car | Chico-tv

Jul

2021

This Is the Deadliest Car in the U.S., According to Data

Each year, more than 33,000 people in the U.S. die in a car accident, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System. In fact, car crashes are a leading cause of death in the country for people aged 1 to 54, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says. It’s clear that no matter what kind of car you drive, it’s important to stay alert behind the wheel, whether you’re just running a quick errand or going on a long road trip. But research does show that there are certain cars that tend to be involved in more deadly crashes than others.

A recent 2021 study by ValuePenguin Insurance looked at car crash data from the NHTSA to determine which car models were most often involved in fatal accidents. The data was recorded from 2013 to 2018, and it showed that one popular vehicle was involved in nearly 11,000 deadly accidents during the five-year period, far more than any other car. Wondering how trustworthy your truck, sedan, or SUV is, and which car is the deadliest of them all? Read on.

25Jeep Wrangler

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,513

Cars sold in 2018: 240,032

24Honda CR-V

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,526

Cars sold in 2018: 379,013

23Ford Fusion

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,550

Cars sold in 2018: 173,600

22Nissan Sentra

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,561

Cars sold in 2018: 213,046

21Ford Escape

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,700

Cars sold in 2018: 272,228

20Toyota Tacoma

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,763

Cars sold in 2018: 245,659

19Chevrolet GMT400

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,851

Cars sold in 2018: N/A. This car was no longer being manufactured during the study period.

18Ford Taurus

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,913

Cars sold in 2018: 40,341

17Ford Mustang

Total fatal crashes over five years: 1,963

Cars sold in 2018: 75,842

16Chevrolet Tahoe

Total fatal crashes over five years: 2,113

Cars sold in 2018: 104,152

15Ford Focus

Total fatal crashes over five years: 2,256

Cars sold in 2018: 114,045

14Jeep Grand Cherokee

Total fatal crashes over five years: 2,304

Cars sold in 2018: 224,908

13Chevrolet Malibu

Total fatal crashes over five years: 2,345

Cars sold in 2018: 144,542

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12Ford Ranger

Total fatal crashes over five years: 2,476

Cars sold in 2018: N/A. This car was no longer being manufactured during the study period.

11Chevrolet Impala

Total fatal crashes over five years: 2,804

Cars sold in 2018: 56,556

10GMC Sierra

Total fatal crashes over five years: 3,245

Cars sold in 2018: 219,554

9Nissan Altima

Total fatal

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Jul

2021

Car chip shortage to abate, smartphones could be next: industry execs

Employees are seen working on the final assembly of ASML’s TWINSCAN NXE:3400B semiconductor lithography tool with its panels removed, in Veldhoven, Netherlands, in this picture taken April 4, 2019. Bart van Overbeeke Fotografie/ASML/Handout via REUTERS

July 23 (Reuters) – The semiconductor shortage that has gripped the world could last well into 2022 and hit smartphone production next, foreshadowing deficient supply for a range of appliances and industrial equipment, industry executives and an economist said.

The automotive sector has suffered the most this year but supply to the sector could improve relatively soon, with China taking up some production demand that Taiwan could not meet, ING Greater China chief economist Iris Pang told Reuters Global Markets Forum this week.

Taiwanese semiconductor companies have boosted production in China as blackouts and ongoing COVID-19 social distancing measures disrupted factory output and port operations in Taiwan, she said.

“China gained 5% on the chip shortage in terms of GDP – Taiwan semiconductor companies have planned well and built large factories in mainland China,” Pang said, predicting that smartphone makers will be the next segment to face disruptions.

“Taiwanese semiconductor companies are tailoring making chips for autos, so the chip shortage should be solved for autos in a few weeks, but other electronics’ chip shortage problem persists,” Pang said, adding that could delay shipments of some new model smartphones.

Companies across industries globally have warned of an ongoing struggle to source chips.

ASML (ASML.AS), one of the world’s biggest suppliers to semiconductor makers, hiked its sales outlook this week on strong orders as chip giants such as TSMC (2330.TW) and Intel (INTC.O) raced to boost output.

The broader supply crunch could last until the second quarter of 2022, said Adam Khan, founder of AKHAN Semiconductor, although he noted this timeline was “aspirational.”

