda introduces pedestrian avoidance system – Just-auto: Honda will introduce a new generation driver assist system with its redesigned Legend before the end of the year, adding a number of new functions including a claimed world-first ‘pedestrian collision mitigation steering’.
- Honda Q2 profit to rise, but recalls cloud outlook – Reuters: Honda Motor Co is likely to post its best July-September profit since the global financial crisis, but a slew of vehicle recalls threatens to delay the roll-out of new models, crimping domestic market sales growth.
- Toyota Leads Global Vehicle Sales – Via Google News: G.M. this month reported sales of 7.37 million cars and trucks worldwide. … vehicles this year, which would be a record for the automobile industry.
- Auto industry uses 3-D printing heavily in product development – Automotive News: Companies as old as Ford and as new as Local Motors have embraced 3-D printing, a technology that promises faster development, lower costs and a reduction in mechanical failures.
- Toyota drops resistance to 3-shift plants – Automotive News: Toyota Motor Corp. is rethinking its longtime resistance to three-shift factories as it seeks to build more vehicles amid a self-imposed freeze on building more plants.
- Edmunds YouTube flap underscores tension with 3rd-party sites – Automotive News: Edmunds.com’s YouTube ad campaign that spoofed price haggling at dealerships lasted just two days.
- Toyota Global Sales Rise 2.8% in Tight Race vs Volkswagen – Via Google News: The industrywide struggle with defective cars poses risk to both Toyota and Volkswagen, which are benefiting from increasing demand in the China …
- Chinese carmakers import design talent to compete globally – Via Google News: … was hired as design chief nearly three years ago to inject global flair at Chery Automobile Co. … Chery, for example, sells cars in some 60 countries.
- Surge of used cars stings – Via Google News: A rising supply of used vehicles, particularly late-model cars and trucks coming … Steven Szakaly, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers …
- Honda Motors: Safe Drive Of Your Portfolio – Via Google News: Honda witnessed an increase in unit sales in the automobile segment that … The company has been unable to cash in on the trend of growing auto …
- Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn Warns of More Auto Recalls – Via Google News: Seen recalls for over 8 million vehicles in the united states. … who provides airbags to a large portion of the automobile market hearing at states.
- Bangalore based engineer working on launching India’s very own flying car – Via Google News: AK Vishwanath, 56 year old engineer from Bangalore has been working on the future of automobiles, a flying car. If successful, this would mean that …
- New twin-turbo V8 engine destined for more Mercedes models – Autocar: AMG boss confirms the new 4.0-litre V8 engine found in the GT will be used in elsewhere in the Mercedes range. AMG boss Tobias Moers has confirmed that his firm’s new 4.0-litre V8 engine will in time replace all existing V8 powertrains, including those used by non-AMG products. “The engine will replace our 5.5-litre engine,” said Moers. Mercedes-Benz will build its own version of the engine on a standard production line. All engines destined for AMG cars will still be built on the ‘one man, one…
- Ford promises improved ride comfort for European Mustang – Autocar: Ford bosses say the new Mustang, which goes on sale in the UK next June, will be tuned for more comfort on European roads. Ford is looking at improving the low-speed ride comfort of its new Mustang ahead of its 2015 European launch. The car, which Autocar test-drove in Los Angeles, has received praise for its performance and high speed handling, but there have been concerns over its low-speed ride, which lacks the compliance needed for UK roads
- Nissan says recalls key to customer loyalty – Via Google News: … the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. His remarks come amid widening global recalls of cars with potentially faulty air-bag inflators, …
- Administration Will Review Auto Safety Regulator – NY Times: The inquiry into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes during a record year for recalls, in which the agency’s role has been scrutinized by Congress.
- Toyota Confirms Sale of Part of Tesla Stake – WSJ: Toyota said Friday it has sold some of its stake in Tesla Motors, days after German luxury car maker Daimler disclosed it had divested its Tesla shares for a sizable gain.
- Renault design boss plans crucial new concept car – Autocar: Laurens van den Acker plans to show a new concept car in 2016 which will shape the company’s future design direction. Renault design boss Laurens van den Acker is planning a show concept for 2016 that he expects to be as influential on Renault’s future as the 2010 DeZir electric coupé. The DeZir set the design direction of the company’s two best-sellers of recent years, the Clio and Captur. Van den Acker said that the type of car can’t yet be revealed but that by the time the wraps come off it, a new…
- New Nissan GT-R planned for 2017 – Autocar: Nissan’s next-generation sports car won’t launch until 2017 at the earliest, but will feature more aggressive styling than today’s model. The next Nissan GT-R won’t make an appearance until at least 2017 and it could be 2018 until the next generation of the firm’s sports car is launched. Speculative reports have previously claimed that the car will come in 2016 but Nissan’s chief creative officer, Shiro Nakamura, told Autocar that it is three to four years away. According to Nakamura, Nissan has…
- Exclusive: Ford to overhaul Lincoln brand, this time with big bucks – Reuters: Ford Motor Co’s new chief executive, Mark Fields, is giving the automaker’s long-moribund Lincoln brand what his predecessor Alan Mulally never could: a little love and a lot of cash.
- Ford’s lower profit beats estimates; sales down on F-150 launch – Reuters: Ford Motor Co on Friday reported a 34 percent drop in third-quarter profit, and revenue fell due to the cost of introducing the F-150 pickup truck.
- Ecclestone backs Caterham F1 sale – FT: Motorsport boss supports sale of racing team after it follows its car arm into administration
- Collecting: The Roof Doctor Will See Your Lincoln Now – NY Times: With an established reputation as an expert on the intricacies of 1960s Continentals, John C. Cashman travels America, making house calls to cure ailing 1960s Lincoln Continental convertibles.
- The Fords’ Mark IIs May Lead to Reunion – NY Times: A car collector introduces Edsel Ford II to the Lincoln Continentals once owned by his mother and his uncle and spurs the idea of holding a concours of Ford-owned cars.
- 2015 McLaren 650S – NY Times: McLaren’s 641-horsepower 650S supercar grabs the baton of its predecessor, the 12C, and sprints like the wind.
- Around the Block: Review: 2015 Jaguar F-Type R coupe – NY Times: The howling 2015 F-Type R coupe is the most powerful production Jaguar ever, accelerating more quickly than a 911 S or a Stingray.
- U.S. appeals court rules for GM over Spyker’s Saab sale – Reuters: General Motors Co persuaded a federal appeals court to uphold the dismissal of a $3 billion lawsuit in which Spyker NV accused it of derailing a plan to sell the Swedish automaker Saab to a Chinese company.
- A Ferris Wheel for Cars and Trucks – NY Times: Three new parking structures in Downtown Brooklyn each stack a dozen vehicles on the footprint of two parking spaces.
- Ford Earnings Drop Before Debut of New F-150 – NY Times: The automaker’s pretax profit of $1.2 billion beat Wall Street’s expectations, but a lengthy shutdown of its truck plant for retooling ate into sales and profit.
- Ford’s Fields Bullish on F-150 Launch, Tesla Model S Competitor – Wards: “We have driven the Model S,” the chief executive says. “We’ve torn it down, we’ve put it back together (and) we drove it again. (We’re) very familiar with that product.”