On today’s show… Google shows it’s serious about self-driving cars, Nissan teases a new crossover and a group of automaker pledge to make automatic braking a standard feature. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for September 14th, 2015.
GOOGLE HIRES KRAFCIK
In another sign Google is serious about coming out with a self-driving car, the company just hired former Hyundai of America CEO, John Krafcik, to lead its autonomous division. Krafcik, who was most recently President of TrueCar, will join Google later this month.
MARCHIONNE SKIPS FRANKFURT
And in other executive news, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne is skipping this week’s Frankfurt show to help with labor negotiations with the UAW. That’s because the union selected the automaker to set the pattern for collective bargaining agreements, which will serve as a template for talks with General Motors and Ford. The UAW didn’t say why it chose FCA but the carmaker is in a weaker position than its cross-town rivals. The contracts at all three automakers expire tonight.
GIVE ME A BRAKE
We believe automatic emergency braking is one of the most effective safety technologies to come out recently and soon it’s going to be a lot more common. The Transportation Department and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that 9 automakers have signed on to make the technology a standard feature in their new cars. The list includes GM, Ford, Toyota, Tesla, BMW, Daimler AG, Mazda, Volvo and the Volkswagen group. Those carmakers accounted for 57% of all light vehicles sold in the U.S. last year. Automatic Emergency Braking uses various sensors to detect a crash and will apply the brakes to avoid or minimize the impact. It’s also going to be a necessary technology for future autonomous cars.
And we’ll be back with more right after this.
GET A GRIPZ
Last week Nissan teased a new crossover, called Gripz, it will show off in Frankfurt tomorrow and to keep us guessing it’s showing just a little bit more. And, of course, what would be a new Nissan vehicle without its new V-shaped grille that we’ve seen on the new Maxima and Murano. But the automaker also said it drew inspiration from 240Z desert racers.
MERCEDES TEASES CONCEPT IAA
And speaking of teases, Mercedes showed this new concept on its Facebook page yesterday. It’s called the Concept IAA, which stands for Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile and may also be a nod to the Frankfurt show that bears the same letter combination. The automaker refers to the concept as a “aerodynamics world champion and a four-door coupé embodying irresistible design.” No word on if the concept hints at future design but as some have pointed out, the silhouette is reminiscent of the Audi A7 Sportback.
Bentley and Rolls are debuting new vehicles at the Frankfurt show this week. But are these the vehicles they need? That’s coming up next.
FRANKFURT SHOW PREVIEW
With the Frankfurt auto show kicking off this week, last week’s Autoline After Hours had the panel discussing the vehicles they most wanted to see. In the following clip John, Gary and their colleagues discuss a couple of luxury vehicles debuting at the show.
(The AAH preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)
You can watch that entire show right now on our website and YouTube channel. And speaking of Frankfurt, make sure you tune into our coverage of the show on Tuesday and Wednesday. John will be interviewing executives from the floor of the show with their new vehicles. Keep checking Autoline.tv throughout the day starting tomorrow for the latest interviews.
But that wraps up today’s show, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.
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Comments (23)
September 14th, 2015 at 12:04 pm
I wish I had autobrake on my Infiniti. It would have saved me (or rather USAA) $4700 after I ass ended a guy who slammed on his brakes for no reason whatsoever at the exact time I was watching the curb to make sure a jogger saw me approaching and wasn’t going to run out in front of me.
Accident was my fault, pure and simple. First wreck in almost 40 years of driving. But this tech would have prevented it, hopefully.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:05 pm
Sorry for the run on sentence. I wish we had the ability to fix those syntax faux pas after the fact.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Auto Brake is not going to help you much if the car behind you does not have it
September 14th, 2015 at 12:25 pm
If Fiat is weaker than GM, how could Fiat attempt to purchase GM? If GM wanted to couldn’t they simply buy enough Fiat stock to take control, keep Jeep and the Truck unit and spin off or sell the rest? The Italian Government would never let Fiat portion die thus GM would have a buyer.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:29 pm
@dcars – perhaps but I’d wager that the share holders of GM might have some concerns about the upfront shouldering of FCA liabilities.
It would be a pretty baller move that would need a lot of political (internal and external) to pull off.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:32 pm
FCA as a target, is almost unfair to poor Sergio. If the UAW chooses them as a stike target, one month of not making Jeeps and FCA will be done.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:44 pm
I suspect FCA is the UAW target, because they have a higher percentage of lower tier workers than GM and Ford.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:47 pm
John picked FCA (before the official announcement); I believe he listed his reasons on the last Autoline After Hours. I believe one of his reasons was, as Kit mentioned, about tier two workers.
September 14th, 2015 at 12:54 pm
Wonder if Auto Braking will help with tailgating?
September 14th, 2015 at 12:54 pm
Kravcik
What does it signal that John Kravcik went to Google and not Apple? It’s hard to believe only Google sought out this man’s skills; TrueCar had to know this day was coming.
One thing it probably means is JK will get to keep driving his Porsche any time he wants to.