Andrew Feldman, CEO of chip startup Cerebras Systems, echoed that view, saying vendors were quoting lead times as long as 32 weeks for new chips and components.

ING’s Pang said even crypto miners are seeking ways to recycle “used” chips, which implies the shortage wasn’t going away.

Higher demand for chips, fuelled by one-off purchases to meet work-from-home needs and continuous demand for smartphones and other electronics, is expected to spur investment and growth in the sector.

The chips industry could grow between 21% to 25% in 2021, with “electronics having its best showing since 2010,” said Dan Hutcheson, CEO of chips-focused VLSI Research.

So far this year, the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX) has outpaced the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) with gains of over 16% versus 13%.

(These interviews were conducted in the Reuters Global Markets Forum chat room on Refinitiv Messenger. Join GMF: https://refini.tv/33uoFoQ)

Reporting by Aaron Saldanha and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Divya Chowdhury and Ana Nicolaci da Costa

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Jul

2021

Texas dashcam shows illegal immigrants pour out of smuggler’s car after pursuit

Dashcam video from Texas law enforcement shows about a dozen migrants pouring out of a smuggler’s car after a pursuit by state troopers, one of a number of examples of law enforcement encountering vehicles packed with those entering the country illegally.

The dashcam footage from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) shows a state trooper chasing after a human smuggler in Del Rio.

GOVS. DESANTIS AND ABBOTT, IN BORDER VISIT, WARN MIGRANT CRISIS RIPPLES EFFECT ON OTHER STATES

The smuggler ditches the car on the side of the highway, and illegal immigrants pour out of the car and flee. The trooper focused on apprehending the driver and caught him, while some of the passengers escaped.

Fox News obtained video of another driver ditching his car with and other illegal immigrants also fleeing; law enforcement says they were all caught.

Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star earlier this year to combat the wave of illegal immigration and drugs coming through the border. The operation integrates law enforcement and deploys them to high-threat areas to combat smugglers moving drugs and people into the state.

Texas DPS told Fox News their troopers have been involved in 473 pursuits since the start of Operation Lone Star as of July 15.

TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT SLAMS FEDS FOR ‘COMPLETE ABANDONMENT’ OF BORDER LAWS AMID ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ MIGRANT SURGE

It is one of a number of efforts to stem the impact of the crisis at the border by Texas, including committing a $250 million down payment on a new wall construction project after the Biden administration abruptly ended the project in January.

FEDS IN TEXAS SEIZE $500,000 IN CASH HIDDEN INSIDE MEXICO-BOUND BUS

Additionally, the state has cleared out jails to hold more illegal immigrants and made efforts to arrest those coming in illegally. Both Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey had issued a call for help from other states, asking them to send manpower and law enforcement to help at the border.

“The bottom line is that, because of the current administration’s complete abandonment of enforcing the laws passed by the United States Congress concerning immigration, there is an unprecedented increase of people coming across border, and the federal government has left it to the state of Texas and its counties to pick up the load of responding to the unprecedented amount of people coming into the country,” Abbott said earlier this month.

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Abbott said on Saturday that Operation Lone Star had resulted in the apprehension of 50,000 illegal aliens, 2,000 criminal illegal immigrants, and disrupted 40 stash houses.

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Jul

2021

This Yugo Disguised As A SEAT Is The Most Self-Aware Car On Earth

The cheapest car sold in the U.S. in the 1980s and 1990s — the Yugo — has recently become kind of ironically hip. Once the butt of countless jokes, it’s certifiably cool in the U.S. these days. But in Serbia, even over a decade since production stopped at the Kragujevac plant (which, incidentally, NATO bombed in 1999—Fiat later rebuilt it and it now produces the Fiat 500L), the Yugo remains a decent option as cheap transportation, and it is anything but cool. In fact, the Yugo is so uncool that when this Serb owner set about disguising the orange car you see above, they didn’t choose a BMW, Porsche or a Cadillac — they chose a SEAT. Just a SEAT.

There’s something charming about a cheap economy car dressed up as something cooler. Fierarris (Pontiac Fieros dressed up a Ferraris) are a great example; Beetles disguised as cool sports cars are also lots of fun; and then there are all the Japanese vehicles converted into luxury and sports cars by coachbuilder Mitsuoka. The whole concept is aspirational — as if the owner and the car are both saying “This is who I want to be, so I’m going to look the part.”

