WASHINGTON — General Motors Co. said it is recalling 1.5 million vehicles with heated washer-fluid systems following engine fires that occurred even after a 2008 fix on many of the same cars for similar problems.

The recalls, to begin by June 14, will affect 18 models of 2006-2009 Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevrolets, GMCs, Hummers and Saturns, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its Web site today.

In August 2008, GM recalled about 858,000 cars and trucks following reports of fires resulting from shorts in the system that heats windshield-washer fluid. Dealers installed a wire harness that contained a fuse.

However, the module’s internal thermal-protection device, or solder cup, “did not function as designed,” GM said in a June 4 letter to NHTSA that was posted today.

No injuries

GM said it has learned of five fires, including several that occurred while the vehicle was unattended. The company is not aware of any injuries or crashes.

“While our analysis shows the number of incidents is very small compared with the number of vehicles on the road, we want our customers to have complete peace of mind,” said Jeff Boyer, GM’s executive director of safety.

The models of cars, trucks and crossovers included in the recall are the 2006-09 Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS and Hummer H2; the 2008-09 Buick Enclave and Cadillac CTS; and the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse.

Also included are the 2007-09 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV and EXT; Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe; GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL; and Saturn Outlook.

While 1.4 million of the vehicles to be recalled are in the United States, there are others in Canada, Mexico and other countries, GM said in a statement.

Once the heated-washer fluid system is removed, the vehicles will no longer have the winter convenience of warm fluid to clean the frozen windshield, GM spokesman Greg Martin said.

GM said it plans to pay $100 to vehicle owners as compensation for permanently disabling and removing the heated washer fluid system. If all 1.5 million vehicles recalled are brought in, GM would pay out roughly $150 million, plus the cost of the actual fixes. GM, in court documents, projected the cost of the first recall was between $20 million and $25 million.

The heat is off

The original units, called HotShot, were manufactured by a suburban Detroit supplier called Microheat Inc.

Microheat’s technology gained praise. In 2006, the company was a finalist for an Automotive News PACE Award given annually for supplier product and process innovation. PACE stands for Premier Automotive Suppliers’ Contribution to Excellence.

But after GM’s problems with HotShot began to emerge in 2008, Microheat ceased production of the units and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Microheat’s Web site is no longer active.

From our colleagues at Formula One blog:

Not Indianapolis, not New York, not Las Vegas but Austin, Tex., will host the return of Formula One to the United States, the Formula One rights holder announced today.

After the Indianapolis deal ended in 2007, there have been many rumors about efforts to get Formula One back to the United States. Now it’s done, and the deal covers 2012 to 2021, according the statement by Formula One World Championship Limited, Formula One Administration Limited (together, the F1 Commercial Rights Holder) and Full Throttle Productions,  the promoter of the Formula One United States Grand Prix.

“We are extremely honored and proud to reach an agreement with the F1 Commercial Rights Holder,” said Tavo Hellmund, of Full Throttle Productions. “We have been diligently working together for several years to bring this great event to Austin, the state of Texas and back to the United States. All parties involved have a great amount of trust and confidence in each other and are committed to establishing the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Tex., as a prestigious global event.”

What is more interesting is that Bernie Ecclestone is also announcing that there will be a “world-class facility purpose-built” to host the event. With all the futuristic Hermann Tilke monolithic tracks cropping up around the world — in Bahrain, China, Malaysia, etc. — this must mean something special.

Source (article): NYTIMES

Source (picture): IMAGES.BUSINESSWEEK

Dating to the 2008 Paris debut of its ConceptFascination show car, whose styling presaged the current E-Class, Mercedes-Benz has demonstrated a keen interest in the brake body style, which in strictest terms is a coupe with a squared-off back.

At the Beijing auto show, which opens to the news media later this week, Mercedes will unveil its Concept Shooting Break, a car that owes little to its Paris predecessor and even less to its nominal inspiration.

Aside from the spelling tweak, which is consistent with French convention versus the more common, British “brake,” the Beijing car did not start life as a traditional two-door coupe, as is typical of the body style. Instead the Concept Shooting Break expands on the Mercedes CLS, a four-door whose signature swept roofline has flaunted facile sedan-coupe labeling since 2004. That car’s D.N.A. is readily apparent in the Concept Shooting Break’s dramatic greenhouse arc and wraparound taillight array. The chopped greenhouse makes the beltline below the passenger windows appear remarkably high, creating a sinister if somewhat beefy profile stance.

What will likely inspire more debate, however, are the concept’s nose and tail, which also pick liberally from the Daimler family tree. The grille references the $200,000 2011 SLS AMG supercar, which in turn paid homage to the legendary SL gullwing racers of the early 1950s. The ample rear’s pedigree is less evocative, harking back to the R-Class crossover conceived under Daimler’s star-crossed partnership with Chrysler.

Motivating the concept is a forerunner of Mercedes-Benz’s new line of BlueEfficiency engines. The show car has a 3.5-liter, gas-burning V-6 rated at 308 horsepower.

While brand reps are tight-lipped about the concept’s production prospects, timing the debut for Beijing rather than the New York auto show a few weeks ago is significant.

“We sell an extended-wheelbase E-Class in China that’s very popular,” says Larkin Hill, a Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman, also noting that the automaker’s Chinese customers tend to be chauffeured. A luxury shooting brake with four doors, unencumbered by a high-zoot S.U.V.’s public-image baggage or a luxo-barge’s stuffy anonymity, could consequently be a marquee player in a big market.

Source (article): NYTIMES

Source (pictures): CARANDDRIVER