Jeep planning to enter India with the Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee Some marquee brands are expected to mark their entry into India at the upcoming Auto Expo. The Jeep brand from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is one such brand expected to debut at India’s largest automotive expo to be held in Delhi next year. The Indian market has been responding well to the sales numbers which has persuaded Fiat Chrysler to go ahead with the Indian launch of these models. Coming from the Jeep stable are the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler which will create a buzz in the luxury vehicle market. Rival brands include Audi, Mercedes Benz and BMW will have to look out for this competition on its way to India as we speak. The automotive industry recently saw a double digit growth indicating that the market may observe a sustainable turn-around. The sales numbers also saw a pickup in the economy which might have given an assurance to the auto makers to breathe life into their plans once again.
Honda cars India introduces a new app, Honda Connect Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) launched the Honda Connect, an intelligent automotive application based on advanced information platform. The launch of the new app celebrates HCIL’s 20th anniversary of the company which established itself in India in December 1995, and also its snowballing sales of more than 1 Mn units. Honda Connect provides convenient access to detailed information about Honda vehicles and other services. The owners car can be connected with their smartphones through the Connect app. The ‘Connected Car’ features, supported by the app gives Honda customers important information about their car even when they are not with it and grants sense of safety and security. The app has been developed by Minda i-Connect and is being offered at the Honda dealerships exclusively to all new customers of Honda Jazz, Honda City and Honda CR-V at an introductory price by Honda Access India Pvt. Ltd. The features of the Honda Connect are as follows: Convenience Features Service Booking/ Alerts feature reminds the Honda owners about their vehicle’s maintenance, through push notifications of periodic service alerts, scheduling online service appointments. It also builds a detailed history of each maintenance action taken on the vehicle, including the visit date, dealer name and cost. Utility Features In the event that the customers find themselves in an unpleasant situation, the easily accessible Manual SOS feature will let the friends and family know their location. The ‘Pit Stops’ facilitates a nearest Honda dealer search and nearest fuel Station search on a real time basis with navigation assistance anywhere and anytime in country. The Document Wallet allows the customers to keep important document photos related to their car. A fuel log on the app records information of when the vehicle was refueled and shows fuel economy figures, based on the fuel filled and odometer reading. Safety and sense of Security – Connected Car features(available only after installation of ‘Connected Device’) A sensor inside the ‘Connected device’ measures the 3D orientation of the car and its inbuilt algorithm detects an impact possibly due to strong jerk, physical knock or collision. The Impact Alert feature activates Honda’s One2One to generate an assistance call where the Honda representative will try to get in touch with the customer so that help can be organized. The app is also equipped with features like Trip analysis, My Car’s Health, Share My Location and also provides updates on new products and campaigns being offered by the carmaker. Users can give feedback directly to the company through the Connect app. The Honda Connect application is available on iPhones with iOS 7.0 or above and all the devices with Android OS 4.1 or above
Gorilla Glass, Used for Smartphones, Is Coming to Cars Associated Press | Update The thin, lightweight glass on your smartphone could soon be found on your car. Corning Inc.'s Gorilla Glass is used for the screens on billions of mobile phones. Now, car makers are using an automotive version to help shave weight off their vehicles and improve fuel economy. BMW AG was the first to use Gorilla Glass last year. The material formed an interior panel in the i8 hybrid sports car. Ford Motor Co. will be the first to use it for a windshield and rear window in the new Ford GT sports car, which is scheduled to go on sale next year. The GT also has a Gorilla Glass engine cover. "It's the newest thing to happen to glass since 1923," said Paul Linden, a supervisor of body exterior mechanisms at Ford. That was the year Henry Ford started using shatter-resistant glass in the Model T. Traditional windshields are made up of two layers of heat-treated annealed glass with a plastic layer in between. Annealed glass forms a spider web pattern when it breaks, and the pieces are designed to stick to the plastic layer to prevent injury to passengers. The GT's windshield is a hybrid. It has an annealed glass outer layer and plastic in the middle. But the inner layer is made of chemically-strengthened, automotive grade Gorilla Glass, which is much thinner and lighter than traditional glass. Ford says using Gorilla Glass makes the windshield 32 percent lighter, which saves fuel and improves the car's handling. The glass meets US safety standards, Corning says, and it has endured automakers' tests on rough roads and in wind tunnels. Ford says it's tougher than traditional annealed glass. When engineers shot pieces of hail at Gorilla Glass, for example, it wasn't damaged. The annealed glass shattered. Gorilla Glass doesn't work everywhere. The side windows of the GT, for example, are made of tempered glass. Automakers tend to use tempered glass on side windows because it breaks into tiny pieces and doesn't have a plastic layer that could hinder someone from exiting the vehicle in a crash. Doug Harshbarger, business director of Corning's automotive glass business, says Corning is working on alternate ways of designing Gorilla Glass for use throughout the vehicle. Gorilla Glass has been used by the consumer electronics industry in 2007. Ford and Corning began working together on an automotive glass in 2012. Harshbarger says the company is also working with several other automakers, who are racing to meet stricter fuel economy standards that go into effect in a decade. "Weight is the enemy," Linden said. Lightweight glass isn't the only option for saving weight. Toyota Motor Corp. uses a high-strength plastic for the moonroof on its Prius V wagon, for example. One barrier to the wider adoption of Gorilla Glass is expense. Harshbarger says it costs $2 to $4 more per pound of weight saved than traditional glass. Ford is saving around 12 pounds on the GT, so that means a $24 to $48 premium per vehicle. An expensive supercar like the $400,000 GT can easily absorb that, but mainstream cars can't. But Stephanie Brinley, a senior analyst with IHS Automotive, says launching new technology on high-end cars helps companies figure out if it would be feasible on other vehicles. She says Gorilla Glass has a lot of promise, since it's both tougher and lighter. "That's hitting the industry's super sweet spot," she said. Linden says he believes Ford will eventually use Gorilla Glass throughout its lineup.
