Driverless cars wouldn’t need speed limits

Ever think about barreling down Interstate 75 at 150 mph and getting to and from work in half the time?
One Wall Street automotive analyst thinks that scenario could play out in a future with fully autonomous cars.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy said Wednesday at an Automotive Press Association luncheon in Detroit that completely driverless vehicles wouldn't need speed limits. That would mean quicker commutes to and from work, and more personal time for errands or other activities.
"The industry ... remembers its key function is to get people from A to B quickly. ... If you can get me from A to B at twice the speed or half the time, I'm going to pay you a lot of money for that," Murphy said. "The only reason we have speed limits is for safety reasons. So if all of a sudden you have a fleet of vehicles that can't crash into each other or crash into other objects, why can't you drive 150 mph? There's no rational reason."
Murphy admitted it's a pie-in-the-sky scenario that would involve convincing regulators to change speed limit laws, not to mention actually getting fully autonomous vehicles on the road in bulk, which could take decades. But automakers are already introducing semi-autonomous safety features like lane-keeping assist and automatic emergency braking that are making vehicles safer and could lead to smoother commutes.
"You could potentially really change the industry," Murphy said.
Increasing the speed of travel would give back hours a week that people could use to run errands, spend time with their family or get more work done, Murphy said.
"That's real utility and that's a stimulus to the economy that is major," he said.

by: detroitnews.com
Driverless Cars Wouldn't Need Speed LImits......................www.redlineautosales.ca/driverless-cars-wouldn-t-need-speed-limits.htm

Automotive Virtual Reality Beckons Buyers

As automakers aim to keep sales ahead of 2015's record-setting pace, they're pulling out all the stops to draw in buyers. Virtual reality may be next in their bag of tricks.
Volkswagen AG's Audi plans to roll out Oculus Rift headsets in a number of dealerships by the end of this year. Johan de Nysschen, president of General Motors Co.'s Cadillac, in February encouraged some of the company's lowest-volume outlets to go virtual. With dealers from Brazil to Berlin already experimenting with virtual reality, automakers see twin benefits of the technology: enhance the customer experience while also shaving off some of the $2.75 billion U.S. dealers spend annually on interest to keep new vehicles on their lots.
"You're wearing the glasses and you really think you're in the car," said Marcus Kuehne, Audi's virtual-reality project lead. The brand already allows customers to pre-equip cars in a handful of highly digitized urban dealerships and sees virtual reality as the next step in letting shoppers see what they want to buy. "You get a good feeling for the size -- do the rims fit to the body of the car, do the colors inside the car fit well together?" he said. "You can judge this much better through this technology than on a screen."
Letting customers manipulate models, color schemes and features in a virtual environment is automakers' latest tool to distinguish themselves in a slower-growing yet very profitable market. April sales announced on Tuesday will probably show gains for most of the biggest U.S. and Japanese automakers, as the annualized selling rate, adjusted for seasonal trends, rises to 17.5 million, according to a Bloomberg survey. The pace and the month's total are projected to set April records.

'Robust' Industry

"Top-line performance of the industry remains robust -- retail demand is strong, transaction prices are at record levels and consumers will spend more on new vehicles than in any other April on record," John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power, said in a statement. "The slowing rate of growth, shift in consumer demand away from cars and toward SUVs, and elevated fleet volumes pose significant challenges to manufacturers as they compete in the marketplace."
General Motors expects industrywide sales to rise 5 percent and a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 17.5 million vehicles or higher, said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales. While the Ford and others have increased sales to fleet customers so far this year, GM has reduced them. As a result, the Detroit-based automaker delivered record North American profits in the first quarter, even as U.S. sales slipped by a few hundred. For April, analysts project a 1.7 percent decline for GM.
"The economic fundamentals are there," McNeil said. "Interest rates are still low and gasoline prices may be the lowest this summer since 2005."
Nissan Motor Co.'s sales may rise 11 percent, the biggest increase projected by the analyst estimates, followed closely by Honda Motor Co., seen gaining 10 percent. Combined sales of Volkswagen's VW and Audi brands may fall 1.5 percent as Europe's largest automaker tries to overcome consumer distrust since its diesel-emissions cheating scandal that may cost about $18.2 bilion.

