2013 Infiniti G37 Journey on 2040-cars

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Nissan, Kia under investigation over occupant detection systems

Kia and Nissan are facing separate investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of alleged problems with the occupant detection systems in their vehicles' airbags. The larger investigation is NHTSA's new engineering analysis into 986,826 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. They include the 2013 Nissan NV200 and 2013-2014 Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder, and Sentra. Among the Infinitis, there are the 2013 JX35 and 2014 Q50 and QX60. Owners allege the occupant classification system can misidentify passengers and turn off the airbag if they don't weigh enough. Nissan recalled over a million vehicles worldwide last year to fix the same problem with a software update, but NHTSA kept getting complaints about the issue after the repair. The agency opened a preliminary evaluation in March, and after 1,271 complaints it has now been updated to an engineering analysis. The Feds intend to evaluate the effectiveness of Nissan's solution. NHTSA is also opening a preliminary evaluation into the 2007-2009 Kia Spectra for the occupant classification not working properly, and it could affect an estimated 186,000 of these vehicles. The government agency has 43 complaints from people allegedly reporting the failures. According to NHTSA, the issue could result in the airbag not deploying with enough force or not activating at all in an accident. This investigation is meant to assess the scope of the potential flaw, and there's no recall yet. INVESTIGATION Subject : Occupant Classification System Fault Date Investigation Opened: SEP 01, 2015 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: PE15031 Component(s): AIR BAGS All Products Associated with this Investigation Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) KIA SPECTRA 2007-2009 Details Manufacturer: Kia Motors America SUMMARY: The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 43 complaints alleging a malfunction of the front passenger seat occupant classification system (OCS) in 2007-2009 Kia Spectra vehicles. The complaints report illumination of the SRS (air bag) warning light. All of the complaints allege the cause of the light illumination to be a malfunction of the OCS sensor mat imbedded in the passenger seat cushion, and/or report the presence of diagnostic trouble code B1448 which relates to the OCS sensor mat also. Many of the complaints note the malfunction occurred after the warranty period expired and mention high repair costs as a major deterrent to repairing the vehicle.

Infiniti will offer free wireless Apple CarPlay upgrades for 2020-2021 cars

Owners of 2020-2021 Infiniti products with Apple CarPlay should be happy to hear this news. Infiniti just announced that owners of those vehicles are now eligible for a free upgrade to wireless Apple CarPlay. The list of eligible models includes 2020-2021 Q50, Q60, QX50 and QX80. All of those vehicles already have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but they operate via a wired connection only. This upgrade will make it such that you no longer have to plug into your Lightning cable to have Apple CarPlay splashed across the screen. If you own any of the above vehicles, we’d recommend getting a service appointment to have the upgrade installed — the update is said to take less than an hour. Infiniti says the complimentary software update will be available from now until March 31, 2022. Basically, get it while you can. WeÂ’ve asked Infiniti if a similar upgrade was coming for Android users, as many other manufacturers offer wireless Android Auto in addition to wireless Apple CarPlay. All a spokesperson would say is that "Infiniti is looking at Android Auto for future vehicle integration." The lack of wireless Android Auto will be affecting about 20% of Infiniti owners, as even Infiniti approximates that 20% of its luxury buyers are not Apple users. At the very least, those owners will still have wired Android Auto. Related video:  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Infiniti previews a new... something

Sometimes we get a teaser image and accompanying statement where we can at least surmise what the automaker is up to. This is not one of those times.
The automaker, in this case, is Infiniti, and the teaser image shows only a grille with a similar shape to what you'd find on most of the company's products, albeit with a curvier mesh. Which isn't much to go on, really, and the accompanying statement (which you can read below in its forty-word entirety) doesn't give us much more. All it says is that the vehicle in question - which we'll wager is a concept car instead of a production debut - has "style and substance" embodied in a "vision... on a scale not seen before" from Infiniti.
Given the French peppered into the release and the encroaching chronological proximity of the Paris Motor Show, we'd guess that's where Infiniti will reveal this latest but of inspiration, but just what form it will take is still a mystery.