Articles by Paul Lienert and Ben Klayman

Amazon’s New FleetWise Transfers Vehicle Data to Cloud to Aid Safety, Design

Amazon Web Services has launched a new cloud-based data service that could help automakers remotely diagnose issues in their vehicles to prevent recalls and improve safety, as well as manage related data, the company told Reuters. Called AWS IoT FleetWise, …

Safety Regulator Wants Crashes of Cars with Advanced Tech Reported Within 1 Day

U.S. regulators on Tuesday said they would keep a closer eye on the automotive industry as it rolls out advanced driver safety systems, tracking the new technologies to spot potential defects faster. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued …

GM Sees Insurance As Part of Growing Its Business Beyond Cars, Trucks

Pam Fletcher wants to change the way General Motors Co. makes money. The veteran GM engineer’s Global Innovation team is looking for new enterprises to expand the automaker’s sources of revenue well beyond vehicle sales and is incubating ventures from …

GM Recalling 69,000 Chevy Bolt Electric Cars Over Fire Risk

General Motors Co. said on Friday it was recalling 68,677 electric cars worldwide that pose a fire risk after five reported fires and two minor injuries. The recall is for 2017-2019 model year Chevrolet Bolt EVs with high voltage batteries …

Profit-Driven Automakers Race to Next Level of Not Quite Self-Driving Cars

Autopilot, ProPilot, CoPilot: Automakers have many names for new systems that allow for hands-free driving, but no safety or performance standards to follow as they roll out the most significant changes to vehicle technology in a generation. Spurred by Tesla …

U.S. Automakers Revving Up Production, Stressing Covid Safety at Work and Home

Automakers are speeding up U.S. assembly lines to meet recovering demand, increasingly confident coronavirus safety protocols are working to prevent outbreaks in their plants but wary of the challenges workers face outside. Screening workers for COVID-19 using temperature scans and …

Michigan’s Gov. Whitmer Says Manufacturers Can Reopen on May 11

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the state’s factories can reopen on May 11, removing one of the last major obstacles to North American automakers bringing thousands of laid-off employees back to work amid the coronavirus pandemic. While reopening the manufacturing …

Takata Agrees to Recall 34 Million Cars for Air Bag Replacement

Japanese air bag manufacturer Takata Corp. is doubling a recall of potentially deadly air bags to nearly 34 million vehicles, making it the largest automotive recall in American history, U.S. safety regulators said on Tuesday. The recall involves passenger- and …

Google, Detroit Take Different Routes on Driverless Cars

In 2012, a small team of Google Inc. engineers and business staffers met with several of the world’s largest car makers to discuss partnerships to build self-driving cars. In one meeting, both sides were enthusiastic about the futuristic technology, yet …

GM CEO Barra Has Few Answers on What Went Wrong

General Motors Co CEO Mary Barra on Tuesday called her company’s slow response to faulty ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths “unacceptable,” but could not give U.S. lawmakers many answers as to what went wrong. After taking an …