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Imagine for a moment if an engineer had developed a powertrain solution that used existing tooling technologies, required no additional infrastructure development, yet could provide a 30% improvement in fuel [...]

Let's start with the basics. What is infotainment? Traditionalists would say the term describes technologies that enhance the driving experience by improving the quality of the entertainment and information delivered [...]

Right now, the world's auto industry is not tanking. It's in the tank. With the global economic slowdown, the number of cars and trucks rolling off of dealer lots is [...]

In 1993, oil consumption in Germany, Europe's largest auto market, was 2.89 million barrels/day. In the U.K., they were consuming 1.83 million barrels/day. In the U.S., 16.8 million barrels per [...]

In 2007, as the world worried about the safety of Chinese products, such as pet food ingredients and lead-ladened toys (the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 32-million [...]

'The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.' --Theodore Roosevelt Roosevelt's words are a perfect [...]

Tokyo's biennial auto show has cultivated a reputation as being the place where Asian OEMs bring their wild and wacky concept vehicles out from under their veil of secrecy to [...]

When Walt Disney first penned Mickey Mouse in 1928, he was financially at the end of his rope. He created the character during a train ride from New York to [...]

When you have more than 100 million adoring fans, you're likely to have a lasting impact on the world. That might be a massive understatement when it comes to the [...]

'Would you rather live in the ascendancy of a civilization or during its decline?' --Arnold Poindexter, Revenge of the Nerds (1984). Just as the feeble nerds of the Lambda, Lambda, [...]

East Troy, WI--population 3,564, located 45 miles southwest of Milwaukee--is the home of Buell Motorcycle Company. Three gray buildings amid Wisconsin cornfields house the operations of this $93.1-million manufacturing company. [...]

'In the past, when someone was assigned a vehicle on the interior side, they thought it was pretty much a punishment. Today, that focus has shifted dramatically and people in [...]

The headlines were bleak in April 2005, when Mercedes-Benz was hit with another blow to its lagging quality image. The Detroit News blared: 'Big Recall Tarnishes Mercedes-Benz'. Electrical and brake [...]

BMW has a long history of confounding its critics. Whether as an aero engine company nearly put out of business by the Treaty of Versailles that became a force in [...]

It is certainly one of the most stunning reversals in global corporate history. Nissan, from heavily indebted (nearly $20-billion) and arguably on its way out of business in 1999 to [...]

The office chair. There's not much to it really-a back, seat cushion and strong legs upon which it is designed to support the body-which has made the seat little more [...]

Design: Form and Function There were two objectives for the design of the Insight exterior: efficiency and athleticism. Hints of the design were evident in the 2006 FCX Clarity concept. [...]

OEMs and suppliers have made huge gains when it comes to implementing vehicle safety technologies with the goal of making America's road safer: traffic fatalities declined 3.9% between 2006 and [...]

In 2005, Chrysler's senior executives got together to deal with a nagging issue that had been negatively impacting the automaker for years. While the exterior . designs of its vehicles [...]

In 2004, Chrysler tasked its full-size truck team to come up with the next Dodge Ram full-size pickup, the one that would be launched in '08 as an '09 model. [...]

When Mazda introduced the Mazda6 in 2003, it was the result of the brand's plan to build a global C/D segment sedan that could attract the attention of buyers in [...]

$4.00 per gallon gasoline and impending CAFE regulations are causing vehicle manufacturers to look beyond the usual power train and body structures for weight-reduction opportunities. Every system and subsystem is [...]

Ask any truly dedicated NASCAR fan what happened on February 18, 2001, and you'll get a quick reply noting it was the day Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed when his [...]

It was just a few years ago that bureaucrats on the left and right sides of the U.S. devised a way to potentially outlaw diesel engines. Who could blame them [...]

For years the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle has been a major research project. There have been several one-off vehicles developed to test stack reliability, tank construction and the like, but General [...]

Paris prides itself on being the style capitol of the world. The 2006 Paris Motor Show carried on the tradition, with several innovative production and concept cars making their debut [...]

In 2001, Chrysler tasked two of its designers to come up with concepts for what was codenamed 'JK,' the next Wrangler. The competition between Dan Zimmerman--who penned the 2005 Jeep [...]

The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is an undertaking that has not only resulted in a whole new suite of cost-effective military aircraft, but has had an effect on the [...]

For years, chassis development teams looked at pretty conventional solutions to improve vehicle handling dynamics, whether it be adding structural members, reconfiguring axle designs or incorporating active suspension technologies. It [...]

The maximum efficiency of the internal combustion engine has yet to reach its full potential, according to experts at Bosch Automotive Group (bosch.com). 'In a few years, a standard series [...]

When it comes to most high-volume vehicle applications, brake systems have become more of a commodity than a specialty. It's almost as if it is about checking the box on [...]

If you thought a vehicle's GPS navigation system was only good for helping to avoid traffic congestion or keeping you on the correct path, you only know half the story. [...]

Tucked away on the neatly manicured grounds of the University of Michigan campus is a nondescript red brick building. In this building, however, students and faculty are hard at work [...]

The blinking LEDs, blinding xenon headlamps and shiny metal structural parts on display at the Taipei International Auto Parts & Accessories and Electronics show would make anyone think things here [...]

'I am very much influenced by the American approach to management, which is more positive and motivational.' Those are words you wouldn't expect to hear from someone who leads global [...]

Although it seems that some designers come out of the cradle grasping a marker, it wasn't until her high school years when Crystal Windham knew she wanted to take pen [...]

For the past several years, automakers have been reducing product development and engineering costs through the reuse of parts and platforms. In several cases, this has resulted in products that [...]

It's been four years since Steve Mattin became the senior vice president of Design at Volvo, and while the brand has introduced several new or refreshed products under his direction-C30, [...]

It was back during her middle school years when Denise Gray found the inspiration that would eventually lead her to her current post as director of energy storage systems at [...]

Is it possible to develop a machine vision system that can think for itself? One that can recognize potential errors before they happen and never repeat the same mistakes? A [...]

As OEMs accelerate their migration to fuel-efficient, smaller-displacement engines, the pressure on powertrain engineers is reaching a fevered pitch. Both GM and Ford have publicly announced plans to increase their [...]

On their third try, Oliver Riedel, director of Process Integration and Information Management at Volkswagen, and his colleagues were going to get it right and get it fast. The selection [...]

'I always knew from an early age that I wanted to be involved in the auto industry in some way,' says Scot Drake, who spent his formative years in the [...]

In order to improve ride and handling, a common customer complaint of the first generation FX, engineers a Infiniti revamped the FM (front midship) platform by increasing the wheelbase 1.4 [...]

Richard Gresens has always been fascinated with speed and movement. He spent most of his formative years in his hometown of Milwaukee hanging out at the train station during the [...]

Wirth Research (www.wirthresearch.com; Oxfordshire, England) began in 2002 as a fledgling group of engineers focused on R & D activities for a small number of race car programs. Back then, [...]

His imminent departure doesn't mean Pfeiffer's influence won't be felt for years to come. In fact, quite the contrary. Having led Mercedes design through some of its most challenging times [...]

If Mitsubishi's Concept-RA coupe--which debuted at the 2008 North American International Auto Show--seems to bring to mind a Hot Wheels car, that's not entirely an accident. Its exterior was penned [...]

What's going to be the next consumer electronic device that's going to change the way consumers interact with information in their vehicles? The future of in-vehicle electronics will only get [...]

Each year thousands of new gadgets are introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. What's important to note is that not only is the show scoured by [...]