Auto News 5

Barely two years since FHI built the first 86 for Toyota, the 100,000th car has just been announced, as has Toyota Motor Europe's revised '2015 model year' GT86.

The European Union wants to boost the bloc's share of economic output coming from manufacturing by a quarter by 2020, its official in charge of automotive regulation told the Automotive News Europe Congress.

May's Memorial holiday weekend and extra selling day helped automakers move 1.6m cars and light trucks, an 11.3% jump over May 2013.

Toyota is now solidly profitable in Europe on the back of rising hybrid sales and aggressive cost-cutting across its operations, head of Toyota Europe Didier Leroy told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Brussels.

Toyota is now solidly profitable in Europe on the back of rising hybrid sales and aggressive cost-cutting across its operations, head of Toyota Europe Didier Leroy told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Brussels.

What is it?

To say that a Gar Wood 28-40 Triple Cockpit runabout floats across the water isn't just obvious -- it's an understatement.

News 4 Jun, 2014

A new Ford Mondeo concept car has been revealed, showing off Ford's weight-saving plans

PSA Peugeot Citroën has again looked to its UK operations to promote another Briton to work at its Paris HQ with the appointment of Jules Tilstone as head of marketing for the DS brand.

News 4 Jun, 2014

Study claims that accidents in GM cars linked to ignition switch recall issues occur at higher rate

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn predicts that self-driving cars could be on the roads four years from now, provided red tape does not get in the way.

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn predicts that self-driving cars could be on the roads four years from now, provided red tape does not get in the way.

New-car registrations across Europe were generally lackluster in May after a rebound in the first few months of the year, although sales in Germany and Spain rose due to incentives and subsidies.

Fourteen young and talented automotive executives have been honored as Rising Stars within the automotive industry by Automotive News Europe.

Toyota Europe CEO Didier Leroy says that to become a true leader you should not worry about making your boss happy.

I have mixed feelings about April's sales results. Yes, volume rose 8 percent and put us on pace to reach 16 million units this year. But no, it didn't blow the doors off.

BMW topped Mercedes in May U.S. sales as smaller, cheaper models and fashionable SUVs helped luxury brands increase deliveries.

Last week's consent order with subprime lender Consumer Portfolio Services won't be the last time the FTC targets an auto lender for fairness in collections and loan servicing rather than discrimination in loan originations, lawyers say.

From GMM

Gene Haas has confirmed reports his new formula one team will not debut until 2016.

Recently, it was reported the Nascar team co-owner's 'plan A' for his newly-granted F1 entry Haas Formula was to join the grid next season.

But he confirmed this week to F1 business journalist Christian Sylt: "From a personal standpoint, I really would have liked to go racing in 2015. It was hard to sit there and say no.

"Trust me, I really wanted to go," Gene Haas told Forbes. "The first year is always going to be going to be tough but I think that by waiting a year we will probably only have six months of it being really tough because we will be better prepared."

Christian Sylt said the extra year will give Haas time to set up its design and aerodynamics department in North Carolina, and find a satellite headquarters in the south of England.

"The plan is absolutely to launch in 2016 and we are fully committed to that," said Haas. "I don't think there is any doubt about that whatsoever."

Initially, the plan was to have the first Haas car built by the Italian manufacturer Dallara, while leaning heavily on Ferrari for technical support.

Haas said: "I think (by debuting in 2016) we will be a better team because we will have more time to plan and we will be able to do a lot more engineering in Kannapolis.

"We decided that it would be better to be 100 per cent sure we are going to make the race rather than scramble and not make the race," he added.

Kannapolis' factory. (Photo: Stewart-Haas)

Haas will, however, be trackside this weekend in Montreal, as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve hosts the Canadian grand prix.

"There's a lot of logistics that we are going to learn and this weekend we are going to be asking a lot of questions like 'How do you get that box from here to there?'" he said.

Also being reported from Italy is that Nicolo Petrucci, formerly Toro Rosso's aerodynamics chief and with links to both Ferrari and Dallara, could be set to join the Haas project.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog questioning the merits of fully autonomous vehicles and the excessively fast pace at which technology is evolving. Following recent articles on the subject, a colleague and I found ourselves in a healthy and relevant debate about the safety and reliability of these self-driving cars.

100% safe?
Companies like Google (which is working on its own prototype) will tell you that autonomous vehicles will one day be 100% safe and reliable -- heck, maybe even 200%. We all know that's impossible. While these automobiles are designed like well-oiled machines and most likely integrate some kind of fail-safe devices, there could always be a problem somewhere.

What if the car can't slow down in time and runs a red light, harming someone? What if the “driver” has to take control? Will they have the time and reflexes to avoid an accident? That brings us to the second point in our discussion...

Who or what is responsible?
Autonomous vehicles are and will be programmed to obey the letter of the law. However, in the event of a glitch that leads to a traffic violation, who will the police officer give the ticket to? Technically, you're not the driver. According to Google, the manufacturer should be held responsible and pay the fine. That opens up another can of worms, though.

Did you know that 41 million people in the U.S. get caught speeding every year, totalling $6.2 billion in fines? We're not even counting other violations, such as running a red light or a school bus stop sign. If we all use autonomous vehicles that supposedly can do no wrong, then...

How will governments make up for the loss in revenue?
Just imagine the drop in speeding tickets. As car owners, we'll be ecstatic. On the other hand, this may very well have terrible consequences on the economy. Less money in the government's coffers means more policemen could lose their jobs. And what about repair shops? Auto parts companies? Do you see all the collateral damage autonomous vehicles may cause?

Naturally, governments will want to make up for the loss in revenue. How? Well, they could decide to increase taxes, fuel prices, and parking fees or else implement toll systems on just about every road. Think about that.

The BIG silver lining
Of course, autonomous vehicles have major upsides, too. According to Weekly Science, they have the potential in the U.S. to save:

• 1.9 billion gallons of fuel, equal to $101 billion;
• 4.95 million accidents;
• 30,000 related deaths;
• 4.8 billion commuting hours.

Surprisingly (maybe), drivers in emerging countries have the most faith in autonomous vehicles. Brazilians (94%) and Indians (86%) top the list, while Canadians are about 50-50. Only 28% of Japanese drivers trust them.

One thing's for sure: Autonomous vehicles will take over our streets in the next decade, with a growing number of manufacturers already working on their technology. Even Google has started experimenting with new driverless cars that have no steering wheels and no gas or brake pedals!

What's your take on autonomous vehicles? Is technology moving forward too fast, and are we too dependent on it?