Toyota will be adding a function to its onboard navigation systems that gives on-screen and voice alerts to wrong way drivers.

The system was developed with Aisin AW Co., Ltd. and Denso Corporation and the function will monitor the vehicle’s direction. This system will work on highways and selected toll roads, including tollgates, service area ramps, turnoffs, and junctions. Toyota will incorporate the new function into the navigation systems as dealer-installed options in Japan starting June 1.

Advances in communications-based map-updating technology and in pinpoint position-recognition technology has made this funtion possible.

Recently, there have been approximately 1,000 wrong-way driving accidents reported annually in Japan, and statistically, a higher percentage of senior drivers are involved.

[Source: Stockhouse]

Before there was Rhys Millen tearing up Pikes Peak, there was Rod Millen claiming records capturing the Unlimited crown fives times in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. But now that he has successfully handed the motorsports torch to his son Rhys Millen, Rod has taken more of a backseat approach since 2000 from Pikes Peak. Sure he followed in his son’s footsteps trying his hand at drifting a Mazda RX-8 briefly, but it’s been over a decade since we’ve seen Rod Millen at the infamous Hill Climb.

The elder Millen once held the record at Pikes Peak with a time of 10:04.06 which wasn’t broken until 2007 by Nobuhiro Tajima with a 10:01.408. And now it looks like the itch to go racing has overcome Rod Millen and he’ll be making a return to Pikes Peak on June 26th to compete in the Time Attack 2WD class while his son, Rhys Millen, will try to reclaim the record with a 9-minute run in the Unlimited division with his Hyundai RMR PM580.

Rod Millen will be competing in the RMR Hyundai Genesis coupe and this will be his first appearance since 2000. Both Millens are looking to set records in their respective divisions, with Rhys hoping to fulfill his 10-plus year old dream of breaking into the 9 minute category.

[Source: My Life at Speed]

North American Honda production will return to normal in August, earlier than expected, the company announced in a statement today.

The Japanese automaker has accelerated their recovery following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Every Honda model will resume regualar production in August, except the 2012 Civic. The company expects full production of the Civic to resume in the fall.

When the supply of parts from Japan improves, production will ramp up on a step-by-step, plant-by-plant, and model-by-model basis. Models including the 4-cylinder Accord, CR-V and Acura RDX, as well as all V-6 models including the Accord, Accord Crosstour, Odyssey, Pilot, Ridgeline, and the Acura TL, MDX and ZDX will return to 100 percent production.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is glowing brighter for us, represented by this significant improvement in our production situation,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Throughout this crisis, Honda has been fighting to achieve a speedy recovery, while maintaining a focus on our longer-term plans for continued growth in sales and production in order to meet the growing needs of our customers.”

Honda, which employs 13,400 in Ohio, said in a statement that it has managed to avoid any layoffs in any of its 14 plants in North America during the parts shortage.

[Source: Honda Press/ Columbus Dispatch]

UAW President Bob King is angling for seats on the Big Three’s respective Boards Of Directors, and will likely use this as a negotiating point when contracts are discussed with automakers this summer.

“I believe there should be workers’ representation on all boards,” King told The Detroit Bureau, arguing that German car companies employ the same practice, although German law legally mandates worker representation on car company boards. King also argued that the UAW should be given board seats as a “general principle”.

The Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA), an organization responsible for UAW retiree health care benefits, currently holds seats at GM and Chrysler’s boards, and King claimed that VEBA would ultimately decide whether Chrysler can issue its IPO later this year.

[Source: The Detroit Bureau]

Saab will finally gain some stability, as the company will resume production tomorrow at its Trollhattan, Sweden, assembly plant.

The facility has been idle for about six weeks. Saab’s owner, Dutch automaker Spyker, has been unable to secure the much-needed financing to pay off its suppliers, but the automaker says it has reached agreements that will allow it to begin building cars again.

“Based on the information we have, it looks like we will start up production tomorrow,” spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs told Reuters.

Tomorrows production will produce 100 vehicles instead of the usual 230-240 cars per day.

Saab and Spyker have been waiting for the Chinese government to approve a $110 million Euro investment in Pang Da. The Chinese distributor has already paid Saab 30 million euros for the opportunity to sell cars in China.

[Source: Left Lane News]

Nissan has had a successful year with the Nissan Juke, Cube, Leaf and Infiniti M37/56  on the list of 2011 top safety picks. Today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the 2011 Nissan Juke a “Top Safety Pick” rating. The Juke earned this award by earning a “good” rating in front, rear and side impact protection, coupled with electronic stability control as well as good roof strength.

“Nissan’s commitment to safety and innovation is reflected in the Nissan Juke receiving the Top Safety Pick from IIHS,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, Nissan North America, Inc. “The Nissan Juke has a unique combination of motorsports-inspired design and unexpected levels of technology and safety features– all with a starting MSRP under $19,000.”

