• Audi recalls A6, A7 to repair passenger airbag system

    January 1, 2016

    Audi has issued a recall for the 2012-2013 A6 and A7 to address a problem with the airbag system.

    The company has discovered a glitch with the passenger occupant detection system that manages airbag deployment to prevent injuries to children or infants. In vehicles with heated and cooled seats, the system can malfunction and prevent the passenger-side airbags from deploying in a crash.

    “An air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of occupant injury in a crash,” the recall documents warn.

    Service technicians will install a PODS repair kit in approximately 21,000 affected vehicles sold in the US market. It is unclear if the issue has been associated with any injuries.

    The repair program is scheduled to begin in February.

  • Tesla Model S due for Model X-inspired facelift?

    January 1, 2016

    Tesla Motors is reportedly preparing to give its Model S a fresh new look sometime next year.

    The facelift is expected to bring the sedan’s design language closer to the new Model X crossover, according to an Electrek report spotted by Green Car Reports. The rumor is based on alleged comments from a Tesla service advisor.

    The claims have yet to be corroborated, however the move would not come as a surprise. Model S production will be entering its fourth year in 2016, seven years after the first prototype was unveiled. The company has revised the available powertrains and introduced Autopilot driving-assistance technology, without yet making any revisions to aesthetic appearance.

    If true, the sedan could receive a revised front end with a smaller faux grille, new headlights and redesigned foglight surrounds.

    The service representative cited in the original rumor allegedly suggested the facelift will not arrive until the Model 3 makes its debut in March.

  • GM to face first ignition switch trial Jan. 11

    January 1, 2016

    General Motors will have to go to face the first of several planned bellwether cases over its alleged involvement in an defective ignition switch coverup, a United States judge has ruled. GM was pushing to have the case dismissed.

    A jury is now scheduled to hear a suit filed by Robert Scheuer on January 11. Scheuer alleges that a defective ignition switch in his 2003 Saturn Ion caused his vehicle’s airbags to fail to deploy after his car left the road and struck a pair of trees.

    Scheuer’s is the first of six planned so-called bellwether cases for GM’s alleged involvement in the ignition switch coverup. Depending on the outcome of those trials, GM could decided to continue litigation or settle any remaining lawsuits.

    Bob Hilliard, Scheuer’s lawyers, touts the judge’s decision to go forward with the trial as a victory as it “paves the way for the jury to have an unfettered and full view of GM’s behavior in covering up this defect.”

    For its part, GM said it is ready to fight the allegations in court. “We are fully prepared to go to trial, and introduce evidence showing that the ignition switch issue did not cause the injuries in this accident, or cause the airbags not to deploy,” GM spokesman James Cain told Reuters.

    GM announced a recall that eventually encompassed 2.6 million small cars — including the Saturn Ion and Sky; Pontiac Solstice and G5; and Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR — for faulty ignition switches in February 2014. However, evidence suggests GM new of the fault a decade earlier. The defect has been linked to 124 deaths and 274 injuries.