Industry Spotlight Posts
BMW Group and Daimler AG recently announced they would invest more than €1 billion ($1.13 billion) to form a joint venture offering customers a single source for sustainable urban mobility service solutions. But what's in it for both players? Data, data and more precious data...
Electric vehicles first appeared in the mid 19th century and were so efficient that an electric vehicle held the vehicular land speed record until around 1900. However, the relatively high cost, low top speed and shor...
The past two decades have probably been the most innovative years in the history of the automotive industry. The speed at which the spotlight has moved from downsized IC engines to PHEVs and onto full EVs and fully se...
Although Electric Vehicles hold a relatively insignificant share of the global carpark at the moment, there’s no doubt that this is set to change dramatically over the next few years: Last year EV sales grew by about...
The motor industry is on the brink of a technological and social revolution that will fundamentally alter the way it does business. The scale, scope and complexity of the revolution will be unlike anything humankind h...
For many years U.S. regulators have been calling for more automation in motor vehicles. By fitting systems that apply the brakes to prevent a crash, or guide a vehicle on the highway, the Department of Transport hopes...
After more than a century, is the ultimate HMI set to disappear from the motor car?
Published: 2016-06-27
Published: 2016-06-27
No doubt our forefathers never saw the tiller as one of the first Human Machine Interfaces, so when they ditched this maritime relic for a circular steering wheel it was surely only seen as a technical improve...
In a strange twist of fate two recent GM suitors, Google and FCA, find themselves in a highly publicized marriage of convenience. But why would these two end up as bedfellows in the race for the first series-productio...
New technologies in the automotive industry are a dime a dozen and like the proverbial kid in a cand...
Even as BMW celebrated its 100-year anniversary with a celebration in Munich's Olympiahalle, it finds itself entering a new disruptive digital age commonly called the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Not only do...
After centuries of building motor vehicles one would have thought that process controls and procedures would have developed to the point where recalls, and in particular safety r...
According to Bob Joop Goos, chairman of the International Organisation for Road Accident Prevention, more than 90 percent of road accidents are caused by human error. If that’s c...
In June Google’s self-driving cars broke through the magical million mile mark. Over this distance these vehicles were involved in eleven accidents; eight during city driving and three on the freeway. None of these we...
In the 1960s, before catalytic converters became standard fitment, the French government took a decision to promote diesel powered vehicles - which at the time, were considered...
In a bizarre twist of fate, at the same time that Volkswagen executives were showcasing the companies new "eco-friendly" models at the IAA auto show in Frankfurt, CARB and EPA officials in North America were...
In 2013 when Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek hacked a Prius, many casual observers saw this as an extreme party trick: A mere two years later these same people watched in horror as several OEM’s were f...
Auto industry under attack: The reality of driving conditions raises questions
Published: 2015-08-12
Published: 2015-08-12
It seems as if the automotive industry and the cars it produces are under attack from all quarters: Not only have white-hat hackers had a field day showing off their skills in bringing hi-tech vehicles such as FCA’s Jeep and Tesla’s Model...
Could the father of social commentary, Bob Dylan, have been thinking of the motor industry when he penned these thought provoking words in the ‘60’s? Looking at events unfolding across the globe o...
Since Ralph Nader's controversial book "Unsafe at Any Speed" was published over 40 years ago, seat belts, padded dashboards, collapsible steering columns, improved bumpers and other safety features have become standard fitment. After seat belts,...
Since the latter half of the 19th Century, the technology of choice to propel the motor car has been the reciprocating piston, spark-ignition Otto-cycle engine, followed by the compression-ignition diesel. After more than a century of...
In 2013, for the first time in history, China led the world in domestic vehicle sales. However in contrast to soaring domestic demand, overseas orders for China-made vehicles fell, thwarting the country’s plans to become a major auto expor...
A year after the NHTSA awarded the Tesla Model S a Five-Star safety rating, and 11 months after the first fiery images appeared on YouTube in October 2013, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the state of the nation down in Fremo...
Market research company IHS Automotive recently released a report indicating that global light vehicle production increased by 25 million units between 2009 and 2013. This is expected to increase by a further 21 million vehicles before 2021....
It’s not unusual for fledgling motor manufacturers to indulge in a bit of creative reverse engineering when starting out along the long road to success: Remember Nissan’s evolution from their license agreement to produce the Austin A...
With a 10% reduction in vehicle weight achieving a 3-4% fuel saving, or as much as 5-7% if the power train is also downsized, it was only a matter of time before an OEM took the plunge with a radical approach to weight reduction on a high volume...
