Autos
– GM Chairman Rick Wagoner says the Cadillac Escalade SUV and Chevy Silverado truck will add hybrid versions for the 2008 model year. “They [Japanese] are ahead of us in the first generation hybrids and in volume, but they haven’t scaled up to larger vehicles like we have where the gas savings is needed most.”
Recalls
– Honda is recalling 81,000 2004-05 Accord sedans because an air bag-related sensor may fail. The seat position sensor, which adjusts the air bag inflation pressure based on the driver’s position, may have been attached in the wrong location and overtightened. The sensor wire could break and cause the warning light to be illuminated and prevent the sensor from working. When the sensor fails, the air bag system moves to full inflation pressure.
Air
– Travelers at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport may clear security in minutes under the Clear Registered Traveler program, which allows passengers to bypass the normal screening process. They will forgo secondary screening with handheld scanners and keep their shoes on. Users pay about $100 and undergo criminal background checks and iris and finger scans for one-year membership.
Rail
– Wisconsin officials will need to act on a proposed extension of a commuter rail line into Milwaukee before year-end, says Racine Mayor Gary Becker. The line would link Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha and cost about $200 million to build, says the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.
FYI
– Rick Wagoner says he’s optimistic GM sales will rise this year. He sees newly launched models accounting for 40 percent of sales, up from 30 percent last year and 20 percent in 2005.
– Toyota has reached a tentative settlement of a class-action suit by owners of 1997-02 Toyota and Lexus models who said their engines were damaged by oil sludge. A federal judge in Louisiana is expected to approve the deal Feb. 7. Under the terms, the automaker will reimburse owners for the cost to repair oil sludge damage as well as incidental costs for up to eight years from the date their vehicle was sold or leased.
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Quick Trips are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
