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NHTSA probes Nissan Versa for potential pedal problem

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is commissioning an engineering analysis to investigate a possible problem with the 2013-2015 Nissan Versa and 2014-2015 Versa Note. The agency wants to gather more information about sections of the footwell that can potentially interfere with operating the pedals, and NHTSA estimates this could affect 360,000 vehicles if the agency requests a recall. The preliminary evaluation of this problem was opened last June when NHTSA received a report of a driver's foot being trapped by a trim panel on the right side of the footwell. Since then, the government agency has tallied 24 total complaints, including one crash and an injury, which might have been linked to this issue. It's also possible the HVAC relay actuator in a nearby area could be doing the same thing. Either might lead to unintended acceleration and delayed braking. NHTSA's new engineering analysis is meant to "assess the scope, frequency and safety-related consequences of the alleged defect." It also adds the 2015 Versa Sedan and Note to the list of potentially affected models but removes the examples from 2012 because of a different footwell panel design. "Nissan is cooperating fully to answer the agency's questions," the automaker said in a prepared statement emailed to Autoblog (embedded in full below). You can read the entire report in PDF format, including photos of the potential issue, here. INVESTIGATION Subject : Pedal Operation Interference Date Investigation Opened: APR 01, 2015 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: EA15003 Component(s): SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC , VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL All Products Associated with this Investigation Vehicle Make Mode lModel Year(s) NISSAN VERSA 2013-2015 NISSAN VERSA NOTE 2014-2015 Details Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc. SUMMARY: On June 24, 2014, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-018 to investigate allegations that the tunnel carpet cover trim panel on model year (MY) 2012 through 2014 Nissan Versa, Versa Sedan and Versa Note vehicles has, in certain situations, interfered with the driver's ability to promptly release the accelerator pedal and transition to the brake pedal. This may result in delayed brake application or brief incidents of unwanted acceleration.

These are 2014's best-selling cars and trucks

Now that 2014 is no more than a set of numbers on spreadsheets, at last, the grist mill gets its first real load to chew on. The number one selling vehicle in America last year was the Ford F-Series, a fact that should surprise you only if your family name is Van Winkle and your naps tend to last 38 years, which is how long the Ford pickup has ruled our buying landscape. Even though series sales were down 1.3 percent, it still racked up 753,851 units. That's 2,065.3 sales per day, every day, all year. The Chevrolet Silverado, up 10.3 percent for the year, was still a daylight second at 529,755 units. The cab-and-bed love continued into third place with the Ram 1500-3500 trucks, gaining 23.6-percent year-on-year to clock 439,789 units. The robust turnout at The Bighorn and Jeep helped Fiat-Chrysler increase its sales by 16 percent, past the two-million mark. Our number one car? The Toyota Camry, staying in first place with a 4.9-percent sales boost to 428,606 sales, trailed again by the Honda Accord at number five with 388,374 sales. Accord sales rose six percent, and if it's any consolation to Honda for coming in second - not that it needs one - it is the only manufacturer to have three vehicles in the top ten. The rest of the list: the Nissan Altima with 335,644 sales (+4.7%), the Honda CR-V with 355,019 (+10.2%), the Toyota Corolla/Matrix combo with 339,498 (+5.9%), the Honda Civic with 325,981 (-3.1%), and the Ford Fusion with 306,860 sales (+2.9%). Total sales for the year were up six percent to 16.5 million vehicles, a volume not seen since 2006, aided by a strong December that was up by 11 percent year-on-year. Ford was the top selling brand overall but sales didn't really budge from 2013, while Subaru rocketed up 21 percent to finish with 513,693 sales. At the precious end, BMW, Audi, Porsche and Land Rover all had record years, and Kelley Blue Book thinks we could be looking at 17 million sales for the next two or three years. Looks like it's time to start making hay again... Featured Gallery Best-selling vehicles of 2014 View 10 Photos News Source: Detroit News, Associated Press Auto News Chevrolet Ford Honda Nissan RAM Toyota Car Buying Truck Sedan sales

Renault taking Alpine endurance racing, enters 24 Hours of Le Mans

Renault isn't letting up with the return of its Alpine brand. After announcing a partnership with Caterham to bring a new Alpine to market by 2015 (now expected by 2016), the French firm has announced it is taking Alpine racing again in the European Le Mans Series this year - and that includes The 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It has been 35 years since Alpine last competed in Le Mans, when it won the race outright and dropped the mic as it left the pits, never to return. Before that, in the 11 years it campaigned in the most famous endurance race on the planet from 1963 to 1978, it took seven class wins.
Caterham won't be involved with the race team, however; that will be an effort spearheaded by the Signatech-Nissan team that has been running GT Academy winners in LMS racing. Alpine is preparing an LMP2 chassis that will get a 500-horsepower Nissan engine for this year's championship, with the first two named drivers being Nelson Panciatici (above right) and Pierre Ragues (above left). The third driver for Le Mans will be announced later this month when the racer is launched at the Le Castellet race track in southern France.