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| » April 19, 2007 |
Nissan to test intelligent transport
system using cell phones
Nissan Motor Company has announced that it is developing
an advanced Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), employing
cellular communications to help reduce crashes involving
pedestrians. The system will use GPS to transmit the position
of pedestrians using their cellular telephones. ITS will
employ Japan's 3G cellular communications system, which will
be launched this month, using GPS as the basis to provide
location information of the pedestrian's cellular telephone.
Location data transmitted from the phone is fed to the ITS,
which determines the corresponding positions between the
pedestrian and the vehicle. An alert appears to warn the
driver, helping to reduce road collisions, particularly in
blind-spot situations. Nissan is studying what types of pedestrian
data are most relevant, and will investigate a variety of
factors influencing the relative positions, such as the directions
in which pedestrians and the vehicle are moving, and the
corresponding speeds and distances between them. Various
driver alerts are under study, including visual warnings
or audible alarms.
Toyota breaks ground in Mississippi
Toyota officially broke ground at a ceremony yesterday
on the future site of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi,
Inc. (TMMMS), its eighth vehicle manufacturing plant in
North America. The plant will produce the Toyota Highlander
SUV. Production at the US$1.3 billion plant is scheduled
to begin by 2010, with 2,000 workers; annual vehicle capacity
will be 150,000 units. Once production begins at TMMMS,
Toyota will have the capacity to produce some 2.2 million
cars and trucks annually in North America. Excavation at
the site began in March and site preparation will begin
in May. Toyota says its goal is to spend 15 per cent of
TMMMS' construction budget with local minority-owned business
enterprises.
Chevrolet Blazer has highest driver
death rate
General Motors Corp. vehicles had the highest and lowest
driver death rates from 2002 through 2005, according
to a study being released Thursday by the insurance industry.
Two-door, two-wheel drive Chevrolet Blazers built from
2001 to 2004 had the highest rate of 232 driver deaths
per million registered vehicles during the four-year
span, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found.
By contrast, the Chevrolet Astro minivan had the lowest
rate with only seven deaths per million registered vehicles.
It was followed by the Infiniti G35, BMW 7 Series and
the Toyota 4Runner. The two-door Acura RSX had the second-highest
rate with 202 driver deaths followed by the Nissan 350Z,
which registered 193 deaths. Automakers said the study
was limited in its scope because it did not include factors
which could play a major role in the fatalities. "The
study doesn't really take into account driver behavior
or how the vehicles are used so it's difficult to really
draw much significance," said GM spokesman Alan
Adler. The Astro and Blazer went out of production in
2005. GM currently sells the Chevy TrailBlazer midsize
SUV. Nissan said all of its vehicles "are engineered
to meet or exceed government safety regulations as well
as our own rigorous internal safety requirements, and
the 350Z is no exception." The automaker said it
urges "everyone driving a Nissan or Infiniti vehicle
to do so safely." Chris Naughton, a Honda Motor
Co. spokesman, said the company, which makes the Acura
RSX, has "long striven to build very safe vehicles
with a long list of safety features." He noted the
sports coupe typically had younger buyers, which could
have contributed to its ranking. The institute found
that the average death rate for all vehicles has declined
from 110 from 1990 to 1994 to the current rate of 79
for the 2002-2005 period. "This is a big improvement
over time. The rates have gone down about 30 percent
since the mid-1990s," said Anne McCartt, the institute's
senior vice president for research.
Ford not ruling out sale, partnership
Bill Ford, Jr. tells magazine reporter that options
are still on the table. Ford Motor Co. chairman, Bill
Ford, Jr., told Conde Nast magazine that his company
has not ruled out an eventual sale or partnership as
the automaker cuts jobs and closes plants. In an interview
with Conde Nast's Portfolio Magazine, Mr. Ford reportedly
said: "Merge with another company, go it alone,
sell off the brands, have the family pull out and get
rid of their B stock -- there are a billion things
that could've happened." Frustrated by the bureaucratic
culture at the company and looking for new leadership,
Mr. Ford said he reached out to now DaimlerChrysler
AG Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche and to Nissan CEO
Carlos Ghosn. Both men turned down the position of
chief operating officer. In September, Ford recruited
Alan Mulally to head the company. After Mr. Mulally
took the helm, Ford raised $23.5 billion to fund its
restructuring by mortgaging most of its automotive
assets. Still, Bill Ford told the magazine neither
he nor Mr. Mulally ruled out an eventual sale or partnership
for the company.
MP introduces bill to ensure consumers' "Right
to Repair"
Brian Masse, Member of Parliament (Windsor West) and
NDP Industry and Border Critic, has introduced a private
member bill to ensure consumers' "Right to Repair" on
automobile repairs. He made the announcement alongside
representatives of the Canadian Automobile Association
(CAA) and the Automotive Industries Association of
Canada. Right to Repair, modeled on a similar bill
presented to the U.S. Congress, addresses the difficulty
that independent repair shops may have in accessing
computer software and specialized tools from vehicle
manufacturers. On-board diagnostic capabilities (OBD
II) were introduced for all new vehicles in Canada
in 1998 and now exist on approximately 59 per cent
of the 18.4 million vehicles on Canadian roads. The
use of these computer control units is essential for
the proper maintenance of emissions, safety standards
and operations. The bill contains provisions that balance
the need to protect proprietary information, while
creating a mechanism to keep robust competition in
the auto service sector. |
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