Enticing Visitors

Automakers already have some experience using virtual reality to promote their vehicles. In 2014, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV touted the 2015 Chrysler 200 sedan by giving viewers a virtual reality tour of its factory. Volvo Car Group, owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., used the technology to introduce its XC90 SUV to consumers before it became available in U.S. dealerships less than a year ago. And at this spring's New York auto show, Toyota Motor Corp. enticed visitors by letting them use headsets that demonstrated its cars' safety features, including pedestrian detection.
Virtual reality has blossomed from a far-out concept to an almost-practical form of delivering entertainment and information thanks to improvements in image quality, computer bandwidth, and investment by companies like Facebook Inc. Oculus VR Inc., which was bought by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014, launched its virtual reality headset for $599, compared with HTC Corp.'s HTC Vive, priced at $799.
While the gaming industry will likely account for most of virtual reality's near-term use, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jitendra Waral sees it becoming a core part of the consumer experience for a number of industries, including autos, health care and tourism in the next four to five years. Sales tied to the headsets may top $1 billion this year and reach $21 billion by 2020, Waral estimates.
"What companies are doing is they're creating these consumer touch points to differentiate themselves and be more competitive in terms of the experience," he said in a phone interview. "It's completely different than the way you do things right now, so that novelty is what grabs the attention."

Automotive Virtual Reality Beckons Buyers................ www.redlineautosales.ca/automotive-virtual-reality-beckons-buyers.htm

Automakers Beating Fuel Economy Expectations

A report conducted by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) determined that more than half of all car and truck lines sold in the U.S. meet or beat the national fuel economy standards. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Of all the disclaimers ever penned by a corporate lawyer, few ring as true as the phrase, "Your mileage may vary." It's bad enough that so many of us undermine years of engineering achievements and refinements by driving with a lead-foot, but with big truck sales booming and consumer tastes shifting away from gas-thirsty small and midsize cars and into SUVs, one might worry the nation's cars and trucks are again turning into gas guzzlers.
Fortunately the aforementioned engineering accomplishments are working their science-based magic to vehicles of all sizes to go farther on a tank of gas than did their predecessors. Despite the recent surge in truck and SUV sales, the average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. last month was 25.3 mpg, according to the monthly Eco-Driving Index compiled by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, which is unchanged from February's figures and is 5.2% better than it was in October 2007 when the organization began keeping tabs on auto efficiency.
That's because, recent angst over Mitsubishi's admission that it cooked the books with regard to its vehicles fuel economy notwithstanding, a just-issued report conducted by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) determined that more than half of all car and truck lines sold in the U.S. meet or beat the national fuel economy standards. For 2016, the so-called CAFE standards (it stands for corporate average fuel economy) require automakers to obtain an average rating of 35.5 mpg across all of its light-duty vehicle lines in the U.S., or at least under the convoluted methods in which mileage is computed for CAFE purposes.
"Fuel efficiency increasingly comes standard with new cars, trucks, and SUVs," says Jack Gillis, the CFA's director of public affairs author of the annual new-vehicle guide, The Car Book. "Even if you're in the market for a large pickup or SUV, you'd have to go out of your way to find a true gas guzzler."
Fortunately for automakers that can't seem to ship enough trucks to their dealers these days, the CFA's report found that SUVs and pickups, while still lagging the leaders with regard to fuel economy, are holding their own. Models rated at less than 16 mpg are down to just 4% of the nation's new-vehicle fleet, compared to nearly a third of the market in 2008 (back, we should add, when fuel was last as cheap as it remains today).

by: forbes.com

Automakers Beating Fuel Economy Expectations........................................ www.redlineautosales.ca/automakers-beating-fuel-economy-expectations.htm

Self-driving cars not trusted by Canadians yet

Would you trust a self-driving car? No? Well, you're definitely not alone. According to a new CAA survey released on the eve of a major conference looking at the future of these vehicles, nearly two thirds (63%) of Canadians said they wouldn't feel safe in a driverless car.
Their biggest concerns are vehicle hacking, theft of data generated by the vehicle, and accountability in the event of an accident.
Of course, there are benefits, too, and more than half (57%) of Canadians believe the technology will advance to a point where they would fully trust a self-driving car in the next 10 years.
"Canadians clearly see the potential. We are just not there yet." says Jeff Walker, Vice-President of Public Affairs for CAA National. "Wherever the debate leads, CAA will be there to make sure the views of the driving public are well represented."

by: auto123.com


Self Driving Cars Not Trusted by Canadians Yet............................................... www.redlineautosales.ca/self-driving-cars-not-trusted-by-canadians-yet.htm

Expect 8% decline in used-car prices by 2019

Used-car prices are expected to fall more than 8 percent over the next three years, according to an analysis released last week by RVI Group.
The firm attributes the projected 8.2-percent drop in real used-vehicle prices (i.e. residual values) to growth in three key areas: supply, competition and incentive spending.

"RVI forecasts an increase in leasing through 2018 and a growing supply of used vehicles in the market through 2019," the firm said in a summary of the latest RVI Risk Outlook report.