September 14th, 2015 at 1:16 pm
@ Tony Gray: My grand daughters best friend just totalled out her car due to rear ending someone,it was here fault.Auto braking would have helped her too.
I have all my insurance/banking etc with USAA also,and my kids too.
September 14th, 2015 at 1:21 pm
I believe nearly every OEM that has offed an autobraking system in the U.S. has been sued for unintended braking – Infiniti, Acura, and GM for certain. No one is talking about liabilities. OEMs can’t win – they’ll be sued if they do and sued if they don’t.
September 14th, 2015 at 1:23 pm
Autoline’s John McElroy demonstrated his knowledge of the auto business by guessing in last week’s AAH that the UAW should target FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) because they were the weakest of the three and Chrysler had the most Tier 2 workers with the worst employee rewards program as a strike would be like holding a gun to Sergio Marchionne’s head to force for quick negotiations or risk profits from Jeep sales go up in smoke.
September 14th, 2015 at 1:45 pm
Dear Autoline,
You cannot talk about AEBs or autonomous driving without talking about Mobileye. Can you PLEASE do a segment on this innovative, monocamera based company that allows for all functions of ADAS and future autonomous within one package.
So far, all of you have talked about is Nvidia, but what you guys fail to understand is that, as of right now, Nvidia is useless without the mobileye chip. In fact, during Nvidia’s demonstration of their DrivePX board, they had to ERASE the mobileye EyeQ3 logo off the chip to lie to the press. You guys need to do more research in this and point this out to the public!
September 14th, 2015 at 2:27 pm
14 Bo, you may be interested in this development from last week, when Freescale bought Cognivue,
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327663&cid=SM_ELE_EET_Edit&_mc=sm_eet_editor_junkoyoshida&hootPostID=709b12070d54f741274959ddf62d8e7e
Looks like the race is on.
September 14th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
I almost did not buy our 2010 Prius because at the time, Toyota required $6,000 of ‘eye candy’ before we could pay $2,000 for auto-braking, lane following, and adaptive cruise control.
Toyota has announced it with be at least an option on all grades of 2016. I am tempted to replace our 2003 Prius.
There is no expectation that auto-braking will prevent all accidents. I only want to prevent mine. If others choose to run into us, our insurance company will see them in court.
Bob Wilson
September 14th, 2015 at 4:08 pm
I’m not sure I want autobraking, because in the rare cases where I need to actively avoid accidents, I tend to steer around them, rather than slamming on the brakes. Maybe autobraking wouldn’t prevent my doing that, since the ABS should maintain steering control, but I’d rather take my chances with doing it myself.
September 14th, 2015 at 4:13 pm
16 Bob, if you see this, what trim level did it take to get that auto-braking, etc., that you wanted, a 5? My 2010 Prius is a zero option “2″ model, but I didn’t want any stuff, beyond what was standard.
September 14th, 2015 at 4:46 pm
I will admit that a couple months ago autobraking would have helped me avoid rear ending someone. In stop and go parkway traffic I got distracted checking oncoming cars for anything interesting. Next thing I knew I was madly modulating my brakes to keep from locking my tires and plowing my way into a freshly totalled Civic. It never occured to me to steer around the other car; all too fast. We have to think about normal distracted people, not fancy pants like me with their SkipBarber ‘degrees.’ This auto braking app would also have helped out all the poor shnooks stuck in traffic behind my collision that never happened.
September 14th, 2015 at 6:44 pm
My original guess for the UAW to target was GM and not FCA, but now Johns prediction makes better sense. Given FCA is profitable they are also deeper indebted. Though better suited to eliminate the 2 tier with them increases for tier 1 workers would not be so large as to hinder future expectations to unionize southern hopefuls as what might have been gained from the other Detroit 2.
Having first hand experience, I do foresee maturing troubles ahead for the UAW; and that is with the UAW represented suppliers. In short, the UAW is throwing three suppliers that I know of under the bus by providing little to no support and miniscule access to UAW legal council during negotiations. It appears the UAW increases for the Detroit 3 will come from the usual pressures from the OEM’s for suppliers to reduce costs once again. Ms. Estrada is supposed to be a supplier rep. but she seems too busy in the Detroit 3 matters to trouble herself in doing her designated job. I predict more will be heard from suppliers of thoughts to get rid of the UAW. For the 2.5 hours/mo. wage cost to the UAW, a growing number are begging to feel under represented and could use the cost savings to compensate for their experienced wage sacrifices. way to go UAW!
September 14th, 2015 at 8:34 pm
Just me or does the Bentley Bentayga look way too much like a Dodge Caliber?
September 15th, 2015 at 8:26 am
Driving up and down US1 in Daytona Beach I have seen as many as two heavy rear-end collisions in a single trip this past week. I don’t know why, but autobraking would have saved numerous people a bunch of time and money.
September 15th, 2015 at 9:42 am
There was a very minor 3 car fender-bender on my way to work today. I slipped right past it, but I heard from others, the road backed up for miles and hundreds of commuters had a 45 minute longer drive on what should normally take a few minutes to get past. I would like the autobraking for everyone else, as much as for myself, just to alleviate these traffic tie-ups.