Ford recalls about 650,000 vehicles to fix seat belt part

Ford recalls

03 Dec 2016 , 08:42


Ford Motor Co said on Friday it was recalling about 650,000 vehicles in North America to fix issues that could prevent seat belts from functioning properly in a crash.

The recall includes certain 2013-16 Ford Fusion, 2015-16 Ford Mondeo and 2013-15 Lincoln MKZ cars, Ford said. In the affected vehicles, increased temperatures generated during deployment of the seat belt anchor pretensioner cables could cause them to separate, potentially reducing the seat belt’s ability to adequately restrain an occupant in a crash, Ford said.

Meanwhile, a recent report said that Bill Ford told Donald Trump that the company is not moving Lincoln SUV production to Mexico. Ford has repeatedly said it has no plans to close any U.S. plants and likely could not do so under the terms of the current United Auto Workers contract that expires in 2019. Ford spokeswoman Christin Baker said late on Thursday the automaker “confirmed with the President-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly plant will stay in Kentucky.”

With input from Reuters

BlackBerry in software deal with Ford, first with an automaker

Image Credits: Reuters

  01 Nov 2016 , 08:18

BlackBerry has signed a deal to work directly with Ford Motor Co to expand the carmaker’s use of its QNX secure operating system, the Canadian technology company said on Monday, as Ford develops increasingly automated vehicles.

The deal with Ford is the first BlackBerry has done directly with a major automaker, though it currently sells its technology to auto industry suppliers.

The company is betting its future on expanding sales of software products, including to automakers and other manufacturers, after largely ceding the smartphone market to rivals including Apple Inc , Alphabet’s Google and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Panasonic Automotive currently uses QNX software in the Sync 3 infotainment console that it supplies to Ford.

BlackBerry is hoping the new deal will expand use of BlackBerry’s software in Ford vehicles as the two companies identify other systems where it might be used.

“We can form the basis of the entire vehicle all the way from autonomous drive through to infotainment,” John Wall, the head of BlackBerry’s QNX unit, said in a phone interview.

Ford is ramping up its driverless vehicle efforts and plans to offer a fully automated vehicle for commercial ride-sharing in 2021, it announced in August.

QNX’s software is certified for use in autonomous driving and active safety systems, according to Wall.

“In the initial engagements you can think of an expansion into the cockpit; telematics, infotainment, cluster,” Wall said.

BlackBerry and Ford declined to say how QNX might be rolled out into new systems or discuss financial terms of the deal.

A dedicated team of QNX engineers based in Ottawa and Waterloo will work with Ford to expand the carmaker’s use of the Neutrino industrial operating system, as well as an overarching programme that can control other operating systems and related security technology, BlackBerry said. “We’re providing the plumbing for the vehicle that is both robust and safe and secure to allow the customers to build their applications on top of that,” Wall said.

Dan Dodge, who founded QNX in 1982, and stayed on after BlackBerry bought the company in 2010, left QNX at the end of 2015. Bloomberg reported in July that Apple hired him as part of its own self-driving plans.

Reuters

Tags: BlackBerry, Ford Motor, Google, QNX, QNX engineers