Motor manufacturers sign up to digital radio deadline

Digital radios should become standard in new vehicles from the beginning of 2014 after motor manufacturers agreed to adopt the technology.

Manufacturers and broadcasters have signed up to proposals made in the Digital Britain white paper published in June, which allow for FM stations to be turned off from 2015.

Installing digital radios in vehicles is seen as a key step to ensuring that digital becomes the principal way in which Britons listen to radio. Although a third of British homes have a digital radio, only a handful of vehicles on the road have digital receivers.

However, more than a fifth of all radio listening takes place in vehicles so broadcasters view the agreement as a crucial issue for the industry.

Digital Britain’s goal is to ensure that all new cars either have digital radio as standard from 2014, or can be upgraded cheaply. What is less clear is how older vehicles will be brought into the scheme.

Lets just hope that Digital Radio technology is better than Digital TV which is inconsistent in quality and availability

 

Drivers could face fines for leaving engines running

Drivers who leave their engines running could be penalised with a fixed penalty fine of up to £300.

Nottingham City Council is planning a series of fines under ‘quality of life’ measures as the council aims to cut emissions by 10% by 2010.

The council plans to use its civilian community offices to hand out penalties for ‘day to day annoyances’, which also include abandoning a vehicle.

Taxi drivers who leave their engines running for more than three minutes will also be targeted.

 

Convertible drivers risk hearing damage

Drivers of convertible cars could be risking permanent hearing damage from wind and road noise, according to new research.

Road surface, traffic congestion and the wind combined to produce noise levels of between 88 and 100 decibels at speeds of around 70 mph.

Long or repeated exposure to sounds of 85 decibels is widely recognised to raise the risk of permanent hearing loss.

 

Audi has subtly refreshed its logo for the first time since 1990.

Audi says the logo has been given a more “imposing 3D treatment” and dealers are expected to adopt the version of the logo eventually to meet corporate identity standards.
A spokesman from Audi told AM: “We will not be expecting dealers to immediately jettison their existing fixtures and completely overhaul in one fell swoop.”
Audi said there would be cost implications in updating the branding but could not disclose further details.

In these exceedingly difficult times for manufacturers and dealers seeing reduced sales and reduced margins on those units they do sell it seems downright foolhardy to waste time and money developing a new logo with all of the cost implications that carries. Talk about shifting the chairs on the Titanic.

 

Toyota recalls 690,000 China cars

Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, is recalling almost 690,000 cars made in China because of faulty electrical window switches.

The recall affects the company’s Camry, Corolla, Vios and Yaris models made at two joint ventures in China – Guangzhou Auto and Tianjin FAW.

This represents Toyota’s biggest recall of cars in China.

The company said that no injuries or accidents had been reported as a result of the faulty electrics.

“The size of the recall is big, but won’t be a major problem for Toyota given the nature of the defect. Still, there will be some impact in the short term,” said Huang Zherui, analyst at CSM worldwide.

The recall includes 384,736 Camrys made with Guangzhou Auto between 15 May 2006 and 31 December 2008.

A total of 22,767 Yaris compact cars made last year with the same partner are also being recalled.

The affected cars also included 245,288 Corollas and 35,523 Vios made in 2008 with FAW.

Last month, rival Japanese carmaker Honda announced it was recalling 440,000 vehicles in the US because of an airbag defect. (bbc.co.uk)

It would be interesting to know if these components are locally produced.

 

German group develops new Trabant

A German consortium is developing a slick, updated version of the Trabant, communist East Germany’s famously unreliable mass-produced car.

The new model is electric with solar panels on the roof – in stark contrast to the fume-belching original.

Makers plan to unveil a prototype of the car at Frankfurt’s international motor show in September.

The Trabant was first produced in 1957. Discontinued in 1991, the old cars have since developed a cult following.

The original idea for the new car began with with Herpa Miniaturmodelle, a producer of miniature cars and aeroplanes that made a popular model version of a new Trabant.

‘Ecological and economical’

The prototype of the full-sized car has been developed by specialist auto company IndiKar, which is based in eastern Germany.

It joined a consortium with Herpa and German engineering company IAV, and the firms are now hoping to raise funds to produce the new car for the market.

Herpa’s Daniel Stiegler said the prototype would be a simple model with no unnecessary frills, but otherwise quite unlike the communist-era version.

“The original Trabant was a small, stinky car,” he told the BBC. “Now we have an e-Trabant which is ecological and economical.”

The car will be similar in form to the miniature produced by Herpa, but not identical.

Solar panels on the roof will be used to provide air conditioning.

The consortium is either hoping to attract interest from a major car maker who could help produce the new Trabant on a mass scale, or smaller investors who could allow the model to be made as a more specialist product. (bbc.co.uk)

They may want to consider changing the name as well as the Trabandt has something of a joke perception with the public

 

Scrappage scheme lifts Ford sales

Ford is to boost production in the US to meet increased demand for its cars sparked by the government’s “cash for clunkers” scrappage scheme.

It said it would build another 6,000 units of its Focus small car between now and the end of September, and a further 3,500 of its Escape model.

The move will contribute to Ford’s third quarter production being 18% higher than the same time last year.

The $3bn (£1.8bn) scrappage scheme is subsiding people trading in old cars.

Launched at the start of last month, the Car Allowance Rebate System allows owners of old cars and trucks gain up to $4,500 towards a new vehicle in exchange for their old model.

Add overtime

“I think we were surprised by the speed and the urgency with which consumers went to dealers,” said Ford sales analyst George Pipas.

To meet the increased production, Ford said it would add overtime and a Saturday shift at its Wayne, Michigan assembly plant, which makes the Focus.

It has also reversed plans to shut its Kansas City plant for two days this month, the facility that makes the Escape, a small sports utility vehicle.

Ford also said on Thursday that it intended to boost US production in the October to December fourth quarter by 33% compared with a year earlier.

Official figures from the Commerce Department showed that the scrappage scheme helped lift US car sales by 2.4% in July, the biggest rise in six months.

 

scrappage scheme in its first month.

The US Government is now proposing to inject a further $2bn into the scheme.
It offers rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 to US motorists with old cars or trucks who trade them in for a new, more fuel efficient, vehicle.

 

AM – Online survey into DMS

An AM On line survey has posed the question is your DMS more than 6 months old

I know many dealers who would ask what is a DMS system.

 

Suzuki has now taken 4,900 orders through scrappage and delivered 3,000 cars to customers.

The Alto supermini is the most popular choice among buyers taking 54% of all orders. The Swift took 30% of all orders and the Splash has taken 8% of total scrappage scheme sales.
The majority of the scrap eligible cars brought in to the Suzuki dealerships are conquest sales, with only 294 scrappages to date being a Suzuki that is over 10 years old.
Suzuki registered 4,086 new units in June.
Trade ins under the scheme have included a Fiat Coupe, Triumph TR7 and Spitfire, BMW 2002, Jaguar XJ Sport, Mercedes-Benz 380 SLC, several MGBs and a Rover Mini Italian Job.