On today’s show… Continental comes out with a better lane departure system, Japanese automakers take their race cars to Pikes Peak and a look at the top car companies in North America. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily for June 23rd, 2015. And if things look a little different, that’s because we lost power and we had to MacGyver our way to bring today’s show. Here’s the day’s top stories.

CONTINENTAL’S ROAD DEPARTURE SYSTEM
In the U.S. over half of all fatal accidents involve the car leaving the road or veering into oncoming traffic. That’s why German auto supplier Continental developed a new safety system to prevent that from occurring. The system uses a forward looking camera to detect road boundaries, it uses the electronic stability control system to monitor the steering wheel and vehicle path and it uses chassis monitor sensors to identify if the car is crossing a boundary. The system automatically steers the vehicle back to the road if it detects a departure. The company is also working on a more advanced system for rural areas where road markings and boundaries aren’t used as frequently. Continental’s technology is different from other Lane Departure systems because it monitors the outside boundaries of the road and it acts more forcefully.

HONDA GOES FISHING FOR PIKE
Honda has entered many different models from its lineup to run the Pikes Peak hill climb, including a souped-up Odyssey minivan, but it will be the first to run a full-carbon monocoque vehicle with its LMP2 race car. It’s powered by a twin-turbo V6 and will be looking to set a time under 10-minutes. Honda calls this “an exploratory effort, to learn as much as we can in advance of a possible future assault on the outright record” of just over 8-minutes and 13-seconds set by Sebastien Loeb in 2013.

LEXUS TO TEST NEW RC F RACE CAR
And speaking of Japanese automakers running at Pikes Peak, Lexus will have a new RC F GT Concept car competing in the race. While it looks very similar to the the production RC F, it’s made with a high level of composite materials. But it still uses only a slightly modified version of the production car’s 5.0L V8 engine and 8-speed transmission. It really just seems that Lexus wants to get some time behind the wheel and gather data as it gets ready to re-enter the GT3 racing program with this car. It will be piloted by Justin Bell when the hill climb kicks off on June 28th.

And we’ll be back with more news right after this.

BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR OVALTINE
As Chevy gets ready to introduce the new 2016 Cruze, it’s putting out more information on the car, but not how you might think. Rather than issue the normal text media advisory, Chevy is using a coded emoji release. So, if you’re looking to bring out your inner code breaker give it a shot, but I’m pretty sure it just says “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.”

I’M #1… NO I’M #1… NO I’M #1
We here at Autoline not only want to keep you up to speed with what’s going on in the U.S. but also in other markets. But let’s stay in the U.S. just for a moment. As you can see from this chart, the Detroit automakers along with Toyota and Honda, sold the most vehicles in the U.S. in 2014. That number includes both commercial and passenger vehicles. But what about our NAFTA partners, who are the top automakers in Canada and Mexico? While the lists are similar, there are some interesting differences. According to Wards, the Detroit automakers were the top selling companies last year but surprisingly both Ford and FCA were ahead of GM. But the bigger surprise is seeing Hyundai-Kia at number 4 on the list just ahead of Toyota. Moving down south to Mexico, Nissan is by far and away the top selling automaker. GM has a sizable lead over VW for the number two spot and Ford and FCA round out the top carmakers in Mexico.

Total Commercial & Passenger Vehicle Sales – 2014
U.S.
1. GM – 2.9 Million
2. Ford – 2.4 Million
3. Toyota – 2.3 Million
4. FCA – 2.0 Million
5. Honda – 1.5 Million

Canada
1. Ford – 291,000
2. FCA – 290,000
3. GM – 249,000
4. Hyundai/Kia – 208,000
5. Toyota – 202,000

Mexico
1. Nissan – 293,000
2. GM – 216,000
3. VW – 194,000
4. Ford – 80,000
5. FCA – 77,000

And be sure to join us for this week’s After Hours when our special guest will be David Woodhouse, the chief designer for Lincoln. He’s the one who designed the new Continental, which is not without controversy. But be sure to join John and Gary for some of the best insider discussions in the business.

But that wraps up today’s show, hopefully we’ll get power back soon and be back to normal. But thank you for watching.