Dress for the job you want, they say.

That’s what makes this Yugo in Kruševac, Serbia so great. The owner gave the vehicle Lamborghini doors, then instead of grafting on a Lamborghini face, they screwed on the face of a SEAT. A SEAT. The economy car.

I’m not disparaging the Spanish SEAT brand, but let’s be real here for a moment: The modern SEAT isn’t exactly a desireable car, in part because everyone knows a SEAT is just a rebadged Volkswagen. (To be sure, some of the hot hatches are awesome).

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This Yugo 55 — which my new Serb friend Dragoslav sent me (I visited him with my $600 diesel manual Chrysler minivan last week on my way back to Germany from Turkey) — is self-aware. It understands that it is but a humble Yugoslavia-built economy car with a 1.1-liter four cylinder engine making 55 horsepower. The econobox knows that trying to look like a high-end sports car would be futile and honestly a little embarrassing. So instead, the machine chose to dress up as a Spanish VW-based hatchback.

This particular machine is a 1991 Yugo 55 (also called the Zastava 55 in Serbia), sharing the same little engine as the Fiat 128-based Zastava 101. Bolted to that motor is a five-speed manual feeding a little bit of torque to the front wheels.

The cabin features an aftermarket steering wheel and some leather SEATs out of…some car. I honestly have no idea which one, but I bet one of you obscenely-nerdy readers will tell me.

The car, for sale on the famous car-sales website that we all know and love, mojtrg.rs, has an asking price of 650 Euro, or roughly $765. I think that’s actually a decent

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Jul

2021

Pedestrian struck by car later dies of injuries

A Millville man has died of his injuries following an accident earlier this month in Vineland.

A 32-year-old Vineland man was driving a car west on Hance Bridge Road near Panther Road shortly after 11 p.m. on July 9 when he struck William K. Harris, 25, of Millville.

Police believe Harris was in the roadway for an unknown reason and said he was wearing non-reflective clothing. There is a minimal roadway shoulder of only a few inches width in that area, police noted in their report.

Harris was unresponsive when emergency responders arrived and was airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

He remained hospitalized until he died of his injuries on Tuesday, police said.

No charges have been filed against the driver, but the case remains under investigation.

Harris was walking home from work when he was struck, according to a manager at Eastlyn Golf Course and The Greenview Inn in Vineland, who created a GoFundMe drive to help with his medical bills.

Harris worked there and at the Double Eagle Saloon in Vineland, Dina Matias said in her fundraiser, which had collected more than $13,000 as of Friday afternoon.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Vineland Police Officer Agustin Santiago at 856-691-4111, ext. 4247.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.

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Jul

2021

In 2040, You May Drive a Car That Looks Like This

The Lincoln Motor Company recently revealed a quartet of concept cars aimed at depicting the types of vehicles the automaker might potentially produce in 2040, and the designs are shocking and compelling in all the best ways. The concepts were created by four teams of transportation design students at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California—one of the world’s premier institutions for up-and-coming automotive thought—and were based on a very simple brief.

“We didn’t want to restrain or limit the students, so we had very few descriptors,” says Kemal Curic, Lincoln’s design director, who helped shepherd the project into existence. “We wanted an autonomous, electric, and shared two-seater, four-seater, high-riding four-seater, and six-seater. We wanted to include our brand pillars of humanity, beauty, and gliding, based on our vision of Quiet Flight, which is what Lincoln stands for. And we said, let’s dream up something the world has not yet seen.”

The results are quite stunning, and complete, in part because the automotive students worked in conjunction with colleagues in other design departments—film, illustration, animation, and architecture—to create not just vehicles, but also stories of the worlds in which these vehicles might exist.

The cars were designed to anticipate the needs of consumers in 20 years, as well as the world they’ll be living in.

A two-seat autonomous Glider is inspired by Lincoln Zephyrs and Continentals of the past—Streamline Moderne vehicles from the ’30s and ’40s, favored by Frank Lloyd Wright—and we see a son allowing his paralyzed father to experience the joy of “driving” again. A four-seat sedan loads up digital images that provide a couple with scenes from their 30-year marriage as they tour locations where these memories were made. A four-seat SUV takes a family on an adventure, displaying images from their mother’s initial connection with astronomy as she prepares to go into space. And a six-passenger luxury cruiser, built out like a living room, takes an up-and-coming band on a relaxing drive as they prepare for their first big gig.

