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Nutson's Weekly Automotive News - July 4-10, 2016: Self-Driving; Tesla; Traffic Deaths Up; NACOTY; New Pathfinder; RIP Carl Hass


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AUTO CENTRAL Chicago, July 10, 2016; Every Sunday Larry Nutson, Senior Editor and Chicago Car Guy along with fellow senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau, give you TACH's "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest mega-tweet sized nuggets. If you wish to know more just click on the link that will take you to the full story as published here on The Auto Channel.

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The Past Week's Automotive News Highlights In Easy To Digest Chunks
July 4-10, 2016

* BMW Group, Intel, and Mobileye are joining forces to make self-driving vehicles and future mobility concepts become a reality. The three leaders from the automotive, technology and computer vision and machine learning industries are collaborating to bring solutions for highly and fully automated driving into series production by 2021. The goal of the collaboration is to develop future-proofed solutions that enable the drivers to not only take their hands off the steering wheel, but reach the so called “eyes off” (level 3) and ultimately the “mind off” (level 4) level transforming the driver’s in-car time into leisure or work time. This level of autonomy would enable the vehicle, on a technical level, to achieve the final stage of traveling “driver off” (level 5) without a human driver inside.

* The number of drivers who were killed in U.S. traffic accidents increased by 7.7 percent last year, according to statistics released by the federal government. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 35,200 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2015, which is up from the 32,675 fatalities that reported in 2014. The figures include auto, motorcycle and bicycle accidents, as well as pedestrians.

* The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute's latest report from Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle says average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the U.S. in June 2016 was 25.3 mpg—down 0.1 mpg from the value for May 2016. This decline likely reflects the increased market share of pickup trucks and SUVs. Fuel economy is down 0.5 mpg from the peak reached in August 2014, but still up 5.2 mpg since October 2007 (the first month of their monitoring).

* North American Car and Truck/Utility of the year jurors are evaluating the first list of vehicles eligible for the awards. The initial list for 2017 includes 43 new vehicles that go on sale in 2016. The total includes 27 cars, 12 SUVs and four trucks. The winners will be announced Jan. 9 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

* Tesla and Elon Musk were taking heat again this week after the first death attributed to a car on Autopilot - a Tesla S hit the news in the past couple weeks. This week Tesla announced during a shareholder meeting that the electric automaker missed its delivery goal for the second quarter, after also missing the goal for the first quarter of the year. Some analysts credit (or fault) the company’s overly optimistic goals to begin with. Tesla said it was because of an “extreme production ramp,” whatever that means.

* The Tesla accident that killed the driver is now being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB wants to look further into driver-assistance technology to see if there are any systematic issues with this new emerging technology. Some pundits think this fatal accident will slow down further roll-out of the technology.

* Everyone in the media got a preview this week of the new-for-2017 Nissan Pathfinder at events in Dallas, New York City, Detroit and France. Most thought it hard to distinguish visually from the outgoing Pathfinder and much remains the same. The company’s trusty 3.5-liter V6 gets 10% more power with upgraded direct injection and a higher compression ratio. Suspension, steering and brakes all get modest improvements as does the CVT. Pricing will be announced close to its fall launch but it is expected to be little changed.

* Having reported last week on Volkswagen’s agreement with the stakeholders in the U.S. regarding the diesel emissions cheating scandal, we learned this week that the company may not face any financial sanctions in Europe including, potentially, no compensation to owners. Matthias Mueller, VW CEO, is quoted as saying that because of the costs of the U.S. settlement the company’s financial health would be in jeopardy if such sanctions were applied on millions of cars there. It appears that the remedy there will primarily be fixing the cars to make them compliant with regulations.

*But, VW will now pay California an $86 million fine for its cheating diesels. Word has it that California spent $76 million to prosecute VW and wants to cover its expense in protecting the environment. Lastly, VW dealers who have not had cars to sell and financially impacted may still be heard from.

* It was inevitable, was it not? A respected spy photographer from MotorTrend copped a shot of a 2018 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk apparently powered by the 707-hp Hellcat V8. It was seen near the SRT headquarters at FCA’s complex in Auburn Hills, MI. Enthusiasts at MotorTrend expect the uber-Hemi Grand Cherokee could do 0-to-60 in the mid 3-second range.

* After an impressive win at LeMans in the GTE Pro class a few weeks ago (Ford GTs took 3 out of the first 4 places), Raj Nair, Ford VP and technical officer, announced a commitment by the company to continue a factory supported racing program for the Ford GT through the 2019 season in both IMSA and international FIA WEC competitions. Nair emphasised the importance of racing to “improve products that Ford customers can drive every day.” This year’s racing program for the Ford GT includes two cars in IMSA competition and two in FIA.

* For those who want a bit of history in their garage RM Sotheby’s featured car at the upcoming Monterey sale August 19/20 will be the original, first-to-be-built, Shelby Cobra that has been in the possession of its builder, racing icon Carroll Shelby, since new. Known as CSX 2000 it was the prototype for what has become one of the most storied racing sports cars in history. Shelby created the car out of a British AC Ace chassis and a 260 cubic-inch Ford V8 to contest the road racing dominance of the Corvette in the 1960s . According to RM Sotheby's car specialist Shelby Myers, the CSX 200’s “historical significance and impact on the global sports car scene cannot be overstated,” and “it revolutionised not only American racing, but the greater auto industry as a whole."

* The 2016 Hemmings Motor News Great Race presented by Hagerty concluded in Moline, Illinois with a dead heat. The eventual winners of the eight-day race that started in San Rafael, CA, G.R. Pike and Bobby Hadskey, had the exact same time to the tenth of a second as the second place team of Dave Reeder and Sawyer Stone. Both were driving 1916 Hudsons. The team of Pike and Hadskey were given the victory based on a better finish in the initial Trophy Run competition that took place on the day before the official start.

* Legendary race team owner Carl Hass, co-founder of Newman-Haas Racing with the late actor Paul Newman, has died. He was 86. One of the most successful open-wheel teams with legendary drivers like Mario Andretti, Paul Tracy and Christian Fittipaldi, Newman-Haas cars made 30 starts over a 28-year span at the Indianapolis 500. Haas also ran teams in Can-Am, Formula 1 and NASCAR.

* A recent Wall Street Journal article addresses the fact that we need infrastructure changes, akin to those made when the automobile first appeared, to accommodate self-driving vehicles. To quote, "the true power of the automobile was unleashed only after streets were paved, lanes marked, traffic lights installed, pedestrians confined to sidewalks and horse-drawn traffic curtailed." Read the article here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/roads-that-work-for-self-driving-cars-1467991339