Showing posts with label upgrade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label upgrade. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Diesel stinky image always fragrant upgrade

Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images file

The diesel Volkswagen Jetta TDI is one which form a variety of vehicles that American motorists more conveniently look for diesel-powered cars.

Paul be A. Eisenstein, NBCNews-ContributorMention diesel engine on the most American drivers and they probably with terms such as noisy, smelly, slow and uncomfortable as soon as if she had been a Rorschach test. However, a small but growing number of fans, diesel provoke a very different answer. For them, the technology is fast, smooth, quiet and, perhaps best of all, very economical.

It was the massive numbers after the two oil crises of the 1970s three decades since the heyday of American diesel, year sold. But while the technology of U.S. banks largely disappeared, it quickly became momentum in Europe building - where prices run fuel twice as high as our manufacturers have led a number of driver pleasing improvements.
The message makes slowly its way across the Atlantic, largely by European imports such as the Mercedes-Benz GL 350 blue TEC and the diesel version of the latest Volkswagen Passat powered. "Oil burner" nowhere near the place on the American charts record, to do it – or has here in the 1980s – while in Europe they are some significant gains make.

And most industry analysts expect that would do even better in the next few years thanks to new products, rising fuel costs and tough new federal fuel economy standards.
"We are diesel, forecast a pretty significant increase in sales," said David Sullivan, a Detroit-based automotive analyst for AutoPacific, Inc.

2008, Automakers sold barely 250,000 diesel-powered vehicles in the United States this year that number is expected to 400,000 above - including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
In fact, for the first half of the year, sales of so-called "clean diesel" increased by 27.5 percent, surpassing the revival of the entire American market. A forecast of AutoPacific assumes that the numbers reaching 900,000 to 2017.

The consultant is not the only optimistic on the technology. "This significantly less than the 50 percent diesel sales rate in Europe, it is specified, that Americans take a renewed interest because more diesel in the US market are introduced", said Allen Schaeffer, executive Director of the diesel technology forum. "Marked with more than 15 new clean diesel models for the United States in the next two years, I expect sell diesel to increase even more in the near future."
Their diesel offerings continue to expand European decision-makers. Porsche has just published the first version of his large Cayenne sport utility vehicle. Volkswagen reportedly is considering a diesel version of its popular GTI model.

VW has seen demand, because the technology quickly surpass expectations, said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America - that includes Audi, another brand continued to make profits with the technology. Demand for the diesel version of the new VW Passat already has the limits of capacity, partially extended, because the automakers fight engine components is enough diesel shipped from Europe the new VW plant in Tennessee. In a recent interview said Browning is possible the diesel model of 15 percent of total US trade winds mix 30 percent could go.
Meanwhile, several new players are enter the game. Chevrolet - which already offers a diesel in its original size pick up mix - starts soon a diesel version of the compact Cruze. And Mazda confirmed plans to deliver a diesel version of its new, high-mileage SkyActiv system. The next generation Mazda6 sedan is expected to be first, but analyst Sullivan expects that it could be versions of the CX-5 and CX-9 crossovers in the works as well.

Other manufacturers such as Chrysler, are expected to follow. Ford, long resistant against diesel outside the large truck range is located, is hinting that it reconsider its options can.
What is driving this nascent diesel Renaissance? Micro-computers, for one thing, and advanced turbocharger, as well as State-of-the art emissions systems. These components have to decision-makers traditional diesel paved allowed problems such as smoke, smell and stumbling blocks. Lead the mixture into the low sulfur fuel, order the U.S. regulators began a few years ago throw.

All of this comes at a price. There is a premium for diesel engines of anywhere from about $1,000 to $5,000 per vehicle. But the proponents claim that as the US versions, the emissions require systems in Europe, not shared will be in larger quantities cost made come.
The cost of fuel is a serious obstacle. Diesel leads occasionally less than a dollar more than regular in some markets usually from 25 cents to 50 cents more per litre than regular gasoline.

But there are a Substantiald payment. When compared to similarly sized hybrids that modern diesel offer in general much better than hybrids. BMW launches a new model in Europe, the 550 d, which is all but a game that the acceleration of the manufacturer M5 boasted.
Mileage hybrids enter the diesel run for their money, depending on their application. Gas-electric powertrain technology is generally more economical in the urban, stop- and -go where settings are hybrids able to recover and reuse of energy normally lost in braking and coasting. But on the highway diesel, better numbers, according to Sullivan and other observers expect let.

