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Auto Industry News

Over the last twenty years, the number of safety devices inside cars has grown by a considerable amount, but according to Ford Motor Company there is still room for improvement. Looking to improve on one of the simplest safety devices in a car, Ford has developed a seat belt with an integrated airbag for better protection for rear passengers. While front passengers get active head restraints, front airbags and seat belt pretensioners, rear-seat occupants usually only get a roof-mounted side-curtain airbag effective in reducing injuries during side-impact collisions and vehicle rollover incidents. Ford’s inflatable rear seat belt is just another aspect of the supplementary restraint system that is designed to provide maximum crash protection for all vehicle occupants.

Set to debut on the 2011 Ford Explorer, the inflatable seat belts not only help to spread the resulting forces of a crash over an area that is five times larger than a conventional seat belt, but they also control head and neck motion. Like any of the other airbags inside today’s car, when a collision is detected, the inflatable seat belts expand using a cold compressed gas that flows through a specially designed seat belt buckle. Ford says that the seat belt airbags deploy at a slower rate and at a lower pressure to prevent additional injuries, but the bags still inflate in a fraction of a second – just 40 milliseconds. Other than the unique buckle, the inflatable seat belts look and feel the same as a traditional seat belt, but they contain the hidden bag that splits the belt’s webbing when deployed. Ford also claims that an unexpected result of the new technology is a more comfortable seat belt meaning that more people are likely to buckle up.

According to Susan Cischke, Ford Motor Company group vice president of Sustainability, Environmental and Safety Engineering, only about 60 percent of rear-seat passengers actually wear their seatbelts including those most susceptible to injury: young children and the elderly.

“Ford’s rear inflatable seat belt technology will enhance safety for rear-seat passengers of all ages, especially for young children who are more vulnerable in crashes,” Cischke said. “This is another unique family technology that builds on our safety leadership, including the most top safety ratings of any automaker.”

Based on videos and animations released by Ford, the inflatable seat belts are designed for regular use and also with booster seats and child seats. From the buckle, about a two or three foot long section of the seat belt actually contains the airbag, and just like the other vehicle airbags, the seat belt will require replacement following airbag deployment. The inflatable rear seat belts deploy during frontal- and side-impact collisions.

Ford isn’t the only automaker planning to introduce this new safety device as Lexus plans to equip its upcoming supercar with similar seat belts for both passengers. While the 2011 Lexus LFA has a $375,000 price tag and seats just two, the 2011 Ford Explorer will likely be a three-row, seven-passenger family vehicle which is a much more fitting debut for such a technology. Eventually, Ford has said that the inflatable seat belts will spread to other multi-row Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, while Lexus hasn’t announced any intentions of spreading it to other models. In the past, Ford has used the Explorer to showcase new and, at the time, innovative safety technologies such as side curtain canopy airbag and roll stability control.

Chrysler Unveils Future Plans

This past week, Chrysler took the step of engaging in a day-long meeting with the media wherein the company revealed the details of the path forward that it intends to take on the road to recovery from its recent bankruptcy re-organization. While the presentation contained the standard amount of corporate cheerleading and marketing-speak, there were a number of clear indications provided as to how Chrysler’s vehicle lineup will evolve over the next few years.

No fewer than seven vehicles will see the end of their production by 2012 at the latest, including longstanding Pentastar nameplates such as the Dodge Dakota and the Dodge Viper. With regards to the latter, Chrysler stated that a fresh Dodge Viper will most likely be developed after the current generation has been off the market for a few years, although details were not available. The Dodge Dakota, on the other hand, may make the unusual leap to a unibody design, which is currently featured on only one other pickup truck in North America – the Honda Ridgeline, which has failed to light the world on fire in terms of sales.

