Regulations: Page

Smashing for Safety

With a devilish grin, the operator of the front-end loader shifts gears and plows into the right side of a sparkling red Ford F350. At the same moment, another loader meets the opposite side of the truck, making metal squeal and shards of glass spray, and completes a grotesquely symmetrical visual image.No, this isn't a scene from a monster truck rally. It's just prep work for the Regional Extrication

July 1, 1999

Everyone’s a VIP!SAE changes pass policy to boost attendance

Call it an experiment that didn't work so well.For years, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) had distributed "VIP passes" for free entry to exhibitors at the annual International Congress & Exposition in Detroit. Exhibitors passed along the passes to customers to draw them to the show in hopes of selling them on some new technology.Traditionally, companies got the passes for free, but in 1998

By TOM MURPHY and JEFF GREEN • March 1, 1999

Breed’s Speranzella: ‘A lot of people are betting against me’

It's been more than a year since Breed Technologies more than doubled its size with the $710 million acquisition of AlliedSignal Inc.'s safety restraints business, but the spasms associated with digesting it all appear to be only intensifying.The company lost $28 million in the first quarter of its new fiscal year.Breed's stock has dropped from $24 in March to $61/2 in mid-December. Volumes are down

Jan. 1, 1999

DuPont Pushes for EuropeHerberts deal could be a sign of things to come

It wasn't just another megamerger when DuPont announced recently its intention to acquire Herberts GmbH, the coatings company of Hoechst AG, for $1.89 billion.The acquisition, still awaiting government approvals, is compelling not only because it creates the largest automotive coatings company (original equipment and aftermarket) in the world, nor for the novelty of a U.S. company buying a German

By Tom Murphy • Dec. 1, 1998

Mexico

Mexico is a land of great promise and always will remain so." That's the cynical quote often used to describe Mexico's roller coaster economy, which steadily rises and then plummets about every six years.The latest rise/plunge occurred in 1993 as the Mexican government and other proponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) painted an overly rosy picture of Mexico's economic strength,

By Drew Winter • May 1, 1998

Is GM’s Strategy Flawed?

This is a dirty job but somebody has to do it. You want to know why General Motors' market share is falling? You want a solution? Here goes.Consider the company's key committee, the NAO (North American Operations) Strategy Board. These are the people who decide or approve the company's strategy in this market. The problem is: This board doesn't seem to understand auto strategy for the North American

By Jerry Flint • May 1, 1998

India

No one can fault the people of India for worrying about their economic and political future. The country is experiencing its fifth government in two years, while the rupee has fallen 11% against the U.S. dollar. Ironically, low demand and more competition in India's car market is driving domestic, not foreign, firms out of manufacturing ventures.Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. is letting Ford Motor Co.

By Barbara McClellan • May 1, 1998

Can’t Tell GM’s Model Year Without CAFE Scorecard

General Motors Corp. is getting very creative with production schedules and model-year timing in order to meet federally mandated corporate average fuel-economy (CAFE) regulations.GM halted production of its 1998 full-size Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon and Chevy and GMC Suburban in January after a four-month model run and switched over to '99 models to keep from having too many low-mileage '98s upset

May 1, 1998

When Two Laws Collide, Watch Out! SUV debate pits physics against supplyand demand

Maybe it was inevitable: Two laws have collided, erupting into a national debate once again over highway safety.The law of physics says a bigger, heavier vehicle almost always will inflict greater damage and more fatalities during a collision with a smaller, lighter vehicle.The law of supply and demand says people, all things considered, will buy vehicles they want and won't buy anything else. And

By David C. Smith • April 1, 1998

Help on the Way for Short Drivers

The Teleflex Automotive Group unveils a new adjustable pedal assembly that moves the brake, clutch (where necessary) and accelerator pedals in unison up to 3 ins. (76 mm), permitting shorter drivers more clearance from air bags. The unit also can benefit tall drivers and everyone in between, but it answers a major safety consideration by distancing short drivers and/or pregnant women from the air

April 1, 1998

A Tale of Two Dummies - Automakers strive to ‘harmonize’ global safetystandards

Why can't you be more like your brother?" SID and EuroSID have heard it all their lives, and it has driven them apart. Everyone was hoping they'd be identical twins, but it never happened.SID, the elder of the two, was born in America and was initially the focus of all the attention. But then EuroSID was born overseas. He was younger, smarter and more sophisticated. Many seemed to like him better,

