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J.D. Power study identifies top seats for your tush

File under News your fanny can use: The seating systems in the Ford Escape and Edge, the Audi A3, Chevrolet Cruze, Kia Cadenza, Porsche Cayenne and Toyota Tundra received top marks in a new J.D. Power study on seating and seat belt quality and satisfaction. The J.D. Power 2017 Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study asked more than 77,000 new owners and lessees of 2017 model-year cars and light trucks to rate their vehicle's seats and seat belts within the first 90 days of taking ownership. The survey is broken up into seven vehicle segments and scored on total seat problems per 100 within each segment, with awards presented to the seating system supplier. Canadian auto supplier Magna won three of seven first-place awards for its seating systems in the A3, Escape and Edge. Ireland-based Adient got top marks for its seats in the Cadenza and Cayenne. Lear Corp. won for the Cruze, and Avanzar Interior Technologies scored highest for seats in the Tundra. J.D. Power says its study is intended for automakers and suppliers with quality and satisfaction information to be used in developing and marketing seating systems. "But the results are just as interesting to a consumer audience," the company says. "After all, some drivers spend a considerable amount of time behind the wheel, and it's helpful to know which vehicles offer the most comfortable seats for those long commutes." Ain't that the truth. Ford was the only automaker whose seat systems, both manufactured by Magna, received top honors in two segments: the Escape for mass-market compact SUV and the Edge for mass-market midsize/large SUV. J.D. Power says it used 22 attributes to measure seat quality, three measures of seat belt quality and 12 to measure satisfaction. Awards were presented to the seating suppliers. Related Video: Image Credit: Audi Auto News Design/Style Audi Chevrolet Ford Kia Porsche Toyota Safety JD Power seats

Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining

Ford dealers offered discounts on tools to fix aluminum

With the introduction of the aluminum-bodied 2015 Ford F-150 (and the likely use of aluminum in future Ford products), Ford is looking to help its dealerships reduce costs related to repairing this more labor-intensive material. Automotive News is reporting that Ford dealers with body shops will require an estimated $30,000 to $50,000 in equipment and training to work on aluminum, and to help alleviate the financial burden of the new F-150, Ford has announced a special 20-percent discount on this equipment.
Dealers will be able to save up to $10,000 on tools such as welders, air-filtration systems and rivet guns and to create aluminum-specific work stations. The new F-150 goes on sale in the fourth quarter, and dealers have until October 31 to take advantage of this deal, according to the report.