– Ford Motor Co. will build the GT, a 500-horsepower mid-engine speedster, at its plant in Wixom, Mich. Ford’s engine plant in nearby Romeo will turn out the car’s supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 engine. Ford will build three production GTs in time to celebrate its 100-year anniversary in June. The automaker plans to make 1,000 GTs annually starting in 2004. The car is expected to be priced around $130,000.
– Automakers say they have begun to install lap and shoulder belts in the middle rear seats of vehicles, which will be required under a bill headed to President Bush for his signature. The middle seat is considered the safest for children in an accident because it keeps them from air bags in the front seat and farther from the impact if the vehicle is broadsided. Robert Strassburger, head of safety for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, estimates that at least a quarter of 2003 models have the rear center seat belt, which will make it easier to use a child safety seat and booster.
– Hyundai Motor and IBM are teaming up to provide an array of telematics services in vehicles made by the South Korean automaker. Terms were not disclosed. Hyundai and IBM expect their services to debut in June in vehicles produced for the Korean market. It wasn’t immediately known when the vehicles would be available in North America, or how much telematics would add to the cost of a vehicle.
– NHTSA will require clearer labeling of tires and recommended inflation pressure to stop the confusion that surrounded the Firestone tire recall. The tire identification number will have to be on both sides of a tire in type at least one-quarter inch high. Previously, the number was required on one side. Many Firestone owners complained about that after the tiremaker recalled millions of tires the last two years. Some were losing their tread, generally because they were underinflated, leading to thousands of accidents and at least 271 deaths in the U.S. A NHTSA study found that a quarter of cars and a third of light trucks on U.S. roadways are driven with one or more substantially under-inflated tires.
– The federal government plans to cap snowmobiles at a higher number than current daily use–840 daily and up to 1,650 on weekends–in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. But it wants to further limit usage at the West Yellowstone entrance, the most popular for snowmobilers. The plan, set to take effect in December, would allow 1,100 snowmobiles a day, with 550 using the West entrance.
– Harley-Davidson plans to invest about $1 million to improve houing and amenities in the area around its Milwaukee headquarters. Habitat for Humanity will build the new homes slated for the area.