All 2011 Juke models come equipped with the Nissan Advanced Air Bag System (AABS) with dual-stage, dual-threshold front air bags as well as seat belt and occupant classification sensors. There are also roof-mounted curtain side-impact supplemental air bags for front and rear outboard occupant head protection. There are also seat mounted driver and front passendger side-impact supplemental air bags and front-seat Active Head Restraints. Other standard equipment includes LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system, Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) and Traction Control System (TCS).

Check out our review of the Nissan Juke, and JukeForums.com for more info.

There have been rumors that Audi could make the jump into Formula 1, however the automaker is adamant that it won’t be the company to do so. According to the company’s motorsport boss, F1 bears “no relevance to the road”.

Audi predominently races Le Mans Prototypes, like the R18 TDI. Audi points out that Le Mans is quite different from F1 Racing. The Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich was convincing that endurance racing is a better testbed than F1. “Let me show you how – at Le Mans, one of our cars will cover 325 miles more than an F1 car will cover in an entire season, our average speed including pits stops will be 20mph higher than an F1 car and we will use 42% less fuel. You cannot argue with those figures.”

Audi has a long history of racing that extends beyond Le Mans, Audi has set the benchmark in rallying and touring car as well. The automaker has brought many of its technologies from its motorsport program to its road cars, however Audi sees little connection between Formula 1 racing and the development of its vehicle manufacturing.

[Source: CAR]

Awhile back, we told you about women in Saudi Arabia fighting against a law that states they aren’t allowed drive. We told you about Wajeha-Al-Huwaider, a women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia, who decided to mark International Women’s Day in 2008 by shooting a video of herself driving and then posting it on YouTube.

Next was Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of King Abdullah, who wanted to lift the ban in order to send about 750,000 foreign drivers home. The government hasn’t changed their position on the issue, and this time, they are trying to silence Manal al-Sharif, who is campaigning for the rights of woman in her country.

According to the New York Times, Manal al-Sharif had posted videos of herself driving on YouTube, as well as started Facebook and Twitter accounts that encouraged other Saudi women to do the same. But the Saudi government has stepped in – they arrested Sharif, removed her videos from Youtube and deleted a Facebook account that instructed other women on how they could get involved in the movement. And someone even duplicated her Twitter account and posted messages that stated she had given up the cause.

But social media isn’t going to let a little thing like an oppressive government keep it down. Sharif’s message is still circulating on YouTube and an Al Jazeera report on her campaign is still available. You can check out the full report at The New York Times and watch the videos after the jump.

[Source: Autoblog]
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Back in September, the US Department of Energy, in conjunction with Nissan Motor Co, green lighted a proposal to test a Cummins four-cylinder turbo-diesel in the full-size Titan pickup.

The program was largely conceived to help big trucks like the Titan achieve better fuel economy, in lieu of the 35.5 miles per gallon CAFE requirements (that now also include light trucks), scheduled to be phased in in 2015.

The test engine, a 2.8-liter unit cranks out 350 lb/ft of torque at 1800 rpm making it comparable with the Titan’s existing 5.6-liter V-8. However substantial gains in fuel economy have already been achieved, the diesel is said to currently allow a 2WD Titan to achieve around 28 miles per gallon, a sizeable improvement on the V-8 truck’s 13/18 mpg (city/highway).

Cummins says this new diesel can be built in either 2.8 and 3.5-liter forms and thanks to the use of high strength steel pistons, is not only a sturdy engine but also rather compact by diesel standards, not that compactness is of real concern when installing one in a Titan.

The test program is scheduled to run through September this year and it will be interesting to see what further results develop when it comes to capability and fuel economy. However, regulators are now proposing even tougher fuel economy standards for 2025, as much as 62 mpg. With such shifting targets, in such a short period time, the ability of any pickup truck manufacturer to meet them is going to prove challenging at best.

[Source: Automotive News]

Hyundai-Kia will outsell Toyota and Honda in May sales, according to TrueCar. TrueCar expects Hyundai-Kia to sell 115,434 units in May. This number represents an increase of 43.4 percent over May 2010 making the Korean group a 10.9 percent market share putting it number three behind Ford and GM.

Hyundai-Kia has gathered a momentum caused by the earthquake slow down affecting Honda and Toyota. The earthquake caused a shortage crisis and low incentives, contributing to the Korean’s expected third place rank.

“There have been some real and perceived shortages of Japanese vehicles, and the message to consumers when they look around in the media is ‘you might as well not buy something,’” Toprak said. “But the truth is that if Hyundai-Kia didn’t have the right type of products at the right time, they wouldn’t have been able to capitalize on this opportunity.”

TrueCar expects inventories for Japanese automakers to continue to be low in June, especially for fuel-efficient models built only in Japan.

[Source: Autonews]