This research is not only important to the trucking industry, as it informs drivers of potentially dangerous locations, but it should also jumpstart the dialogue between industry and government to work together to improve safety at these sites, commented Steve Niswander, Vice President of Safety Policy and Regulatory Relations for Groendyke Transport. The rollover locations identified through the phase one research are provided in state-specific summary reports and through an online interactive map.

ATRI will continue this important research by investigating the identified locations further to better understand rollover causal factors. Subsequent phases of ATRI’s research will focus on rollover mitigation strategies, such as a real-time in-cab notification system and outreach to public sector officials who have the ability to address potential problems related to roadway design and signage.

Source: http://www.truckline.com/pages/article.aspx?id= 1002%2F8e1c7279-ed27-4c03-b189-ceeee26bbb12

Year-to-date sedan sales for the brand have also increased with the all-new Impreza up 157 percent over prior year and Legacy sales up 12 percent.

“Subaru sales have exceeded 100,000 in four months – a first in our company’s 44 year history,” said Thomas J. Doll, executive vice president and COO, Subaru of America, Inc. “With new vehicle introductions on the horizon, we expect 2012 to be another banner year for our brand.”

“More people than ever are shopping the Subaru brand,” said Bill Cyphers, senior vice president of sales, Subaru of America, Inc. “The all-new Impreza continues its very strong launch and we are working to match demand with supply. This positive sales momentum will certainly continue throughout the year.”

Source: http://www.subaru.com/company/news/index.html

On the ‘5 Star Assurance Programme’, Mr. Arvind Saxena, Director, Sales and Marketing, HMIL said, “Our new 5-Star Assurance Program is designed to offer 360-degree services to our customers ranging from maintenance to roadside assistance. The primary objective being to enhance customer satisfaction long after the purchase has been made.”

The 5 Star Assurance Program includes:

Total Maintenance Assurance
Motor Assurance
Warranty Assurance
Exchange Assurance
Roadside Assurance

The ‘Total Maintenance Program’ assures free maintenance for 3 years or 40,000 kilometers whichever is earlier. The program covers all service and repair including parts and materials as per the standard periodic maintenance service schedule and running repairs.

The ‘Motor Assurance Program’ will provide comprehensive motor insurance at Re. 1 and the ‘Warranty Assurance Program’ offers extended warranty for the 3rd year or up to 40,000 kilometers. Besides this, the scheme also includes free ‘24 X 7 roadside assistance’ for 2 years. The scheme also offers an Exchange/Loyalty offer of Rs. 15,000 for its customers.

Source: http://www.hyundai.com/IN/en/NewsEvents/HyundaiMotorIndia/315751.html

On certain early 2013 model year GS 350 F-Sport RWD vehicles, the ECU for the VGRS system could cause the steering wheel to become off-centered when restarting the vehicle immediately after the vehicle is parked with the steering wheel turned. Dealers will update the VGRS ECU calibration to address the condition.

Owners of the involved vehicles will receive a safety recall notification by first-class mail beginning in early June 2012.

Any authorized Lexus dealer will perform this update at no charge to the vehicle owner. The repair is expected to take approximately 30 minutes depending on the dealer’s schedule.

Source: http://www.lexus.com/about/news/index.html#/view-0/model-0/page-1/article-Lexus_Announces_Voluntary_Safety_Recall_of_Certain

Availability of high torque at relatively low engine revolutions means the Swift diesel is extremely responsive at mid-range and medium road speeds. The DDiS boasts 46 per cent more torque than the 1.4-litre petrol Swift, has a maximum speed of 166 km/h and reaches New Zealand’s open road speed limit of 100 km/h in less than 13 seconds. A five-speed manual gearbox is standard and the gear ratios and final drive gearing are unique to the Swift DDiS. In the official Combined fuel cycle test simulating both urban and open road driving the diesel Swift averages 4.2 litres/100 km (67.3 miles per gallon).

The Suzuki delivers an outstanding 3.6 litres/100 km (78.5 mpg) in the Extra Urban highway only cycle and 5.1 litres/100 km (55.4 mpg) in the Urban city and suburban street cycle. A recent independent fuel test from Auckland to Wellington produced even better economy than the Extra Urban fuel test cycle, with an average of 3.27 litres/100 km (85.5 mpg). “We originally estimated the Swift DDiS would have a driving range of around 800 kilometres, but in open road running, it has since been found the 42-litre fuel tank is good for up to 1,000 kilometres,” said Tom Peck, General Manager of Marketing for Suzuki New Zealand. The standard fit 12-spoke aluminium alloy wheels are shod with 185/55 R16 tyres and the engine complies with the latest Euro 5 emission standards.

In line with market demands, the well equipped Swift DDiS diesel is high on safety and equipment levels. It comes with ABS anti-lock and brake assist, ESP (Electronic Stability Programme), foot protecting brake and clutch pedals, ISOFIX child seat anchorages and child seat tether anchorages. There are driver and front passenger airbags, side airbags (incorporated into the front seats), curtain airbags and a driver knee bag giving the Swift Diesel the highest possible 5-Star Euro NCAP safety rating. This rating considers occupant protection in frontal, side, pole and rear impacts as well as child protection, pedestrian protection and the availability of driver aids.

Source: http://www.suzuki.co.nz/News/Automotive/2012/05/15/Swift+Diesel+Goes+on+Sale+in+New+Zealand/

Sales for the month of April were led by the C-, E-, and M-Class model lines. The sporty C-Class – the gateway to the Mercedes-Benz brand on the car side for younger and first-time Mercedes-Benz buyers – took the lead with sales of 6,424 and the 9th generation E-Class followed with sales of 5,328. MBUSA’s top-selling SUV, the M-Class, rounded out the top three with sales of 3,057, up 53.6% compared to April 2011. Other strong performers were the company’s popular new CLS four-door coupe which saw a 522.1% growth and the all-new SLK roadster which increased 215.5% over April 2011. The SLS AMG supercar retailed 104 for the month, up 92.6% over the same period last year.

On a year-to-date basis, top performers again were the C-Class with 24,531 (up 20.1%) the E-Class with 19,201 and the M-Class with 14,537 (up 58.2%).

Monthly sales of the high-performance AMG models were 529, up 55.1% versus April 2011 (341) and up 60.6% year to date. Additionally, despite fluctuating gas prices, diesel sales increased to 2,300 up 142.4% over the same period last year (949) and up 85.8% for the year.

The company’s smart brand continued six consecutive months of sales increases with April sales of 764 vehicles, a 63% jump for the month (compared to the 467 vehicles sold in April 2011) and brings the year-to-date volume to 3,028, up 74.6%.

On the van side, sales of Sprinter Vans also saw strong momentum in April with sales of 1,966 – up 76.3% over last year and up 35.4% on a year-to-date basis.

Separately, through the Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned (MBCPO) program, MBUSA sold 6,368 vehicles in April; a -10.2% decrease when compared to April 2011 (sales of 7,091 vehicles). On a year-to-date basis, MBCPO sold 26,292 vehicles, a decrease of -1.3% over the comparable period (with sales of 26,629).

Source: http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/about_us/press?pressId=a8f2901668f07310VgnVCM1000007c184335____

The package, which is designed to improve operational safety, will include a new anchor handling frame (AHF) and a hydraulic anchor winch, which is capable of pulling 500 tonnes. It will also feature anchor handling cranes and systems to ensure controlled management of wires and chains when pulling heavy loads.

Arne Tande, Rolls-Royce, Senior Vice President – Offshore Deck Machinery said: “This latest contract cements Rolls-Royce’s position as the market leader in anchor handling equipment. We supply world leading technology which enables safer and more efficient operations in deep water oil fields.”

As the exploration and production for oil and gas moves towards deeper waters, mooring lines become heavier, more difficult and more hazardous to handle. The new AHF is designed to reduce the handling forces and wire tension during anchor deployment and retrieval operations, while also minimising the human exposure to hazardous operating conditions.

The AHF is mounted at the stern of the vessel to ease the deployment and recovery of anchors. It makes it simpler to deck the anchor with correct orientation and without repeated efforts or assistance from other vessels.

Source: http://www.rolls-royce.com/marine/news/2012/120514_handling_vessel.jsp

Arne Tande, Rolls-Royce, Senior Vice President – Offshore Deck Machinery said: “This latest contract cements Rolls-Royce’s position as the market leader in anchor handling equipment. We supply world leading technology which enables safer and more efficient operations in deep water oil fields.” As the exploration and production for oil and gas moves towards deeper waters, mooring lines become heavier, more difficult and more hazardous to handle. The new AHF is designed to reduce the handling forces and wire tension during anchor deployment and retrieval operations, while also minimising the human exposure to hazardous operating conditions.

The AHF is mounted at the stern of the vessel to ease the deployment and recovery of anchors. It makes it simpler to deck the anchor with correct orientation and without repeated efforts or assistance from other vessels. A design panel of five highly respected world design experts decided on the shortlist, which was then voted on by each of the 66 World Car Jurors. The jurors are all highly respected, top-level automotive journalists and come from 25 separate countries.

Juror Silvia Baruffaldi commented, “True to the concept car it derives from, it is a contemporary automotive design masterpiece. Besides not having equals on the markets, it is able to deliver the Land Rover DNA in a more compact, sporty body style. A premium product without the bad habit of showing off.”

The Range Rover Evoque’s award winning design is matched by its class-leading performance with dynamic and agile handling across all terrains plus innovative Range Rover technologies, including Terrain Response®, dual-view touch screen, surround camera system and an array of personalisation options to suit customer needs.

Source: http://www.landrover.com/us/en/lr/about-land-rover/land-rover-news/world-design-car-of-the-year/

“Never has a relatively flat sales month felt quite so good,” said Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai Motor America’s executive vice president of national sales. “We definitely felt some pullback from an overheated March sales pace but really picked up some momentum at the tail end of the month and finished with a flurry to set another all-time volume record. Vehicle availability continues to improve and our announcement just last night of the assembly plant expansion in Alabama will provide much needed production increases for our highly fuel efficient Sonata and Elantra sedans, while generating nearly 900 new jobs for the local economy. ”

In its first month of sales, the all-new Azera is off to a torrid start with sales up 399 percent over last April, while Hyundai’s family of RWD premium products, Genesis and Equus, continue to deliver outstanding sales results with volume up 36 percent over a year ago. In an ongoing effort to meet retail demand, business to fleet accounts continues to run at less than a 10 percent mix, amongst the lowest levels in the industry.

Hyundai achieved a corporate average fuel economy level of 37.1 MPG (27.9 MPG label value) in April, while selling 23,632 vehicles (38 percent of total sales) with 40 MPG window label highway fuel economy ratings. “April was a great month for us, but low availability of our 40-mpg highway Accent, Veloster, and Elantra, three of the hottest cars in the industry, definitely impacted our final sales result,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. “We’ll continue to work through these constraints with actions like the addition of a third shift at our Alabama plant later this year, which will help feed unmet demand for Elantra and Sonata.”

Source: http://www.hyundaiusa.com/about-hyundai/news/Corporate_2012_APRIL_SALES_RECORD-20120501.aspx

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