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Government Ending Jeep Investigation

The government is closing its investigation into older-model Jeeps with fuel tanks that could rupture and cause fires. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it has "no reservations" with Chrysler Group's plans to recall the vehicles. The agency is expected to release a report on its investigation in a few weeks. The decision ends an unusually public struggle between Chrysler and NHTSA. The agency asked Chrysler to recall 2.7 million Jeeps last June, contending that their gas tanks - which are positioned behind the rear axle - were at risk of rupturing and catching fire in rear-end crashes. Involved were Grand Cherokee SUVs from the 1993 to 2004 model years and Liberty SUVs from 2002 to 2007. Chrysler initially refused to recall the vehicles. The company said the rate of fuel leaks and fires after crashes was similar to comparable vehicles that were sold during the time in question. It was the first time in two years that an automaker had refused NHTSA's request for a recall. Chrysler later agreed to recall 1.56 million of the Jeeps and install trailer hitches on them to help protect the gas tanks. The company sent notices to the remaining customers saying their vehicles were fine if they have factory-installed or Chrysler-made trailer hitches. NHTSA said late Friday that it has been in close contact with Chrysler and will monitor the recall as it continues. Chrysler has told customers that it will start installing the hitches soon. "Consumers should have their vehicles serviced promptly once they receive final notification from Chrysler,"NHTSA said in a statement. In its own statement Friday, Chrysler said, "We share NHTSA's commitment to safety." NHTSA's outgoing chief, David Strickland, told The Associated Press in an interview last month that Chrysler had convinced NHTSA that the Jeeps were no more dangerous than similar vehicles sold at that time. "Those vehicles performed at a rate similar to their peers. That is the keystone analysis as to whether something poses an unreasonable risk to safety," Strickland said. Friday was Strickland's last day at NHTSA. He is joining Venable, a law firm. NHTSA began investigating the Jeeps at the request of the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington-based advocacy group. "It is tragic that NHTSA approved Chrysler's sham trailer hitch recall for Jeeps that explode in rear impacts," the Center for Auto Safety's director, Clarence Ditlow, said Friday.

Hot sales have Detroit automakers shortening summer shutdowns

Back in May, there was speculation that the Detroit Three automakers would maintain or perhaps even extend their traditional summer shutdowns, mostly due to a bitingly cold winter that saw below-freezing temperatures infiltrate the southernmost reaches of the US, putting a chill on auto sales. Now, though, the numbers are in, and thanks to some promising sales figures, it looks like some domestic line workers are going to be working clear through July, in some cases.
According to Automotive News, Ford has slashed its traditional two-week hiatus for factory workers in half at four of its plants, while both Chrysler and General Motors will keep factories running nonstop (two plants in Chrysler's case and a third of GM's factories).
This is, as we said, thanks to some positive numbers. Chief among those is the Seasonal Adjusted Annual Rate, which was at an eight-year high of 17 million units. Individual figures were less promising. GM, embroiled in its recall scandal, still saw a one-percent increase while Ford dropped six percent in year-over-year sales. Chrysler was the big winner, though, with a nine-percent jump in June.

Everything is absurd in Fate of the Furious, including the car hacking

Truly ridiculous and absurd scenes and situations are a staple of the Fast and Furious series, And earlier trailers made it clear that Fate of the Furious wouldn't be any different as soon as the submarine appeared. However, it turns out the craziness has spread to the topic of car hacking. The hacker is Charlize Theron's character, Cipher, and she can apparently control any car in the world, and many of them at once. She uses this to great effect in creating giant rivers of rampaging automobiles through city streets, and waterfalls of cars flying off of parking structures. And if you look closely at these groups of vehicles, it is evident that she can even control older cars that have no automated steering or throttle capabilities whatsoever. We would ask how that works, but we know that's a silly question in the Fast and Furious universe. After all, this is the series that featured Dominic Toretto flying through the air over a freeway to catch Letty Ortiz and land on another car. And they survived. Your logic has no power here! We also noticed that Cipher seems to have a preference to hack vehicles from Fiat Chrysler. In the trailer, multiple Chrysler 300s, a Jeep Cherokee, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a Dodge Challenger all get some prominent screen time when they're being hacked. We're not so sure this is good product placement for the brand, particularly considering this is the same company that recalled over a million vehicles to fix a software issue that could lead to hacking. Maybe this is the trade-off for having the Dodge Challenger Demon as a hero car. There's more to this trailer than Chryslers and hacking though. It turns out that Cipher has been following Toretto for a few movies now. Also, characters fly with jet packs, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's character shoves a torpedo out of the way, on ice, while hanging out of a truck. Check it all out in the video above. Related Video: