Lexus Unveils car, the danger of the street expected

Paul A. Eisenstein, the Detroit Bureau

It can detect a potential problem at 500 metres distance and tell the difference between red and green light. It can expect a corner even before the driver turns the wheel. It is designed to prevent a crash, but make it easier to survive a collision even as they automatically calls for help.

Toyota's Lexus luxury brand is the public give a first look on its advanced active safety research vehicle on the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Also known as the AASRV, is to test it and a variety of automated vehicle safety technologies that could be used in the not-too-distant future in series vehicles to demonstrate according to Toyota officials.

"In our quest for more automated high technologies develop, we believe that the driver needs to be fully engaged," said Templin. "For Toyota and Lexus, driverless car is only part of the story. "Our vision is a car with a smart, always attentive co-pilot whose capabilities to the safer driving contribute."But in contrast to some prototypes, the AASRV is not designed for operation with complete autonomy. Mark Templin, general manager of the Lexus brand stressed that the aim to engage and to improve the skills of the driver, instead driving a car into a fully automated activity to make.

The concept behind the AASRV said to view safety as a "holistic blend" of persons, vehicles and driving environment, Toyota. The technology used in the vehicle safety should be back to the drivers Act of the moment, is switched on like a car until home safely - or, in the case of a collision by the time as rescue and response after a crash has occurred.

A variety of technologies to 'see' what is on the road as well as in the Interior of the car, the vehicle includes security. These include:

A roof mounted, 360-degree LIDAR-laser which detecting obstacles and other objects at distances up to about 230 meters, three HD cameras can also obstacles - spotting, and reading lamps on traffic - up to 500 metres distance.Front and side-mounted radar to create a field of "Vision" around the vehicle;An inertial measurement system, which determine how the car behaves, can just for runners or sudden driver input, for example; and GPS antennas on the roof help of an integrated navigation system compare motion of the vehicle on the road itself.
Today's cars come loaded with more and more digital security technology. Electronic stability control required by federal law since the start of the model year 2011 and has saved already thousands of lives has been credited by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

New cross-traffic alert systems an oncoming vehicle can save otherwise out of sight for a driver out of a parking lot, locate. And a number of vehicles, including the latest generation Lexus LS, equipped with pre-collision warning systems, a driver for a potential crash to indicate. The LS system can bring to a halt even the car, if the driver does not react in good time – and it is designed to reduce the impact if a crash is inevitable.

While the consumer traditionally has focused Electronics Show on goodies such as televisions, smartphones and computers, it has a growing presence of automakers and suppliers focus on traffic engineering of Infotainment to hin to intelligent transportation systems, or ITS views.

The AASRV will participate in the smart car research, which could soon find communication with a roadway infrastructure intelligent - and any other vehicles. While letting also motorists know ahead of problems, such as smooth roads, construction and traffic congestion could that reduce such as the probability of collisions at blind intersections.

Toyota noted, it is one of the eight automakers crash avoidance metrics partnership (CAMP) vehicle safety communication 3 (VSC3) Consortium, designed, to various system participants.

"The real value of the research projects like this increases the focus on what seemed an unreachable dream a few years ago and is now more plausible," Templin said. "We look at the ultimate goal of a society of that values mobility TMC and Lexus, the Elimination of road deaths and injuries."

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Fiat uses Google Street to photo bomb VW

The Detroit Bureau

That's a Fiat 500, not the VW Up! in front of the German maker's Swedish HQ.

By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit BureauAutomakers normally take their marketing efforts quite seriously, not surprising when you consider the billions of dollars at stake. But every so often, a little humor creeps in – such as the Tweets Ford has been sending out about General Motors’ decision to stop advertising on Facebook.

Fiat, it seems, took a more creative approach to “punking” its rival Volkswagen AG.

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Search for the German maker’s Swedish headquarters using Google Street View and parked right in front of the main door and you’ll find a little Fiat 500.

Exactly how the stunt was pulled off isn’t clear. The two makers have their offices fairly close to one another but the challenge is knowing when the Google camera car rolls by. Apparently, once the Fiat folks figured that out they quickly got into position and posed.

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The folks at Tecca.com first spotted the gag and noticed that the red Fiat 500 tagged along for a while, positioning itself in several other street scenes.

For those not familiar with the service, Google Street View provides a panoramic look at urban, suburban and even many rural roads around the world. The images are recorded from a fleet of specially-equipped vehicles. Where roads are inaccessible the company will even use Google Trikes and snowmobiles. And portable units have been added to offer panoramic views of places such as the White House.

The Detroit Bureau

The Fiat 500 pulls out and gets ready to pose for several other Google Street View images.

Spend enough time searching through the extensive database and you’ll find a number of other pranks from those who spotted the Google camera car in time to offer a “moon” or some other suggestive pose.

