Automotive Update

Aiko Toyoda from the founding family of the Toyota Motor Corporation was named next president. He will lead the Japanese car manufacturing firm in battling the declining sales of vehicles amid the financial crisis, and into this he will integrate a U.S. perspective.

The 52 year old Toyoda will take over the post from current Toyota President, Katsuaki Watanabe, in June 2009.

The company expects Toyoda to inject an international approach to solve the dismal performance of the company’s overseas operations which is part responsible to its first major losses in 70 years.

The history of Toyota is witness to great forward strides in the market. Toyoda will be taking over the reign in a time when there are so many challenges. The company is decreasing its production, cutting the workforce, and struggling to keep its sales.

A big chunk of the sales of Toyota is attributed to its performance in North America. This dropped as much as 15.4% in 2008 or down to 2,217660 units rolled out to the market.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mercedes-Benz takes the initiative to introduce the new E-Class that prevents the driver from dozing off. The company will contribute a lot in lowering the 100000 crashes and 1500 deaths on US roads on a yearly basis.

The E-Class release will have a drowsy driver detection system that will echo on a cup of coffee when the driver’s conditions are favorable to a road mishap.

The car company claims that the system is an independent monitoring of fatigue that depends on the behavior of the driver while on the road. It is designed to activate attention assist signals when it detects low level of alertness of the driver.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Ford F-150 of 2009 earns the top pick as the safest of its class to roll on the roads. It garnered the Top Safety Pick among 72 vehicles chosen by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Five Ford vehicles add bragging rights to their fleet of 16 vehicles considered as among the Top Safety Pick. These cars are 2009 Flex, Fusion, Lincoln MKS, and Mercury Milan.

The big fleet of safe vehicles means that Ford overtakes Japanese car manufacturer Honda in the competition of IIHS safety. Ford also takes pride in the most 5-star rated vehicles among automakers.

The number of winners this year doubles the number of top picks in 2008 and has tripled the number of choices from 2007. Automotive experts attribute this to the conscious effort of car makers to adhere to the safety standards set by institution.

Read the rest of this entry »