Now tend to diesel is still their legendary durability, to deliver something which has always been an advantage over other Powertrain technology.
So, sell are not why they even better?

For one thing, U.S. regulators have fixed at State and national level on battery technology, diesel in favour of action. In California such as hybrids were not granted long special access to s-Bahn during the diesel provides similar performance. Now was this special privilege on plug-in the and battery vehicles, granted, of which some can not reach even the upper end of speed limits.
Meanwhile, most Americans are not up to date on the enormous improvements has achieved diesel technology.

"Diesel need an image makeover," beat Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst at IHS automotive. "(People) how much just don't know a difference and how far they have come in the last few years."

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Ford to upgrade glitch-prone Touch system

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co., stung by falling quality ratings because of its glitch-prone MyFord Touch system, is planning a major upgrade that it hopes will fix the problems — and repair its own reputation.


Early next year, Ford is sending flash drives with a software upgrade to approximately 250,000 U.S. customers with MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch, the equivalent system in Ford's luxury Lincoln brand. Owners can do the upgrade themselves in about 45 minutes, or dealers will do it for free. Ford is still deciding how it will offer the upgrade to 200,000 buyers outside of the U.S.


Ford knows of no other car company that has given owners the option of upgrading their own software on this scale. The unprecedented step underscores the urgency of the problem for Ford, which last month fell from 10th place to 20th place in Consumer Reports' annual reliability rankings largely because of MyFord Touch. Ford also plummeted in a J.D. Power quality survey earlier this year.


MyFord Touch, which debuted last year on the Ford Edge, replaces traditional dashboard knobs and buttons with a touch screen. Drivers control climate, navigation, entertainment, phone calls and other functions using touch or voice commands. It's a $750 option on lower trim levels, but comes standard on higher-end ones. Ford quickly rolled out the system on the Ford Explorer, Ford Focus and other models.


Dealer phone lines and Internet chat rooms were soon buzzing with complaints. The system shut down without warning and took too long to reboot. It didn't understand voice commands and didn't always respond to owners' touch. Some owners found the information-packed screens overwhelming.


Ford had dealers perform four software updates and paid dealers to hold owner clinics. But it soon realized it had to do more. The latest upgrade makes significant changes. Screens are now simpler and cleaner, with larger text and shading to outline buttons. Voice recognition is improved. Ford says the new system responds to touch commands more quickly and is less likely to shut down.


New models due out next year, including the redesigned Ford Escape and Ford Taurus, will automatically get the upgraded system.


Ford won't say how much it's spending on the upgrade.


Ford is unapologetic about the system, saying MyFord Touch is an advanced technology that's drawing new customers to the brand. Sales of the new Ford Explorer have more than doubled so far this year, for example. But the company also learned quickly that buyers aren't as forgiving with glitches in their cars as they are with their phones or computers.


"People's expectation of what's in the car is totally different than what they brought home from Best Buy," Gary Jablonski, Ford's manager of Sync platform development, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. Sync, a four-year-old voice command system that Ford designed with Microsoft Corp., serves as the platform for the more advanced MyFord Touch.


Forrest Brown, a Ford dealer in Dyersville, Iowa, got a barrage of complaints last winter when customers were unable to defrost their windshields or turn up the heat because their screens were going blank. But the problems have become less frequent as Ford updates the software. Brown has also started inviting customers back to the dealership so he can answer questions about the system.


"We've come to the realization that this type of technology is going to be in almost all vehicles in the future, so you might as well get used to it and understand it and make your customers aware of it," Brown said.


Jablonski insists MyFord Touch was thoroughly tested and not brought to the market too soon, as some critics contend. The problem, he said, is that not everything is testable. The system syncs up to more than 70 different kinds of mobile phones, for example, which are constantly getting updates of their own. Customers may blame the car for something that is really the fault of the phone.


But Ford realizes it may have gone further than its customers wanted to go. The company is planning to bring back volume and tuning knobs, for example, because it found people didn't like using a touch screen for those functions.


Jeremy Anwyl, the chief executive of auto information site Edmunds.com, once watched a MyFord Touch screen freeze up during a Ford demonstration. Still, he gives Ford credit for taking a chance on new technology, even at the expense of its quality scores. Vehicle quality is getting so good that customers are increasingly basing their buying decisions on high-tech options, he said.


"I'd rather have MyFord Touch and Sync and take the heat from than not have it at all," he said.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.