Koenigsegg is preparing to beat its own acceleration and braking record with the Agera One:1.
The company holds the previous record for sprinting up to 300 kmh (186 mph) and braking back to zero, set all the way back in 2011 with a 21.19-second time in the Agera R.

The company has returned to the track with the One:1, which boasts 1,341 horsepower and 1,011 lb-ft of torque from a 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8. Its 1,360 kg weight inspires the name, representing one horsepower per kg of mass.

With factory test driver Robert Serwanski on the pedals and sometimes touching the steering wheel, the One:1 rocketed up to 186 mph and back to nil in 17.95 seconds. The numbers appear to handily beat the Agera R, however the practice run was not independently confirmed by Guinness World Record officials.

The company is also hoping to set a Nurburgring record with the One:1, which will soon be the midrange model underneath the even crazier Regera hybrid.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has issued a small-batch recall for the 2015 Dodge Challenger.
Coupes built during a three-day period at the end of March may have left the production facility with improper mounting of the driver-side curtain airbag. The missing bolt may alter the airbag’s deployment, increasing the risk of occupant injury in a rollover or side-impact crash.

The problem has been blamed on a single worker at the Challenger factory. Due to insufficient training, the worker was not made aware of the airbag mounting differences between the Challenger and the Charger and Chrysler 300. The team leader also failed to audit the worker until after 72 defective units had completed the production process.

Most of the defective Challengers are likely to be in dealer inventory, rather than in customer garages. The 2015 model year was recalled last year to fix a manufacturing deficiency with the instrument cluster.

General Motors has highlighted the weight-saving features in the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu, which is 300 pounds lighter than its predecessor.
More than a third of the overall savings comes from the redesigned body structure, which utilizes thinner high-strength-steel components in some areas. The structure is lighter yet stronger and stiffer, improving suspension tuning and meeting or exceeding crash-test performance compared to the previous generation.

Engineers also opted for aluminum when designing the hood, suspension knuckles and other chassis components. Switching to aluminum suspension components brings the added benefit of lower un-sprung mass, further refining the Malibu’s handling.

The interior was also crafted with weight in mind, dropping more than four pounds just by switching to lightweight power-window regulators. Additional savings comes from a simplified instrument panel, and a one-piece center console. Available leather seats are said to be collectively 40 pounds lighter than the outgoing components.

“Imagine you’ve got a 300-pound lineman riding on the roof of your car and he decides to jump off – you’re going to notice a change in performance immediately,” said chief engineer Jesse Ortega. “The Malibu team was challenged to look for weight savings in every area of the vehicle, no matter how small, because every gram adds up.”

The weight savings contributes to an increase in fuel efficiency, bringing the base model’s highway rating up to 37 mpg. The hybrid variant, meanwhile, fetches up to 48 mpg in the city.

JD Power has reported a few notable trends in its latest Initial Quality Study, showing a rise in performance from Korean automakers and a decline in scores from Japanese rivals.
The study compares complaints emerging from the first three months of vehicle ownership, presented as the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles in each model’s general population. Lower scores are indicators of higher quality.

Porsche held the top spot for the second year in a row, achieving a score of 80 in the latest survey. Kia was among the big surprises, jumping to the number-two position with a score of 86 — the brand’s first time leading all non-premium makes. Jaguar, Hyundai and Infiniti complete the top-five rankings.

Korean brands led the industry by the widest margin ever, with a collective average score of 90. European brands (113) also surpassed Japanese automakers (114) for the first time, and US marques (114) matched Japanese rivals for only the second time.

“For so long, Japanese brands have been viewed by many as the gold standard in vehicle quality,” said JD Power VP of automotive quality Renee Stephens. “While the Japanese automakers continue to make improvements, we’re seeing other brands, most notably Korean makes, really accelerating the rate of improvement.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Fiat was the worst brand with 161 problems reported per 100 vehicles — up from last year’s 206, but not good enough to rise from the bottom rung. Sibling brand Chrysler was the third-worst with a score of 143, down significantly from 2014, while Jeep was the fifth worst with 141 problems reported per 100 vehicles.

Diving deeper into the reports, the firm finds that infotainment and connectivity technology remain the biggest source of complaints for the third consecutive year, while voice-recognition technology adds an average of 10 points to scores.

“Smartphones have set high consumer expectations of how well technology should work, and automakers are struggling to match that success in their new vehicles,” Stephens added. “However, we are seeing some OEMs make important improvements along the way. What’s clear is that they can’t afford to wait for the next generation of models to launch before making important updates to these systems.”

Hyundai has celebrated several milestones for its Tucson Fuel Cell, however the hydrogen-powered crossover has reportedly fallen short of its modest sales goals.
The automaker has sold only 273 units through late May, including just 29 at home and 116 and 117 in the US and Europe, respectively, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The numbers suggest Hyundai will need to inspire a significant increase in sales to hit its goal of 1,000 units by the end of the year. Of the 273 sales through May, just 69 units were purchased in 2015 and 128 vehicles were delivered in 2014.

In an announcement claiming the California fleet of Tucson FCVs has accumulated more than 477,800 miles — enough to reach the moon and back — the company noted just 70 US deliveries in the first year of availability.

“If a small fleet of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles can accumulate this kind of mileage in just a few short months, one can only imagine the potential for a zero-emissions hydrogen vehicle future,” the company said in a statement. “It took the growing Tucson Fuel Cell owner fleet about 240 days to reach the moon, but only half that for the return trip.”

US buyers are limited to leasing the Tucson FCV for $499 per month with $2,999 down. Hydrogen refills are free for the length of the agreement, however refueling stations are still limited. A Department of Energy report counts just 12 stations in the entire US, including 10 in California.