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10 automakers sued over keyless ignitions

Keyless ignition has rapidly proliferated throughout the auto industry to become a fairly normal feature on new cars. It's supposed to offer the convenience of keeping the fob in your pocket and just pressing a button to drive away. However, ten major automakers are now being sued in US District Court over claims that the system is dangerous, Reuters reports. The suit alleges that people are forgetting to shut off the engine, and the lack of an idle timer is the cause for 13 deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning and multiple injuries. The suit currently includes 28 plaintiffs, according to Reuters, but the lawyers are asking for class-action status to potentially add many more. The case goes after a major swath of the industry, including BMW, Daimler, FCA, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, plus their related brands like Acura, Infiniti, Mini, and Lexus. In all, over five million vehicles are affected. The assertion here is that people walk away from their vehicle without shutting it off because they believe the engine shuts off automatically. If parked in a garage, carbon monoxide can build up, leading to poisoning. The lawyers claim automakers know this is a problem and also cite 27 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the issue, according to Reuters. The plaintiffs are asking for an automatic shut-off and damages from the companies. These concerns have come up before, though. Toyota previously faced a lawsuit over a carbon monoxide death after a woman accidentally left her Lexus running. Also earlier this year, GM recalled 64,186 examples of the 2011-2013 Chevrolet Volt because owners weren't shutting them off. The problem resulted in two injuries, and the company released a software update to limit the idling time.

VW outsells GM in China for first time in 8 years

In case you didn't know, Volkswagen is hell-bent on becoming the largest automaker in the world. The German carmaker has inched closer to that goal, having outsold General Motors in China last quarter for the first time in eight years.
Volkswagen's sales in China, its largest marker, increased by 21 percent last quarter to 704,991 units. Those numbers almost tripled GM's third-quarter growth, and were enough to beat out the American automaker's 664,765 sales. GM, however, still leads in year-to-date sales in China by a slim margin of around 77,000 units. The Asian nation also happens to be GM's largest market, and according to the report in Automotive News, China's car market may grow to be larger than the US, Japan and Germany combined in three years' time.
About the news his company was bested in China by VW last quarter, GM CEO Dan Akerson is quoted saying, "It's not whether you're the biggest car manufacturer. It's whether you want to be the most profitable." It should be noted of these figures that GM includes truck figures, yet excludes Hong Kong and Macau from its Chinese sales numbers, while VW does just the opposite. Through September of this year, Volkswagen had 5 of the 10 best selling vehicles in China. GM boasted three of the cars on that list.

'Clean Diesel' leaves dirty taste for green-minded VW owners

Volkswagen developed the advertising campaigns for its "Clean Diesel" cars far better than the actual technology. In dozens of complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission in September, green-minded consumers said they were enticed into buying diesels by the company's advertising, which touted the environmental benefits of new diesel technology. Those alleged benefits convinced many to buy cars they otherwise would not have considered. In actuality, Volkswagen installed secret software in its cars that allowed the company's diesels to brazenly circumvent emissions standards. For environmentally conscious consumers, those decisions backfired. Instead of helping the environment, they drove cars that polluted at up to 40 times beyond the legal threshold for certain emissions. Now, those consumers are angry. They've asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Volkswagen for alleged deceptive advertising, and are hoping the federal agency can intervene and force Volkswagen to either buy back their compromised cars or negotiate trade-ins on favorable terms. An FTC spokesperson confirmed the agency is investigating. Many of those who wrote or called the agency said they felt like they had nowhere else to turn. For green-friendly drivers, it wasn't only about the money. It was also about the betrayal. "I am ashamed to drive this car on the road, as doing so is evidence that I have been taken for a fool." "It's awful for the environment," wrote one consumer from Shreveport, Louisiana, on September 24, days after the diesel scandal unfolded. "It's caused me anxiety thinking about the amount of emissions I have been producing." The motorist's comments echoed others filed with the FTC. Many owners felt trapped with cars they couldn't sell and cars they felt they could no longer drive in good conscience, knowing they spew nitrogen oxide at levels that violate the Clean Air Act. "I do not see how I can drive it knowing highly toxic pollutants are being produced," wrote another driver from Middletown, Rhode Island. "I have not driven the car since this news came to light." The two statements were among the 89 filed with the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network in the week following the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement that Volkswagen had admitted rigging approximately 482,000 cars in America with software that allowed them to cheat emissions testing.