How do driverless vehicles navigate through intersections? Faster and safer than if humans were in charge, according to researchers from the Virginia Tech Transportation Research. Autonomous vehicles will turn themselves over to an automated intersection controller, which will allow the vehicles to move at the speed limit, with the controller tweaking their trajectory to prevent […]
Automotive/Transportation
Honda, Nissan Car Sales in China Fall
BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Kyodo) — Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday its new car sales in China fell 29.2 percent in November from a year earlier to 41,205 units, narrowing the margin of decline from 53.5 percent in October as it recovers from the fallout of anti-Japanese protests in China in September. Nissan Motor Co. said […]
Couple Convicted of Stealing GM Trade Secrets
A former General Motors engineer with access to the automaker’s hybrid technology was convicted Friday along with her husband of stealing trade secrets for possible use in China. Shanshan Du won a transfer within GM in 2003 to be closer to the technology and then copied documents until she accepted a severance offer and left […]
Photos of the Day: NJ Bridge Causes Train to Derail
In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 file photo, officials work the scene of derailed freight train tank cars in Paulsboro, N.J. Residents of Paulsboro were ordered to stay inside and schools were closed Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, after unsafe levels of the chemical vinyl chloride were found in the air near where the train derailed […]
Alignment Problems on NJ Bridge Caused Derailment
A New Jersey bridge where a train derailed last week, releasing a hazardous chemical into the air, had a series of rail alignment problems leading up to the derailment, the National Transportation Safety Board’s top official said Monday. See the photos here. Some of the problems were reported the day before Friday’s derailment. NTSB chairman […]
Japan’s New Auto Sales Drop in November
TOKYO, Dec. 3 (Kyodo) — Japan’s new auto sales edged down 0.4 percent in November from a year earlier to 393,942 units, due partly to the end of the government subsidy program for the purchase of environmentally friendly cars, industry bodies said Monday. The decline was modest compared to a 5.7 percent drop the previous […]
Couple Convicted of Stealing GM Trade Secrets
A former General Motors engineer with access to the automaker’s hybrid technology was convicted along with her husband of stealing trade secrets for possible use in China. Shanshan Du won a transfer within GM in 2003 to be closer to the technology and then copied documents until she accepted a severance offer and left the […]
Subaru Named 2012 Design Challenge Winner at LA Auto Show
Subaru Highway Automated Response Concept (SHARC) named 2012 Design Challenge winner at LA Auto Show LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Subaru Global Design wins the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge competition after the presentation of its SHARC (Subaru Highway Automated Response Concept) vehicle. As a futuristic model for 24-hour highway monitoring, […]
Mazda to Make New Plant in Mexico Export Base for Global Market
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29 (Kyodo) — Mazda Motor Corp. intends to turn a new plant to be built in Mexico into an export base for the global market, Mazda President Takashi Yamanouchi said Thursday. Yamanouchi said in an interview with Kyodo News that the automaker can have an advantage in terms of tariffs, when it […]
Chevrolet Unveils 2013 Sprint Cup Car
Chevrolet unveiled its 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup car Thursday. The matching Chevrolet SS passenger car, a new rear-wheel drive vehicle that will be available in showrooms in August, will be unveiled in February around the season-opening Daytona 500, when it will debut on the track. “As a passionate race fan, the debut of the SS […]