"In particular, the growth in lease penetration will contribute to the supply of used vehicles as off-leased vehicles will begin to enter the market. In addition, we expect growing competition in the new vehicle market," it added. "The level of incentive spending will increase due to these changing dynamics in the auto industry."
To provide a sense of just how strong off-lease supply has become, consider the data shown in RVI's lease supply index, which it uses to measure off-lease supply.
The index reading in February was up 16 percent year-over-year, and it's expected to continue climbing, RVI said. That's driven by how much leasing has jumped in the past two years. Citing Polk data, RVI points out that leases comprised 21.5 percent of all new-vehicle sales in 2015, including a 22.4-percent penetration rate in the fourth quarter.
It was the early 2000s the last time lease rates were that strong, RVI said, showing data that leases have trended upward since 2009.

By Auto Remarketing

Expect 8% Decline in Used Car Prices by 2019........................ www.redlineautosales.ca/expect-8--decline-in-used-car-prices-by-2019.htm

Technology putting millions of distracted drivers in danger

Technology is putting millions of distracted drivers in danger, according to a report.
Research revealed that two million Britons have experienced an accident or near-miss because their attention was on technology.
Motoring law firm Geoffrey Miller found technology was responsible for distracting 57% of drivers - causing 1.4 million drivers to swerve to avoid an oncoming vehicle and around 1.25 million passing through a red light.
The firm warned that a rise in super-tech cars with in-car screens and complimentary Netflix subscriptions could make it harder for motorists to focus on driving.
Five seconds looking away from the road while driving at 30mph can result in a car travelling over 50m. On the motorway, where a car is travelling at the national speed limit (70 mph), a car could travel 160m while the driver's gaze is elsewhere.
Research also found a more traditional action, changing the radio station, was the biggest distraction for modern drivers - looking at the satnav and a mobile phone followed after.
They also found men were worse at concentrating on the road and more likely to look at their phone behind the wheel.
Jeanette Miller, managing director of Geoffrey Miller, said although technology has made driving easer and safer, super-tech cars create a risk for motorists.
She said: "Aside from the 'being in proper control' laws, there are no specific laws in place to deal with the distraction of having a huge computer screen in the driver's eye line as yet.
"Legislation has not kept pace with the latest developments in car manufacturing and policymakers need to consider the implications of these new super-tech cars before they become mainstream."

by: heraldscotland.com

Technology Putting Millions of Distracted Drivers in Danger.............. www.redlineautosales.ca/technology-putting-millions-of-distracted-drivers-in-danger.htm

Google: Relax car dealers, don’t fear self-driving cars

Google has assured car dealers that the onset of self-driving cars is a positive, not a negative. Speaking at the J.D. Power Automotive Forum, John Krafcik, CEO of Google's self-driving car project, said self-driving cars will clock more hours than standard cars, which makes dealers more important than ever before.
"Self driving cars are going to be more expensive physical assets, so we're going to find a way to use them more,"said Krafcik. "I think there are going to be positive implications for a lot of dealers. And for the OEMs, thinking about that duty cycle is going to be very different."

Eight times the mileage for self-driving cars

Krafcik expects the average miles per year to surge from 13,500 miles currently to between 100,000 and 150,000. The rise in miles per year, he explains, might be due to car sharing programs that can be performed while the car owner is at work or asleep. More miles every year will most likely lead to more servicing and maintenance of the car, which is a positive for car dealers.
On the topic of car brands, Krafcik said "Airlines don't build airplanes. Airbus and Boeing do that. Who knows how this is going to work out in autos?" An interesting question, though we cannot see companies like General Motors and Ford lose more control over the cars; unless there is a radical change in ownership of self-driving cars.
New vehicle technologies have spooked dealer networks already. Since the coming autonomous vehicle tsunami will likely use electric drivetrain technologies, not combustion engines, dealers have already opened a front against high-end EV manufacturer Tesla in this war.
Tesla's sales process bypasses the lucrative dealer networks in each state - to the point that dealer groups have pushed for legislation banning manufacturers from selling in states where they have no dealerships.

More autonomous vehicles coming

Google isn't the only company working on self-driving capabilities for cars, but it appears to be the closest to a consumer model. Tesla launched its own self-driving service on the Model S earlier this year, but it is not a fully autonomous system.
Other car manufacturers like General Motors, Audi, and BMW have invested into their own autonomous teams, but Ford and Toyota have been in rumored talks with Google to partner in a self-driving project.
If Google is incapable of finding partners for its self-driving car, it might have to follow Apple and build its own car, a daunting task for the company that is all about software and services.

by: readwrite.com


Google: Relax Car Dealers, Don't Fear Self Driving Cars......................... www.redlineautosales.ca/google--relax-car-dealers--don-t-fear-self-driving-cars.htm