Current high-tech cars can not only navigate on the center console, but also handle e-mail and facebook and manage a song selection of several thousand tracks. Web apps and smartphone interface complete the distraction. We take a look at solutions to bring it all together with the "primary driving task" in an accident-free denominator.

Hanover, 26. July 2012 – the road traffic paradox: cars can theoretically drive faster than ever today, but in practice they drive slower and slower. Because while more and more cars are being built, fewer and fewer roads are being. Traffic jams are no longer the exception, but an everyday part of life.

In japan, car buyers therefore demand that the center console displays tv and dvds. In the land of perpetual congestion china, infotainment gimmicks dominate buyers’ wish lists – at walking speed, engine or chassis qualities are irrelevant. U.S. Customers now not only want to eat breakfast in their cars, but also start their office day while commuting. And even in germany, infotainment is evolving from being perceived as a nice garnish to an important purchase criterion.

Hyundai plans to enter genesis cars in europe in the future. Rumors to this effect were confirmed by brand boss manfred fitzgerald on the sidelines of the concours d’elegance in pebble beach, california dpa. He held out the prospect of sales starting at the end of the decade. "We’ll be in the mix in 2019, 2020 at the latest," fitzgerald said.

There are two main reasons why the koreans are taking so long: "by then we will have a completely new model range," said fitzgerald, who currently has the luxury sedans g80 in the format of the audi a6 and g90 in the style of a mercedes s-class in his portfolio. Rough hopes for the expansion plans rest on the g70, which will be unveiled before the end of september 2017 to compete against bmw 3 series co. In addition, the koreans are currently developing the production version of the gv80 suv study shown in the spring, which is tailored to suvs such as the lexus rx or the jaguar f-pace.

The second reason lies in the past: hyundai is still perceived by many on the european market as a brand with a good price/performance ratio. This is not the worst sales argument, but in an environment of prestige and a sense of entitlement it is not decisive. In the past, expensive hyundai and kia models sold rather sluggishly on the european market. Despite its own brand image, it will not be easy to assert itself against the established competition.

The united states advanced battery consortium (usabc), has awarded a contract to johnson controls-saft, a joint venture, to develop lithium-ion (li-ion) power storage systems specifically for plug-in hybrid vehicles over the next several years and to evaluate the commercial viability of li-ion technology for this application.

According to the company, the contract is worth us$8.2 million (€5.5 million). Usabc members include u.S. Auto companies chrysler, ford and general motors (gm). The umbrella organization is funded with government money by the u. S. Department of energy. Johnson controls-saft is a joint venture between u.S. Auto supplier johnson controls and french battery maker saft. The joint venture has already opened a plant for li-ion car batteries in france earlier this year.

The goal of the development contract is a complete li-ion battery system designed specifically for vehicles that will be able to travel distances of up to 10 miles (17 km) or 40 miles (65 km) in pure electric mode: this will pay for li-ion cells with high energy density, control electronics and software for the battery pack’s control unit, and efficient cooling systems for the energy storage system.

The stuttgart regional court has ruled that supplier bosch will have to hand over a large number of documents in order to deal with volkswagen’s emissions fraud. According to a preliminary assessment, bosch could not invoke the right to refuse to testify, the competent judge explained today (13. June 2018).

A decision on this has not yet been made. The plaintiffs want bosch to submit to the court e-mail exchanges between employees of the supplier and volkswagen employees, as well as a letter from bosch’s legal department to volkswagen. Bosch has so far refused (ref. 22 o 205.

The proceedings initiated by vw investors are not directed against the supplier, but against vw’s parent company porsche se. The investors accuse volkswagen and porsche se of informing the market too late about the emissions fraud, which the latter rejects. With the documents they want to prove that the volkswagen management knew much earlier than it admits.

Image: alexander blum / with kind permission

Commissioner vella threatens legal action; german courts doubt political will and urge driving bans; commentaries fear government crisis

Bavaria’s environment minister scharf does not have to go to jail, which no one seriously expected either.

Munich, 6. October 2009 – classic cars, many convertibles and other summer cars will soon have a break: for the most part, the season ends for them at the end of october. But it is not enough to turn the key and leave the garage. Tuv sud has put together some tips on how to mothball a car properly.

