Auto News 5

I was stunned to discover the weight figures for the Renault Eolab plug-in hybrid concept that debuts at this week's Paris auto show. A deeper investigation revealed some interesting calculations.

Nissan Motor is testing its e-NV200 LCV in Hong Kong, with an eye on future sales for the vehicle in Asia.

Self-driving vehicles and smartphone integration will be among the top features at Europe's biggest auto show this year as executives focus on something that's become increasingly hard to come by: buyers.

Hyundai Motor has reportedly reached a tentative wage deal with its South Korean labour union.

Automotive interior surface material supplier, Benecke-Kaliko, says it will lay the foundation stone for the company's second plant in China before the end of this autumn

Plastics manufacturer, Röchling, says it has started production at its new plant in Kunshan, China, with an investment of around EUR10m (US$12.7m).

Toyota has revived plans to launch its Lexus luxury brand in India as sales of high-end vehicles have continued to rise despite an otherwise weakening market.

Opinion 30 Sep, 2014

Auto Express' Mike Rutherford believes the French have unlocked the secret to high real-world fuel economy

Ford is forecasting that its Lincoln luxury brand will triple its vehicle sales to approximately 300,000 a year by 2020 following the brand's introduction in China.

Ferrari will unveil the top-performing convertible version of the mid-engined 458 Speciale sports car range in Paris. The automaker will build just 499 examples of the 458 Speciale A, which has the company's most powerful naturally aspirated engine.

Ford has lowered its 2014 pre-tax profit outlook to US$6bn (excluding special items) citing higher warranty costs and weakening total industry volume in Russia and South America.

Ford targets boosting its global vehicle sales by 52 percent to 9.4 million annually by 2020 as the automaker looks to fast-growing Asian markets to offset the poor-performing regions of Europe and South America.

Ford targets boosting its global vehicle sales by 52 percent to 9.4 million annually by 2020 as the automaker looks to fast-growing Asian markets to offset the poor-performing regions of Europe and South America.

A year ago Carlos Tavares was unemployed, Andy Palmer was Nissan's planning chief and Jean-Marc Gales was leading supplier group CLEPA. All three are now CEOs ready to stand in the spotlight at the Paris auto show this week.

The UAW union and two German labor groups have signed a letter of intent to jointly organize Volkswagen's U.S. assembly plant in Tennessee, a top UAW official said.

The executives chosen as 2014 Automotive News Europe Eurostars achieved success by exceeding expectations. Marco Tencone, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Maserati styling center coordinator, is this year's Eurostar winner for Design.

Chrysler Group, struggling to keep pace with demand for one of its newest products, plans to boost output of light-duty Ram pickups equipped with diesel engines.

Hyundai's "Xtra Love" features Indian film titan Shah Rukh Khan.

There's no denying the importance of seat belts, airbags, disc brakes and other basic safety devices. In fact, they've helped save countless lives for decades. It's just that progress keeps yielding more and more advanced systems and technologies, leading drivers to take some older ones for granted. Heck, even stability and traction control are now yesterday's news.

In recent years, automakers and their partners have gone to great lengths to develop highly sophisticated safety features that take into account the faster, busier world we live in and the growing threat of driving distractions created by our new “connected” lifestyles. A few of them are what some people may call gadgets (head-up displays), others are annoyances (vibrating seat bolsters), but many are clever solutions that make a real difference.

Until autonomous vehicles take our streets by storm, here are the top 10 car safety innovations on the market right now, in no particular order:

LED headlights and taillights
Laser headlights aren't quite here yet, although BMW and Audi are working hard on it, so the next-best thing is LED headlights. These crisper, more powerful units make vehicles easier to see by other drivers while lighting the road up to 300 metres ahead for superior visibility. You can even find them on entry-level cars like the 2014 Corolla.

Although LEDs currently fall a little short of the brightness achieved by high-intensity discharge (HID) headlights, they hit maximum brightness within a millionth of a second. When used in brake and indicator lights they're said to improve the reaction time of other road users by around 30%.

Continue reading Top 10 modern car safety innovations

Round 15 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship brings us to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, held at the Suzuka Circuit, one of the most thrilling and challenging road courses in the world.

Here are seven things to know about the Grand Prix of Japan.

1
Suzuka features a crossover and is the only figure-of-eight circuit on the calendar, meaning that it features both clockwise and anti-clockwise elements. It was designed by Dutchman John Hugenholz in 1962 and hosted its first Grand Prix in 1987.

2
The Japanese Grand Prix has been run 24 times at Suzuka (1987-2006, and from 2009 onwards) and four times at Fuji (1976-77, 2007-08). The only other Japanese track to host a Grand Prix is the TI Aida circuit, which staged the Pacific Grand Prix in 1994 and 1995.

3
The inaugural Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 was held at Fuji and won by Mario Andretti in a Lotus 77. James Hunt, driving for McLaren, dramatically clinched the ‘76 drivers' title by finishing third, narrowly beating Niki Lauda in the title chase.

Mario Andretti, Lotus 77, 1976 Japanese Grand Prix (Photo: WRI2)

4
The furthest back on the grid any Japanese Grand Prix winner has started is 17th. That was Kimi Raikkonen in 2005 in a McLaren-Mercedes, when he thrillingly took the lead on the final lap.

5
Michael Schumacher has won the Japanese Grand Prix 6 times (1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004). Team McLaren won the race 9 times.

6
Kojima entered its own Japanese F1 cars in the 1976 (Kojima KE007-Cosworth) and 1977 Japanese Grand Prix (Kojima KE009-Cosworth). Driven by Masahiro Hasemi, the KE007 finished 11th in 1976. The KE009, driven by Noritake Takahara retired from the race in 1977. These marked Bridgestone's first attempt in F1.

The Kojima KE009-Cosworth (Photo: Bridgestone)

7
Peter Warr (former team manager of Lotus F1 Team) won the very first Japanese Grand Prix held in 1963, driving a Lotus 23 sportscar.