This futuristic car is a six-passenger luxury cruiser that more closely resembles a well-appointed living room than the vehicles of today.

“I was mesmerized by the visualization,” says Curic. “I love putting all these diverse skill sets together where we focus not only on the vehicle but also on the feeling these vehicles will convey in 2040. I was blown away by the architecture, environmental, and storytelling bit. They do a lot of Hollywood work at ArtCenter, so it’s all about the narrative.” These narratives help communicate more fully how the appearance of the car might change—but, perhaps more important, how it might be integrated into our lives in new ways as technologies and needs shift. Curic notes the “intriguing architecture and buildings, and the vehicles built into these backgrounds…[the stories give a] more holistic sense of our future incorporating cars into the built environment,” says Curic.

Moreover, the designs demonstrate a shift in the ethos of the next generation of automotive designers, as they

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Jul

2021

The scorching hot used car market may finally be cooling off

But two new reports indicate that things may be starting to cool off.

Wholesale used car prices — what car dealers pay for the cars they sell to customers — fell in the first two weeks of July, while used vehicle inventories at dealerships increased, according to Cox Automotive.

In addition, the retail price of used cars — the amount consumers pay — has continued to increase, but at a slower pace over the past month, according to a separate Cox Automotive report. While it’s not certain yet, Cox Automotive analysts think retail prices will start coming down over the coming weeks.

Getting all the way back to normal will still take a long time, however, said Charlie Chesbrough, a senior economist at Cox Automotive.

Used car prices have been driven to extremes, thanks to a combination of demand from consumers wary of taking public transportation and a major shortage in the computer chips needed to make new cars.

The average price of a used car in the United States passed $25,000 for the first time ever at the end of June, a 26% increase from the year before and up 29% from two years ago.

Wholesale used car prices are also beginning to taper off. According to a recent Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index report, wholesale used car prices, overall, are still up almost 25% compared to a year ago. But, in the first weeks of July, prices dropped 1.7% compared to the month before.

These price comparisons are statistically adjusted for the differing mix of vehicles sold and for normal seasonal fluctuations, according to Cox.

“The latest trends in the key indicators suggest wholesale used vehicle values will continue to see a similar amount of depreciation in the days ahead,” the report said.

Manheim, a subsidiary of Cox Automotive, is America’s largest seller of wholesale used vehicles to auto dealers.

While the used car market is no longer at a full rolling boil, it will take some time for ordinary car shoppers to notice a difference, Chesbrough said.

“This frenzy to acquire inventory is backing off a little bit so the price is starting to come down a little bit,” Chesbrough said. “That generally means that, four to eight weeks from now, on the retail side, we should see the froth come down a little bit, a little bit less upward pressure.”

Used car prices still aren’t expected to return to anywhere near what they were before the coronavirus pandemic anytime soon, he said.

“My sense is that given the supply shortage on the new [car] side, we’re looking at a used market that’s going to be constrained for supply for the foreseeable future,” he said, “and those prices are going to remain elevated as a result.”

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Jul

2021

Ford created a gas-scented fragrance for electric car drivers

Apparently that new car smell just isn’t the same for some electric car customers.

Ford has developed a gasoline-scented fragrance for EV owners to help them make the transition to battery-power.

The Mach-Eau GT was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, where Ford is showing off its electric Mustang Mach-E. Company CEO Jim Farley even took a racing version of the car for a run up the venue’s hill climb course.

Ford conducted a survey asking people what they’d miss about internal combustion engine vehicles and 70% said gasoline, Autoevolution reported.

“Judging by our survey findings, the sensory appeal of petrol cars is still something drivers are reluctant to give up. The Mach Eau fragrance is designed to give them a hint of that fuel-fragrance they still crave. It should linger long enough for the GT’s performance to make any other doubts vaporize too,” Ford spokesman Jay Ward said.