Oldtimers: relieve the strain on the windshield wipers

Washing and cleaning – this is a must. To the cure before the winter belongs to take care especially of the cracks and crevices on the car. They must be absolutely clean and dry. Then polish the paintwork and apply hard wax. Also think about the windshield wipers: for example, with corks you can lift the wiper arm so that the rubbers are relieved. Otherwise these can stick after the long standing time.

Washing the underbody and engine

The underbody and the engine should be washed as well. When washing the engine, never point the jet directly at the electrical components or the carburetor. It is also advisable to spray the engine with a special cleaner beforehand. The interior should also be cleaned and the floor and trunk mats removed.

Ford is on course for success in germany: with a passenger car market share of 8 percent and 25.395 new passenger car registrations were recorded by the koln-based ford-werke gmbh in september 2009. According to calculations by the federal motor transport authority, ford registered 5169 more passenger cars in september 2009 than in the same month last year. The ford fiesta and ford focus models were in particularly high demand in september 2009. The kba registered 8856 registrations of the ford fiesta and 5555 of the ford focus. From january to september 2009, a total of 226 new models were launched in germany.905 ford passenger cars have been registered. While new registrations for all manufacturers in the first nine months of this year were 26.1 percent higher than in the same period last year, ford recorded an increase of 39.2 percent. Ford thus has the highest growth rate among german manufacturers in the interim balance sheet. Ford’s share of the passenger car market for the months january to september 2009 inclusive was 7.6 percent. This represents an increase of around 0.7 percentage points compared with the same period last year. Due to the good order situation, ford is not planning any short-time work for its two vehicle plants in koln and saarlouis this year. Rather, the daily production rate for the ford fiesta. In addition, between march and august 2009, 13 extra shifts were worked on weekends at the koln plant.

A bill by the federal ministry of transport for the introduction of automated driving is to regulate that cars will in future be able to park in parking garages or underground garages "at low speed" without a driver. Technically, this has long been possible, as audi and bmw demonstrated some time ago. What was missing was a legal basis from the legislature. One is now on the way, however, this is probably only a beginning. Because many things still remain unclear.

German transport minister alexander dobrindt (csu) wants to make new systems possible that will allow cars to park without a driver at all. The law will stipulate that drivers of computer-controlled cars will be allowed to "turn away" from traffic and control of the car at certain stages. But they must remain "perceptive" in order to be able to take over again in case of emergency.

The draft, which is now to be voted on in the federal government, lays down further legal requirements for liability. A kind of black box in the vehicles is to record when the computer has steered and when the human has. The data are to be allowed to see the police with controls, however not completely, but only in the "necessary mab". This should also apply to accident opponents, if there has been a collision. In general, data in the storage medium must be deleted after three years.

While ford in germany is working short time, the colleagues in the usa have to work extra shifts. In view of the high demand, the factory vacations in a number of us plants were shortened from two to one week, ford announced on tuesday in dearborn near detroit. As a result, nearly 40,000.000 more cars could be produced.

"We are working at capacity in most of our north american plants", said jim tetreault, ford’s local production manager. In the first four months of the year, ford sales in the u.S. Increased 5 percent to 719.600 vehicles. Since unemployment in the country has fallen, more people are buying a new car again.

The situation in europe is quite different: buyers are holding back because of the debt crisis, and ford even posted a loss here in the first quarter. In germany, for example, ford sales from january to april fell by 2 percent to 73,500 units.500. As a result, short-time work is being carried out at the ford plants in koln. Between may and october, the production lines will be shut down on some days. Around 4,000 employees will be affected. Opel also cut production.

The world’s largest car market in china grew more weakly than expected in january. Sales of passenger cars rose by only seven percent year-on-year to 1.8 million units, the industry association caam reported in beijing on thursday. Analysts had expected a more rough plus. Like most european manufacturers, renault is counting on strong growth in china, where it believes it still has a lot of catching up to do, but at the same time sees a gradual recovery in europe.

The overall chinese vehicle market grew by 13.9 percent last year to almost 22 million units. However, stringent anti-pollution regulations and a central government campaign for greater fuel efficiency are putting prere on china’s auto business.

Renault is no longer just looking to the east with hope: the gradual recovery in europe is giving the carmaker, which has been particularly hard hit by the reluctance to buy in the european crisis countries, a more optimistic outlook for the future. Renault also suffered a significant drop in profits due to the loss of business with iran as a result of sanctions and high costs for the group’s restructuring last year. In 2013, the group’s profit of 586 million euros was around three times lower than in 2012. Sales stagnated at around 41 billion euros, the company reported.