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Fiat Chrysler to open $30M autonomous driving test facility in Michigan

Fiat Chrysler said Wednesday it's invested more than $30 million in a new facility to develop and test autonomous vehicle and advanced safety technologies at its Chelsea Proving Grounds in southeast Michigan. The facility is the first of its kind for the automaker, which has mostly relied on partnerships with the likes of Uber and Google subsidiary Waymo to develop the hardware and software used in self-driving vehicles and avoided making large investments itself under former CEO Sergio Marchionne. The company this spring announced plans to deliver as many as 62,000 additional Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to Waymo and make Waymo's tech available in customer vehicles via a licensing deal. The new facility features a dedicated highway-speed track for testing self-driving cars with obstacles, tunnels and other features, a 35-acre safety feature testing area and a high-tech, 6,500-square-foot command center equipped with computers that can track GPS coordinates and test vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. It will allow FCA to test for different levels of automated driving, automatic electronic braking and automated parking simulations, and test protocols from third parties such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, U.S. New Car Assessment Program and European New Car Assessment Program. Testing starts later this month. "The all-new facility at Chelsea Proving Grounds will help support and enable the successful rollout of the company's five-year plan laid out earlier this year," Mike Manley, FCA's new CEO and chief operating officer for the NAFTA region, said in a statement. "Our ability to test for autonomous and advanced safety technologies enables FCA to offer our customers the features they want across our brand portfolio." The Chelsea Proving Grounds, near Ann Arbor, opened in 1954 and now cover about 4,000 acres. About 900 people work there, the company says. Related Video: Image Credit: Getty Chrysler Fiat Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Uber Waymo testing

Consumer Reports says Ram 1500 tops fuel economy fight [w/video]

Consumer Reports takes its independent vehicle testing procedures seriously. In an era when we have to question the EPA's official ratings thanks to recent re-evaluations from Ford and Hyundai, an independent voice is important. So, when CR says something is the best, it's worth paying attention to. The Ram 1500 EcoDiesel has "about the same fuel-economy numbers that we typically see in a midsized SUV." – Jake Fisher In this case, CR took a look at the fuel economy of the 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel and found that it came out on top of the fullsize pickup truck pack. The Ram did so with 20 miles per gallon overall and 27 mpg on the highway. CR gave the truck a total road test score of 82. The EPA says that the EcoDiesel 1500 gets 28 mpg on the highway, 20 mpg city and 23 mpg combined. Comparing official EPA numbers, the Ram is also the best among trucks in its class. It's nice when people agree on something. As we know from first-hand, long-distance experience, you can push the 1500 EcoDiesel to 38 mpg. CR found in its own testing that the truck had, "about the same fuel-economy numbers that we typically see in a midsized SUV," said Jake Fisher, CR's director of automotive testing, in a statement. Speaking of midsized SUVs, CR also announced this week that the new Toyota Highlander Hybrid got the top spot in CR's ratings in that category. CR liked pretty much everything about the SUV, saying that the "transitions between electric power and the gas engine are seamless" and that, "the new Highlander also handles better, with a steadier ride and reduced body lean in corners." You can find more at the CR website, in the October print issue of Consumer Reports or in the video and press release below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. RAM ECODIESEL 1500 TOPS CONSUMER REPORTS FULL-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK RATINGS Redesigned Toyota Highlander Hybrid Climbs to Top of Midsized SUV List Yonkers, N.Y.- The Ram 1500 EcoDiesel climbed to the top of Consumer Reports' full-size pickup truck ratings with an impressive performance in the organization's fuel economy tests. The EcoDiesel (82 point overall road test score) turned in a best-in-class fuel economy of 20 mpg overall and 27 mpg on the highway, to help it score better than the previously tested Ram 1500 V8 (81) regular gas version and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT (80).

DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.