Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Daily digest 02 Feb, 2014

Mexico Now Second-Largest Auto Exporter to U.S., Could Pass Canada Soon
02 Feb, 2014 -
Automobile Magazine News & Rumors

The automotive industry has seen a lot of changes over the last several decades, and one of the most significant changes is where cars are manufactured. Although automakers have had a manufacturing presence in Mexico going back to the 1960s and before, it's only been within the last decade that Mexico has become a large-scale exporter on the order of Japan, Canada and Germany. According to Bloomberg, Mexico has surpassed Japan as the number-two exporter of cars to the U.S., just behind Canada.
In addition, trade agreements with 40 countries worldwide, as well as favorable trade terms with major markets such as Brazil, and a cost of labor 20 percent that of the U.S. have converged to make Mexico a major auto exporting nation. In addition to the Detroit three and Volkswagen, which have had operations in Mexico going back several decades, the Japanese automakers have recently made significant investments in the market, with the most recent examples being Mazda and Honda.
Mexico is also no longer just an exporter of small compacts. The Lincoln MKZ is made in Mexico, and Audi has started construction on a plant in San Jose Chiapas to be the worldwide source of the next-generation Q5 SUV. The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s is credited with making Mexico a major export hub for the car industry.

India-Market Subcompacts Fare Poorly in Crash Tests
02 Feb, 2014 - Automobile Magazine News & Rumors
Although global regulatory standards are rapidly standardizing in the areas of emissions and safety, there are still some regions that have less-demanding standards, presumably of lowering the cost of new car models in those developing markets. However, a recent test of some Indian-market subcompact models from five manufacturers by Global NCAP revealed some shocking safety shortcomings in the models that could result in regulatory changes for models sold in India.
The Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, Ford Figo, Hyundai i10, Tata Nano and Volkswagen Polo subcompact models were all tested. The Tata Nano fared the worst, receiving zero stars in both adult front occupant protection, as well as child safety. The Hyundai i10 didn't fare much better, also getting zero stars for adult protection, and just one star for infant protection. The best performer was the Volkswagen Polo equipped with dual front airbags, which received four out of five stars for adult front passenger protection, and three stars for child safety. A Polo model without front airbags was also tested, and received zero stars for adult safety. Following the crash test results, Volkswagen announced the Polo model without airbags will no longer be sold in India.
The overall vehicle structures of the Maruti Suzuki, the Tata and the Hyundai were assessed as "unstable" overall, with the structures of the Ford and Volkswagen deemed "stable." The addition of front airbags on the Ford might have resulted in higher crash test scores, similar to the results between the Polo equipped with front airbags compared to the model without them. Rohit Baluja, president of India's Institute of Road Traffic Education, noted that many cars manufactured in India for export already meet more stringent safety standards, so it's just a matter of more stringent regulatory requirements for domestic-market models.
Source: Global NCAP

Rumor: European Law Enforcement Working on Universal Remote Vehicle Disabling
02 Feb, 2014 - Automobile Magazine News & Rumors
Technology is a great servant, but can be a fearsome master. If you're a criminal operating in Europe, or simply a global citizen concerned with the trend of increasing government power and authority, take note. Britain's AutoExpress is reporting that a report leaked from the little-known European Network of Law Enforcement Technology Services (ENLETS) shows that plans are in the works to implement a universal remote vehicle disabling system that could be installed on all new cars as soon as 2020. The report was exposed by Statewatch, a European civil liberties watchdog organization.
Other surveillance and law enforcement technologies discussed in the report include improved license plate recognition and intelligence sharing between police departments in Europe. Such a system is not totally unprecedented, as General Motors built in remote vehicle slowdown capability into OnStar-equipped vehicles built after 2009 with eighth-generation software. In GM's description of the OnStar capability, law enforcement officials, or vehicle owners have to request the feature be activated through OnStar operators, and police do not have direct capability to slow vehicles down unilaterally.
The technology obviously exists to implement such as system in the U.S. as well, but a strong and vocal community of civil liberty watchdogs would likely challenge such a sweeping move by law enforcement in the courts. What do you think? Could the U.S. soon follow the lead of Europe?

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