To offset these product losses, no fewer than 14 new vehicles (either redesigns or all-new cars and trucks) will hit Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep showrooms during roughly the same period. Several of these will be compact Fiat crossovers and automobiles in all but name, pressed into service from the European market in order to give Chrysler a fighting chance in terms of fuel mileage, quality and fresh design. Fiat is also planning to transfer a significant number of small four-cylinder engines, as well as turbocharged and diesel power plants, in the hope of jumpstarting Chrysler’s wallowing development cycle.

Recalls Continue Through November

On the heels of previous recalls from other major automakers, Mazda, Chrysler and GM have had to deal with product safety issues of their own. In Mazda’s case, a serious problem with anti-lock brakes as well as a third-party cruise control deactivation switch on its Mazda B-Series trucks have been associated with the potential for an engine fire. The recall, which affects vehicles manufactured between 1995 and 1997, as well as though produced between 2001 and 2003 (4,000 vehicles in total), is an echo of the one performed earlier in the year on the Ford Ranger, a platform twin of the Mazda B-Series pickup. The official starting date for the recall is November 13, 2009.

The Chrysler and Dodge recall affects far more recent vehicles, including the 2009-2010 Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and the Chrysler 300. Each of these automobiles shares the LX platform, which Chrysler states was victim to a problem during assembly that may have seen a front wheel spindle nut not actually installed before the vehicle left the factory. The worst case scenario is that a wheel could actually fall off while driving, which of course could lead to a major accident. The recall targets 12,674 automobiles.

In the last of this week’s product safety news, General Motors has been forced to recall 53,000 of its compact coupes and sedans in order to address a problem affecting their fuel systems. The automobiles involved in the recall, (the Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5 and the Saturn Ion) require the replacement of a plastic port which may crack and dangerously drip gasoline. Curiously, the current focus is only on 2006 and and newer vehicles in Arizona, Texas, California, Florida and Nevada, although there is potential to expand it to other states where warm weather could accelerate the problem.

Saab Ponders Future

Now that its divorce from General Motors has been largely finalized, Saab has begun the laborious process of moving out and getting its own place. Currently, Saab is doing its best to concentrate production at its Trollhättan, Sweden facility and de-emphasizes its presence at Opel’s German factories where some of its previous vehicles were built. This means that the new Saab 9-5 will be see a delay in terms of an official sell date due to the logistics of rebuilding the tooling and machinery necessary for its assembly in its new Swedish home. By the time it hits the market in spring of 2010, a wagon or “Combi” edition of the Saab 9-5 will join the sedan in Saab showrooms.

The next generation Saab 9-3 will also unfortunately be pushed back, as Saab has decided to abandon the GM Epsilon platform that the vehicle was originally scheduled to make use of in favor of an in-house chassis and powertrain. Saab will draw on previous design exercises as well as an aborted co-development program with Alfa Romeo in order to put together an entirely new version of its best selling vehicle.

Ferrari, Rolls-Royce to Build Hybrids?

It is a well known fact that Enzo Ferrari only sold street versions of his automobiles in order to fund his racing program. Although the Ferrari brand has been part of the Fiat group for decades, it has remained largely true to the emotional resonance of its founding father. However, even history must occasionally bend to reality, and it is with this in mind that Ferrari would seem to be gearing up to offer a hybrid version of its Ferrari 612 touring coupe. Although details have yet to be solidified, it would appear as though Ferrari will flaunt tradition not only with the addition of two electric motors to the vehicle’s 12-cylinder engine, but also with the installation of all-wheel drive. This brings the number of technologies never before seen on a Ferrari to two, a fact that is sure to drive purists up the wall when the model makes it to the international stage around 2014.

The news that Rolls-Royce, while not exactly synonymous with the concept of restraint or moderation, is pursuing a hybrid vehicle program is definitely much less shocking. Given that its latest vehicle, the Rolls-Royce Ghost, is capable of benefiting from a gasoline / electric system similar to that which is installed in vehicles built by corporate parent BMW, the brand appears to be well on the way towards a greener future. The Rolls-Royce system will adapt the BMW 7 Series’ electric motor to function in tandem with its own V-12, improving fuel economy by as much as 15 percent.