By Drew Winter • March 1, 1998

Industry to NHTSA: power down on air bags

The auto industry and the federal government have boxed each other into a neutral corner of the air-bag regulation arena, and it will take several years for the combatants to extricate themselves. Meantime, young children sitting ringside are in danger.The dilemma? A National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA)-mandated safety device (the passenger-side air bag also can kill kids.The

By Tim Keenan • Nov. 1, 1996

Mitsubishi will add 2 women managers; plaintiffs’ lawyers not convinced

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will hire two female managers and offer one-day sexual harassment prevention training at its manufacturing plant in Normal, IL. That's the gist of a plan crafted by former U.S. Labor Secretary Lynn Martin, Mitsubishi's main spin doctor called in to heal the company's public relations ailments, after 29 female employees last April charged that they were groped, fondled and otherwise

Aug. 1, 1996

Government assault: forcing the automakers to think safety and fight smog

Oil and water. The Hatfields and McCoys. Ralph Nader and the Corvair.The auto industry's relations with Washington for most of the last three decades have been contentious, to put it mildly.This political head-knocking didn't really begin until the early 1960s, the heart of the post-World War II boom.Oh, President Harry Truman did convene a National Traffic Safety Council in 1946, declaring that motor

By Gardner, Greg • May 1, 1996

Carb may be ready to relax EV ruling

California's Air Resources Board (CARB) Chairman John Dunlop III says his agency won't rush to reveal its decision on a 2% electric vehicle (EV) mandate for the '98 model year, even though carmakers apparently have passed their deadline to tool up for production. Mr. Dunlop says CARB won't issue its decision until February or March (see T&T, p.69). In a presentation at the recent Global Electric Vehicles

Jan. 1, 1996

Regulatory concerns and new technology ... the view from Europe

The last thing automakers want in this already heavily regulated industry is more regulation, especially in the form of legislation. In Europe, population density pressures and the higher cost of landfill have resulted in draft legislation at several levels of government that have stimulated potentially far-reaching changes in the way cars are designed and what happens to them at the end of their

By Eller, Robert • Jan. 1, 1996

CARB chief says ‘98 EV ruling is 3 or 4 months away

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) won't rush to reveal its decision on a 2% electric vehicle (EV) mandate for the '98 model year, even though carmakers apparently have passed their "drop dead" deadline to tool up for production.CARB Chairman John Dunlap III says his agency won't issue its decision until February or March, after the agency's staff has developed a plan he has requested.In a

By Herb Shuldiner • Jan. 1, 1996

TRW, Mesa officials meet on plant safety

Mesa, AZ, municipal authorities order TRW's passenger-side air bag plant there to shut down "the grinding, blending, pressing, drying and packaging of sodium azide/ferric oxide airbag gas-generated compound" until the supplier can conduct a complete review of its operations and ensure a safe environment. The facility has had a number of explosions relating to the propellant in the last several months.

Nov. 1, 1995

CARB: hybrids okay as ZEVs

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) upstaged the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) mobility conference in Costa Mesa, CA, in August by opening the door for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to qualify for credit toward the state's 1998 zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) regulations.Until now, CARB had said that only vehicles with no internal combustion engine - in essence, then, only battery-powered

By Snyder, Jesse • Sept. 1, 1995

Safety first: Takata moves ahead despite potential recall

Safety first is music to Takata Corp.'s ears. Top executives can hear the corporate cash register ring up more and more sales of the company's occupant restraint products now that safety is one of the top priorities for today's vehicle buyer.Things are so good that the company says sales in North America will jump from $649 million this year to $990 million by 1999, thanks to high demand for products

By Sorge, Marjorie • April 1, 1995

How much safety is too much? All that high-tech protection is great, but it’s also getting expensive

It was two weeks before Christmas, 1992. Visions of sparkling trees and holiday spirit danced in their heads as they drove home from a family gathering. Suddenly there was a loud, deadening crunch and flames shot up in front of the shocked driver and passengers. A '90 Ford Tempo had crossed the center line, hitting them head on at a 100-mph closing speed. The left front of their '92 Buick LeSabre

Feb. 1, 1995

Average new-car price climbs over $20,000

Price increases -- due largely to inflation, federal safety and clean-air regulations and more standard features -- have pushed the average price of a new vehicle to $23,600 (including interest), a study by Comerica Bank reveals. The new figure compares with an $11,500 average 10 years ago and

Jan. 1, 1995