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Recalls have been plaguing the auto industry in the past few months. The latest news involves BMW and Volkswagen recalled cars and minivans in the United States due to defects that can cause fires according to the government auto safety regulators.

BMW needed to recall 1 Series cars M.Y. 2008 through 2011 due to defective retractor of the front safety belts which may ignite. This is according to the notice at the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of the affected vehicles is not indicated on the notice.

Volkswagen recalls 15902 units of Routan minivans due to short circuit risks with the latches of the rear-door.

The announcement of the recalls were made after the committee in charge of regulations for the automotive industry sent its report to the Senate body to toughen the laws and penalties for violations.

The recall of VW for the 2009 model year of their mini vans following a recall of the Chrysler Group of 284,831 units of the Town & Country by Chrysler and Grand Caravan under the Dodge brand.

According to the safety engineers of BMW, the problem with the BMW will occur during road accidents of significant severity. The mechanism of the seat belt is designed to add tension, tighten, and hold the person back to his seat during a crash. The problem was traced to the insulation wrapped around the pre-tensioner.

The major car manufacturers in the United States posted double digit gains in May except for Japanese carmaker Toyota. The sales for light vehicles peaked since December.

The figures are up by as much as 19% compared to the May 2009 sales numbers marking the eight consecutive month of increase which is considered the longest streak since the first half of 2000. The adjusted rate of sales hit the bell at 11.8 million way over the predictions of experts.

Ford registered a 22% gain for May and also performed well during the incentive spree during the weekend of Memorial Day. General Motors also saw a jump of 17%.

Chrysler soared to a 33% improvement compared a year ago when the carmaker suffered bankruptcy.

The Detroit 3 surpassed the forecast figures of analysts going over by at least 6%.

The sales of Japanese car manufacturer Toyota also went up but only by 7% despite its barrage of incentive programs since March. This is the worst performance by Toyota after posting drops from January through February during the peak of the recall issues. Toyota is still struggling to get up and come up with a better image for the market after recalling over eight million units due to braking and acceleration problems.

I have to tell you. Of all the things I never thought I would see, a French pickup truck is near the top of the list.

Yet, here we have it. Peugeot, one of my very favorite European automakers, has just come out with their first ever pickup truck.

Called the Peugeot Hoggar, this comes from the concept introduced way back in 2003.

It was actually designed not only in Brazil but for Brazil. It is for the Brazilian market, for the specific needs of the clientele there.

It will be launched later this season, in the middle of May.

When you think about it – putting a law into effect that insists that young drivers, anyone under 21 to put a red sticker on their license plate just makes sense.  I mean, we have changed their license around already.  New Jersey thinks that their teen or young drivers need to be identified and that is why they have come up with this particular law.

That way, it is easier for the cops to be able to identify exactly who should be in for their 11 o’clock curfew and who shouldn’t.  There are some exceptions to this law though and one of them is that if you take drivers educational classes, you do not have to display the sticker.

Also, once the driver obtains a license, not a learners permit, they can take the sticker off of their license plate.

Actually, Honda is doing more than simply aiming high. They are aiming for the stratosphere — literally, sort of, because the 3R-C concept looks like something out of the Jetsons. It belongs either in space or in the future — or, hell, maybe both, who knows?

I get that there is a market — sort of — for vehicles like this. By the way, “this” is not just electric, it is battery powered and aims towards personal transportation. It is in line with the FCX Clarity, the EV-N, and the U3-X electric personal mobility contraption.

It is going to debut next month in Geneva. But I ask you, will it ever make it to production? And even if it does, would anyone really want to be seen in it?

Ford – oh Ford, let’s have a little talk about you huh?  Let’s chat about how you have changed a lot of things that you are doing and how you are actually becoming one the lead competitors in the way of technology.  We all know that car technology is certainly the wave of the future and I think that Ford is leading the way.

By far, the MyFord Touch is definitely something that seems to be working.  It is actually a system that is built right into the wheel as well as the console and honestly, it is pretty awesome.  Not only can you control your stereo, but there are a slew of other things that you can control via MyFord Touch!

Ford is the cutting edge right now and while I might find that weird … it is still the truth and I need to accept that!

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Auto aficionados no doubt kept up with all the big reveals at this year’s NAIAS. Many of you are likely just aware of one of the largest surprise reveals there this time: GMC’s Granite concept. The design is meant to produce a smaller sort of truck and crossover, creating a hatchback with a compact build. The target audience? Urban hipsters, baby, along with brave early adopters.

The concept was conceived in California, the brainchild of the Advanced Design Team belonging to Frank Saucedo. However, the hatchback was built in Detroit at the GM Design Center.

The aesthetic behind the Granite puts together the basic, simple proportions found in the Nissan Cube as well as the Scion xB, with a rather industrial feeling that gets its inspiration from, of all things, two major fashion lines: Diesel and G-Star.

Hyundai has been responsible for some pretty cute little vehicles. The renderings of this one — a concept known as the ix-Metro — were just recently made available not to long ago, and the actual concept got its unveiling at the IAA that took place in Frankfurt.

Namyang, Korea’s Global Design Team has created a whole series of new concept cars, of which this is the fifth. It is designed as a showcase vehicle for the “Blue Drive” eco initiative Hyundai is pushing.

The ix-Metro is a CUV — a sub-B segment hybrid electric one, to be exact. Hyundai promises that the concept will give out CO2 emissions that are only eighty grams per kilometer. The vehicle uses an petrol engine, an inline three cylinder, that displaces a mere liter.

Ford is actually imploring some real skills here and they are using real humans in a video game simulator so that they can build better cars and trucks.  The technology that has already been used in films and also in some fantastic video games is now making its way into the automotive industry and it seems that Ford is the first automaker to actually use it.

Basically, HOPS is the name of it and that stands for Human Occupant Package Simulator.  In real life – this basically means that there are human test subjects that are using this particular simulator in order to produce better quality cars and trucks.

Ford – to me is really taking the next step and I personally think that is absolutely incredible.

When you think about it — it does not seem all that long ago that we were reporting on the Porsche Panamera and how it is available for pre-order.  Now … it has been on sale for about three months and already, the company is booming and the Porsche Panamera’s are flying off of the lot!  So far, Porsche has cranked out about ten thousand of the Porsche Panamera’s. 

That — to me is one car that is by far the best on the market.  Not only does it look absolutely breathtakingly beautiful but I can tell you for a fact that the way that the Porsche Panamera drives is the reason that so many people are attracted to it and really want it.

I mean, to be perfectly frank, not only is it a hot, hot car but the brand name Porsche is something of a status and I think that, that is exactly what people are after right now!