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Are old airbags killers?

Takata airbags may not be the only ones with some very serious problems. A new report from TheDetroitBureau.com claims that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened its second investigation into bad airbag inflators, and this time, they aren't from Takata. The focus of this latest case is on the airbag inflators in some 500,000 older Chrysler Town and Country minivans and Kia Optima sedans, all of which come from ARC Automotive. While the Takata case looks at problems stemming from the engineering and production process, the ARC investigation focuses on the age of the inflators. As TDB explains, airbag inflators are essentially what the military refers to as shaped charges, sort of like Claymores (for fans of the Call of Duty series). In combat, they blow up in a specific direction, protecting those behind the explosion, although in the case of airbags, the explosion "[creates] a precise rush of hot gases" that inflate the bags. NHTSA's worry is that with the increased average age of today's vehicles, years and years of being bounced, jolted, and shaken about and exposed to often-radical temperature changes have altered the nature of the explosives in these vehicles, causing too big of an explosion. "It may be a reasonable assumption that as these things age they deteriorate." – Analyst George Peterson "It may be a reasonable assumption that as these things age they deteriorate," analyst George Peterson told TheDetroitBureau.com. NHTSA boss Mark Rosekind backed up aging angle. "Cars are lasting on the road a lot longer than ever before," Rosekind told TDB, adding that seals could start breaking down. "Is aging now an issue? That's part of the investigation going on." NHTSA has only identified two "incidents" so far, although according to Center for Auto Safety Director Clarence Ditlow, there's genuine concern that there could be additional unidentified cases. "Could we have missed more? That could be the case," Ditlow told TDB, citing the misidentified deaths in the Takata investigation. Ditlow was quick to point out that, even in older vehicles, airbags are much more likely to protect than harm. "No one is saying you should disable your airbags," the safety advocate told TDB. "You're far more likely to be helped than hurt by one if they go off." At least one automaker, meanwhile, has already been advised of the investigation by NHTSA and is checking its airbags.

Ferrari families have 'agreement' to prevent takeover

With its initial public offering already a massive success, Ferrari is now officially a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. While anyone can buy those shares, don't expect investors to take control away from some of the top owners of the Prancing Horse anytime soon. To maintain their power, Enzo Ferrari's son, Piero, and Exor chairman John Elkann will sign a deal guaranteeing themselves nearly half of the automaker's voting rights, Bloomberg reports. As part of this arrangement, shareholders that agree to hang onto Ferrari stock for at least three years would receive additional voting rights in the company, and that would give Piero and Elkann a combined 48.7 percent of the automaker by banding together. While not quite complete control, the move should be enough to prevent a takeover of the business. "We have an agreement among the families to protect our interests in Ferrari," Piero said to Bloomberg. This agreement won't really become a concern until next year because only 10 percent of Ferrari will be traded for now. FCA will distribute another 80 percent to its shareholders in early 2016, and Elkann's Exor will be getting the largest portion of the Prancing Horse in the spin-off. Meanwhile, Piero holds the remaining 10 percent but has absolutely no intention to sell his stake in his father's business. The newly public Ferrari will push to grow volume with a goal of moving 9,000 vehicles annually by 2019. To reach that 30-percent boost, expect to see a new model every year, and some of them might use a new, modular platform that's reportedly under development. Related Video:

Appeals court rejects GM's bid to remove judge from Fiat Chrysler lawsuit

A U.S. appeals court on Monday denied General Motors' petition to remove a lower court judge from its racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, but said the companies' heads need not meet to settle the issue. The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Judge Paul Borman abused his discretion by requiring GM CEO Mary Barra and FCA's head, Mike Manley, to meet face-to-face for reasons unrelated to the case, and without taking into account the risks of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The district judge's order for the parties to report back to the court in only eight days was also unwarranted, the appeals court said. Borman in June ordered Barra and Manley to meet by July 1, and later amended his order to allow other officials in their place. "We do not mean to say, however, that the district judge may not order a pretrial settlement conference and/or mediation in the normal course," the appeals court said in a filing. The court in June stayed Borman's order requiring officials from the two firms to resolve the lawsuit, and on Monday rejected GM's request for a new judge to oversee the case, saying Borman's desire for a quick settlement was "not so extreme" that he needed to be replaced. GM said in a statement it was grateful that the court had quickly reviewed and granted its petition for a writ of mandamus, that is, setting aside the requirement to meet. However, the company did not comment on the rejection of its request to reassign the case to another judge. GM sued FCA last year, accusing the Italian-American company's executives of bribing United Auto Workers union officials to secure labor agreements that put GM at a disadvantage. Government/Legal Chrysler Fiat GM