Category Archives: safety

October – Smart Mobility Cyber Incidents. 7 Deadly Threats

Upstream’s AutoThreat Intelligence analyzes and circulate cyber-threat intelligence specific to the automotive sector. Here’s the latest list of the most interesting incidents – the 7 Deadly sins so to speak of the Cyber Word.  Continue reading

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Commerce – Countervailing Duties on Vietnamese Cars,Tires

Among the subsidies preliminarily countervailed is Vietnam’s undervalued currency. This is the first time that Commerce has ever made an affirmative CVD determination regarding a foreign currency with a unitary exchange rate. Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of passenger tires from Vietnam based on these preliminary rates above. Continue reading

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Ford Recalls 375,200 Explorer SUVs – Recalling a Prior Recall

Some affected Explorers, sold or registered in rust inducing areas of North American states and provinces where corrosion is common, have experienced a fracture of the outboard section of the rear suspension toe link after completion of a prior safety recall repair. A fracture of a rear toe link significantly diminishes steering control, increasing the risk of a crash. Ford is aware of 13 reports of accidents and six reports of injuries related to this condition. Continue reading

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Covid – Drastic Changes to Commuting Have Slight Effect on Feelings about EVs and Self-Driving Technologies?

While the ongoing Covid plague has drastically changed American lives, what’s not new is that Inexperience and Lack of Knowledge Remain Barriers for Acceptance of EVs and Self-Driving Technologies. Nonetheless, automakers are investing heavily in electrification and self-driving technology despite an absence of substantive consumer interest in either. Continue reading

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Ferrari Recalls 812 Superfast for Rear Glass Blowouts

Ferrari ultimately determined that the problem of the component could entail the full detachment of the rear window from the vehicle, thereby potentially creating a road hazard and increasing the safety-risk of a crash for following traffic. Continue reading

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ZF Seatbelt Retractor Recall Bites Corvette, Jeep, Ram

The safety defect appeared at GM during barrier testing of a 2023 model year Corvette. GM worked with ZF to analyze the root cause of the retractor failure, including teardowns, computer analysis, and CAE simulations. That analysis showed that the retractor failure was caused by the locking mechanism not being properly engaged. The same part is used on current production models. Continue reading

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Ford Recalls Defective Rear-view Cameras on 620,246 Vehicles

Insufficient electrical conductivity within the printed circuit board (PCB) internal to the camera leads to intermittent rearview camera operation A rearview camera that intermittently displays a blank or distorted image does not comply can reduce the driver’s view of what is behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash. Continue reading

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FCA Fined $9.5 Million for Diesel Emissions Abuses

FCA’s statements did not sufficiently disclose the limited scope of its internal audit, which focused only on finding a specific type of defeat device, or that the audit was not a comprehensive review of FCA’s compliance with U.S. emissions regulations. Continue reading

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SEC Settles Charges Against Clean Water Project Founder

The complaint alleges that only $650,000 of the $7.2 million raised made it to the project’s bank account. According to the complaint, Sembritzky spent the rest of the money on such personal items as a $2 million condominium for his then-wife, luxury cars, jewelry, and credit card debt. Continue reading

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Hyundai Recalls 2019-2021 Tucson SUVs for Fires

In the required NHTSA filing, Hyundai said it recommends parking these vehicles outside and away from structures until the recall remedy is completed. Hyundai plans to notify owners to instruct them to return their vehicles to a dealership for replacement of the ABS module “when available.” Continue reading

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Mercedes-Benz 2021 Model Year Sees SUV Expansion

The all-new GLA now joins the range “as the attractive and sporty gateway” (translation – small and less expensive) to the Mercedes-Benz SUV line. SUV segments have never been more competitive with M-B facing stiff competition from BMW, Porsche, Lexus, Infiniti, Alfa Romeo and Cadillac, among others.   Continue reading

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BorgWarner Cops SEC Plea for Materially Misstating Financial Statements Concerning Asbestos Litigation

According to the SEC’s order, BorgWarner did not conduct any substantive quantitative analysis to estimate these asbestos claims, despite possessing nearly 40 years of historical raw claims data. BorgWarner also admitted that its internal controls over financial reporting were ineffective. Continue reading

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Timely Tide Tracks: Ford Helps RNLI with Water Safety

Ford says it  aims to support the lifesaving charity to educate people on and raise awareness of key beach safety advice. The custom tires have been designed to leave 3 key water safety messages in the sand, including ‘float to live’, ‘no inflatables’, and ‘emergency? call 999’. Continue reading

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Toyota and Amazon Web Services Working on Connected Cars, Ridesharing, Driving Behavior-Based Insurance…

It’s the latest example of  an emerging trend among automakers to offer owners and lessees thus far unclear advantages of processing and analyzing data from vehicle use from Toyota’s growing worldwide fleet of connected vehicles. Nowhere in the announcement was an acknowledgement that the use of such customer data raises vast unaddressed privacy, security and law enforcement concerns. Continue reading

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Milestones: Intelligent Traffic Management Now Deployed at Center for Applied Research in Reno Nevada

One reason the lidar sensors have been placed at crossing signs and intersections is because lidar used today does not allow for facial recognition. In theory smart by anonymous city applications can preserve trust among the public. However, the US is far from even thinking about privacy, let alone articulating a policy about private data use as evidenced by Google and Twitter and Facebook among many other rich and powerful corporations that own politicians. Continue reading

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