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In fact, Google itself got into the game earlier this year, briefly switching from the normally hi-res images to an 8-bit version for April Fools Day that had the resolution of an early Atari videogame.

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Ferrari's F12 will be its fastest street car yet

Ferrri's newest supercar will be named the F12, rather than the 620 as widely reported.

By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit Bureau

One thing about a Ferrari, it’s able to make a fast turn, and apparently that applies to the Italian automaker itself, which has delivered a surprise today, announcing that its newest supercar will be named the Ferrari F12, rather than the 620 as widely reported.

One key detail hasn’t changed, however: the new super GT will be the fastest and most powerful automobile ever to wear the prancing pony badge.  Its 6.3-liter V12 will be able to launch the Ferrari F12 from 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds – with a top speed of more than 310 mph. 

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The replacement for the Ferrari 599 will land in an increasingly crowded supercar market that will feature the likes of the new McLaren MP4-12C and the Lamborghini Aventador, so the opportunity to deliver anything but extreme performance will be minimal.

Of course, Ferrari will also put a premium on luscious Italian styling, an advantage it figures it can leverage over the incredibly competent McLaren.  But form, here, is also supposed to enhance function.  And the new F12 will feature a new concept dubbed Aero Bridge that generates additional downforce by funneling air flowing over the hood to its flank.

Then there’s the Active Brake Cooling system, which uses active vanes to guide air, when needed, through ducts to improve brake performance. 

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While there may be subtle visual similarities to the outgoing 599, the Ferrari F12 is a completely new car, the maker insists, with an all-new chassis that features a slightly shorter wheelbase.  The engine, seats and other key components have been lowered to improve the center of gravity.

Ferrari also concentrated on lowering the new supercar’s overall weight, which comes in at 3,355 pounds, about 155 less than its predecessor.  That helps enhance acceleration, handling – and fuel economy, which is reportedly 30% better than the old Ferrari 599.

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Under the hood: a naturally-aspirated, 6.26-liter V-12 making 740 horsepower and 509 lb-ft of torque.  The maker says that will propel it to 100 kmh (62.5 mph) in 3.1 seconds, with 200 kmh (125 mph) in 8.5 seconds, with the top speed 340 kmh.  The F12 reportedly cut something on the order of 2 seconds off the laptime record for a production car at the Fiorano race circuit, at 1:23.

By comparison, the old 599 made 611 horsepower.

We should get a closer look at the new Ferrari F12 at next week’s Geneva Motor Show. 

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Ford exec Preps Wall Street for lower profits

DETROIT - A top executive Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday that the company's second quarter pre-tax profit in the first quarter due to the increasing raw material and factory production costs could fall down.

Vice President and controller Robert Shanks also said that Ford is expected to be less than pre-tax profit in the second half of the year compared with the same period last year. He said, is the direction in line with what the company said if it published in the first quarter results in April.

"We expected at this time, which would potentially the best of the year be the result in the first quarter," Shanks said an analysts Conference in Chicago. "In the second quarter could be actually very close to the first quarter, perhaps a little lower."

Is in the first quarter fall slightly down and not bad. Ford reported pre-tax income of $2.8 billion, or 62 cents per share. The net profit of us $ 2.6 billion after tax was its best quarterly performance in 13 years.

Shanks statements were clearly preparing Wall Street for the protection of the Ford stock price by earnings. Analysts at FactSet interviewed on Wednesday were forecast, that Ford would make 64 cents per share before taxes in the second quarter.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Ford fell analysts expectations. It reported an 80 percent in profits, missing forecasts and two years of better than expected results. In January announced the result on the day, the Ford, lost more than 13% share and still need to restore. Ford said that it better should have informed $1 billion in North America analysts of potential problems in the quarter, including a loss in Europe and a cost increase.

So on Wednesday, Shanks said structural costs by $2 billion this year due to future investment, increased factory capacity requirements for the sales and the costs for the strengthening of the company brand image would increase. He said also, raw material costs will increase by $2 billion.

He told the analysts that will increase revenue due to higher sales and because Ford expected to keep prices.

The predictions, he said, are also in line with the normal seasonal fluctuations in the car business. The second half of the year is usually a little weaker than the first.

He also said that the company expected to pay dividends to common shares by 2015, as it pays debt is next and their debt ratings, investment-grade.

General Motors co. and Ford tried last week, investors calm, that revenues and profits despite worry about the US economy and slowing auto sales will continue. Automakers with a series of bad news this spring on 11 March earthquake in Japan taken, the traders short on cars to rising gas prices and unemployment. Car sales fell in may US, their first monthly decline this year.

The message failed. GM stocks have sold for $33 per share in a first public stock sale in November last year more than 12 percent of its value lost since. Ford's share price, declined almost 15 percent since the beginning of May.

Shares fell Wednesday to close 28 cents or 2.1 per cent to $13.15 Ford.

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