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Total auto recalls already on record pace in 2014

If you've noticed that there have been more recalls than usual this year, you may be on to something. According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the US market is on pace to break a record for recalls. In 2013, 22 million cars were recalled. We're only a third of the way through 2014, though, and we've already halved that figure, with 11 million units recalled. That's wild.
Considering the past few months, it shouldn't be a surprise that General Motors is leading the charge, with six million of the 11 million units recalled coming from one of the General's four brands. Between truck recalls, CUV recalls and the ignition switch recall, 2014 hasn't been a great year for GM.
Other recall leaders include Nissan (one million Sentra and Altima sedans), Honda (900,000 Odyssey minivans), Toyota (over one million units in a few recalls), Volkswagen (150,000 Passat sedans), Chrysler (644,000 Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs) and most recently, Ford (434,000 units, the bulk of which were early Ford Escape CUVs). So while it's been a bad year for GM so far, its competitors aren't doing too well, either.

Nissan Shows Self-Cleaning Car Coated In Nano Paint

Washing the car is an activity like mowing the lawn that some people love and others find to be an absolute chore. For the latter group, Nissan may have an answer. Nissan is testing a nano-paint coating that could make the car wash a very infrequent place to visit. Shown on a European Note hatchback, the key is a special layer of super- hydrophobic and oleophobic material called Ultra-Ever Dry that is sprayed over the paint. It creates a protective layer between the body and environment, and it means that when dirt or water come into contact with the car, the gunk just sheets away. Nissan admits that the coating is still early in testing. The key will be if the stuff can actually last for the long term, and the company will be analyzing it over the coming months to see how it will react in different conditions. At the moment, the automaker has no plans to offer Ultra-Ever Dry as a standard feature, but it may make it available as an aftermarket addition in the future. This article originally appeared on Autoblog.com Related Gallery Clean Diesels Coming To The US Weird Car News Nissan Maintenance car cleaning

The Scoot Quad is Nissan's small step toward EV car sharing

Halfway up Laguna Street, the panic set in. I might not make it up this hill. With my foot depressed all the way to the floor, I sucked in my stomach and started to pray. Yet again, I found myself in an unconventional way to get around on four wheels – but this time, I was on my own, and behind the wheel. Meet the Scoot Quad, aka Nissan New Mobility Concept, aka Renault Twizy. The many aliases reflect the path of descent from its development as a quirky French electric vehicle to its proliferation as a model for car sharing. The Quad resides in San Francisco as part of the Scoot fleet of shared electric vehicles and it's most certainly not for sale. As the line blurs between those who share cars for personal reasons and those who use them for business purposes, Scoot and Nissan came to an agreement in which a small number of New Mobility Concepts would join the Scoot fleet – which currently includes over 300 motorbikes. The added value of Scoot is the capacity for one-way rentals around the city, as well as a dedicated network of charging stations. "We think it's just the best way to get around the city for everyone," said Scoot fleet vice president Mike Waltman, explaining how 10 New Mobility Concepts made their way to San Francisco. Charging time is about four hours on a Level Two charger, made possible through Scoot's network of stations around the city. The one-plus-one Twizy has been in production since 2012 and on sale in certain overseas markets, but it's entirely new for the United States, and it wears the Nissan badge here – kind of. No major changes were made to the Twizy when it became the New Mobility Concept, and similarly none were made in its "transformation" to the Quad. It sports the same insectile shape and the rear profile of a top hat, as well as an identical powertrain: a 13-kilowatt motor that produces 17 horsepower, routed to the rear wheels through a single-speed automatic transmission. Charging time is about four hours on a Level Two charger, made possible through Scoot's network of stations around the city. Its top speed is 50 miles per hour, but Nissan installed a governor at 25 mph to conform to US low-speed vehicle requirements. New Scoot members are required to successfully pass an exam before beginning to use the service, so that was my first order of business. After spending about 35 minutes going through a series of informational videos on the Scoot app, as any new member would do, I was ready to ride Scoot motorcycles.