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The concoction doesn’t actually contain any petroleum, but “is designed to please the nose of any wearer; a high-end fragrance that fuses smoky accords, aspects of rubber and even an ‘animal’ element to give a nod to the Mustang heritage,” according to Ward.

Unfortunately for gas guzzlers, it’s also not for sale, but was created purely as a promotion. (Well, that … stinks.)

The Mach-E does have a feature that tries to help with the transition from muscle cars to silent electric power, however. The car is equipped with a system that plays a digitally-created audio track inspired by the rumble and exhaust of an internal combustion engine powertrain that has a loud setting labeled “Unbridled,” but can also be turned off.

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Jul

2021

On Chip Shortage Affecting Car Supply, 93% Think It’s a Big Deal

A new survey conducted last month by Automotive News about the global chip shortage finds that almost everyone in the auto industry thinks it’s a big problem.
Today, according to the survey, 53 percent of respondents said they source their chips from outside the U.S., and 55 percent are looking for alternative chip sources outside the country.
Changes are happening, of course, from temporary production pauses and a shift to models that are either in high demand or require fewer chips.

The auto industry is fully aware just how bad the current chip shortage is. Anecdotally, this has been clear for a while. Ford CEO Jim Farley, for example, recently said that the chip shortage is “perhaps the greatest supply shock” he’s ever seen. Automotive News used that quote in a new survey of automakers and suppliers called Examining the Global Chip Shortage, which gives us plenty of survey data to back up the feeling that this is a big, big deal.

Perhaps the most surprising number in the survey is that only—yes, only—93 percent of respondents said that they think the chip shortage will have a severe impact on the auto industry. The survey was conducted a month ago, before recent estimates put the shortage’s impact on the auto industry at $110 billion in lost revenue this year. But even in January, the estimates were around $50 billion, which apparently wasn’t severe enough for 7 percent of respondents.

There’s also the feeling that the chip shortage will stretch out for most of the rest of the year. Almost three-quarters of respondents, 72 percent, said they expect the chip shortage crisis to impact the industry for at least six months.

Just a reminder that the shortage of the chips, used in cars, computers, and other products, was caused by worldwide demand for electronic goods that intensified because of the coronavirus pandemic, along with inadequate planning in the supply chain and weather problems. As the New York Times pointed out, a new vehicle can have up to 100 of these semiconductor chips on board; they’re used (and needed) in components from touchscreens to transmissions.

While there have been efforts to start making more semiconductors in the U.S., newly proposed plants will take time to build and start producing chips. The survey provides us with some insight into where automakers and suppliers are getting their chips now: 53 percent get them from outside the U.S. today and 55 percent are looking to source chips from outside the U.S. in the future. Forty-eight percent said they’d rather buy chips from domestic suppliers.

Survey respondents were somewhat uncertain about which segments of the industry will be most impacted by the shortage. Half (49 percent) said it will be the automakers, while 30 percent believe dealers and retailers will be hardest hit, and 23 percent said it will be the suppliers.

If there are bright spots to be found in the numbers, they lie in the way the industry is adapting to the situation.

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Jul

2021

The Grand Tour’s New Scotland Special Is a Malaise Car Marathon

Let’s all acknowledge an ugly truth for a second: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May haven’t exactly been on their best form in recent years. The Grand Tour has had its moments, but all too often, episodes like A Massive Hunt leave us wondering if now’s the time to pull the plug on the operation at long last. Our hopes remain high though, especially following the trailer for the trio’s newest special, Lochdown, a proto-pandemic romp across Scotland.

As revealed in a trailer released Thursday, the Brits embark on a tour of the northernmost land of Great Britain in Malaise Era American cars, ill-suited to the British Isles’ tight roads or gas prices. Clarkson commands a ’70s Lincoln Continental Mark V, Hammond a 1971-1973 Buick Riviera, and May, a 1975 or 1976 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.

These decadent disgraces to the American automotive industry are taken many places they don’t belong, European city roads, through rivers, and for at least one hairy, roly-poly lap of a racetrack. As COVID-19 restrictions come into effect, they’re then forced to sequester themselves away in trailers, which they tow behind (and possibly destroy with) their Malaise machinery.

They also appear to spend some time modifying their cars, as evidenced by a Plymouth Superbird-style wing on Hammond’s Buick—Lord knows why he did that.

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