In Case You Missed It - Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest - October 31-Nov 6, 2016: SEMA, BMW Recall, Buh Bye Chrysler Museum, Car Sharing, Alt Fuel Routes

AUTO CENTRAL CHICAGO, November 6, 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.

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Enjoy and thanks for the positive feedback and ratings. See You Next Week, LN.

Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest - November 6, 2016

* The biggest event in the automotive aftermarket industry is the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show in Las Vegas this week. The show spreads out all over the strip with both inside and outside venues. Thousands of exhibitors, including nearly all the major automakers, show vehicles massaged in every way imaginable, and some waaaay outside the box. Most anachronistic might be a NASCAR-themed Camry to sell for $160K, a pair of hot rod minivans and hopped up custom Ford Maverick.

* The final tally for October new vehicle sales was delayed by two days waiting for Ford. A small electrical fire Monday at its Dearborn world headquarters shut the building down for a day. Sales in October slipped 5.9% to 1.37 million, but a 17.98 million SAAR is the strongest of the year. SUVs and crossovers are hot, passenger cars are not, and pickups are cooling off. Sales for the big-six all fell. Brands such as Lincoln, Buick, Jaguar, Hyundai and Subaru are up.

* Automakers achieved an average of 24.5 miles per gallon for their fleets in the 2015 model year, beating a requirement for the year by nearly 1 mpg, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The 2015 average for fuel economy is an improvement of 0.5 percent over 2014, and a record for the nation’s car manufacturers. The average includes passenger cars, SUVs, vans and minivans, and light-duty pickups

* Hyundai and Kia said they will pay $41.2 million to 33 states and the District of Columbia in a settlement regarding a 2012 restatement of fuel economy ratings that affected about a quarter of its vehicle lineup. In November 2012 Hyundai and Kia issued a voluntary adjustment of fuel economy ratings for roughly 25 percent of its 2011-13 model year vehicles that reduced their combined city/highway fuel economy by 1-2 miles per gallon. The two companies then provided a lifetime reimbursement program to compensate affected customers for the additional fuel costs. The money will go to settle the states’ consumer protection claims and to cover investigative costs.

* A new program, the Bloomberg Aspen Initiative on Cities and Autonomous Vehicles, has chosen five cities for a self-driving car initiative. The cities are Nashville, Tennessee, Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, Paris and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Five other cities will be added this year. The cities will have access to data and coaching from urban planners and technologists meant to help them prepare for self-driving cars and use them to address city challenges.

* The auto show season ramps up with the opening of the Los Angeles Auto Show November 14-17. Just as the Consumer Electronics Show includes more automobile content each year, the major auto shows include more electronics. Exhibitors in an all-new LA Auto Show component called “GO” will show a variety of forward-looking mobility concepts like electric scooters, a lean-to-steer electric vehicle, electric bicycles, public transportation concepts and new driver interface systems.

* A bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan would recognize the work the privately funded Historic Vehicle Association does with the National Parks Service and Library of Congress to document the history of particularly significant vehicles and the impact the auto industry has had on all aspects of American life. The HVA has already documented 14 vehicles ranging from a Cadillac that served the U.S. Army in Europe during WWI, the Buick Y-Job concept car and the first Chevrolet Camaro.

* There's a new vehicle in the Buick line but you may not have heard of it. The Buick Envision compact SUV was launched this summer. The theory among the automotive media that's been floated is Donald Trump is to blame for the silence. The Republican nominee incorrectly attacked Ford during his campaign such that GM may have wanted to avoid becoming a partisan target too. GM has been completely open about the fact that it builds the Envision in China.

* Keyless entry. Toyota will test a new car-sharing system next year that lets users unlock doors and start cars with their smartphones. The Smart Key Box system eliminates the need for a physical key. Toyota will test the system in San Francisco with the Getaround car-sharing service starting in January. Getaround is a peer-to-peer car-sharing service that lets renters use other people's cars for as low as $5 an hour. In exchange, owners receive a portion of that fee. Getaround's service has attracted more than 300,000 users around the U.S.

* A race-prepared Hyundai Ioniq hybrid prototype, developed by Hyundai Motor America’s Engineering and Quality team, set an FIA-approved production-based hybrid vehicle land speed record of 157.825 mph, with a peak exit speed of 160.7 mph at Utah’s renowned Bonneville Salt Flats. The eco-focused Ioniq is Hyundai’s newest hybrid model, with hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains to be available. Ioniq hybrid and electric models go on sale in the U.S. in late 2016.

* Cars.com named the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica the "Best Minivan of 2016" in its Ultimate Minivan Challenge. The test took a "Champions versus Challenger" approach in which the newest minivan on the market went head-to-head with the top two finishers in Cars.com's 2015 Ultimate Minivan Challenge, the Kia Sedona and the Toyota Sienna.

* The Obama administration announced that 55 interstates across the U.S. will be designated as alternative fuel corridors for vehicles, making it easier for drivers to identify and locate charging and refueling stations. There's no funding for this, but the network will allow states to put up signs on the federal interstate system that alerts drivers to charging stations or other alternative fuels available. Drivers can expect to see either existing or new charging stations within every 50 miles once the corridors are fully built out which also include corridors for natural gas and other alternative fuels spanning nearly 85,000 miles. This includes designating 48 out of the 55 routes electric vehicle charging corridors, totaling almost 25,000 miles of electric vehicle routes in 35 states.

* Volvo announced details of its strategy for future production this week including the move of S90 luxury car assembly from Europe to a factory in Heilongjiang Province in northern China. Future mid-size 60-series sedan production will also go to China in the Szechuan Province. Factories in Gothenburg, Sweden and Ghent, Belgium will make a new small 40-series sedan for Europe and other markets. Chinese industrial group Geely Holding bought the Volvo brand from Ford in 2010 and produced a record half million cars and crossovers in 2015.

* Mark Rosekind, boss at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, offered his assessment this week that more needs to be done to replace defective Takata airbags in older cars. Another death was recently attributed to the airbags, this time a Honda Civic driver in California. This is the 11th death in the U.S. and 16th worldwide attributed to the airbags that can spew metal chunks when deployed. Rosekind also reiterated the automakers' responsibility to replace the airbags, not Takata.

* This may be your last chance to visit the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI, right next to FCA US Headquarters, before it is converted to office space. The museum was essentially closed some time ago and only used for special events. Then it was reopened just this year on a very limited schedule. These last open dates are November 5 & 6, 19 & 20, and December 17 & 18. They promise to “preserve and maintain the integrity of our historical collection,” and continue to show the cars at select events.

* Audi recently announced it will be pulling out of endurance racing and now we learn that VW will no longer compete in the World Rally Championship after the current season. Skoda, another VW-owned brand, will still be competing in the WRC as far as we know now. VW has won 41 of the 52 WRC events since the beginning of the 2013 season. Both the Audi and VW exits from racing are seen by analysts as casualties of the diesel emissions scandals and the resulting financial burdens on the company.

* BMW is recalling more than 154,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. and Canada to fix a wiring problem that can cause engines to stall. The recall covers certain 5-Series and X5 models and some 6-Series and X6 vehicles from the 2007 to 2012 model years