Automotive News Canada - February 2017 - 9

* FEBRUARY 2017

Law to give regulators more
powers in airbag probes
ARC airbags, linked
to one Canadian
death, could be
targeted ahead
of Takata

Portal a door to the future
Tech concept
is 'a conscious
choice to be
practical'
By STEVE MERTL
VA N C O U V E R C O R R E S P O N D E N T

RALPH GILLES CARRIES
a torch for the minivan.
Despite the dominance
of wagons in the market,
the Canadian-born chief
designer for Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles (FCA) believes
the minivan will become
increasingly relevant to
millennial buyers, who outnumber baby boomers and
present a huge potential
market.
"Millennials, the oldest ones, are turning into
their mid-30s right now and
starting to get into family
formation," Gilles said in
an interview at the North
American International
Auto Show in Detroit,
Mich., in January.
"We consider ourselves
experts in
minivans and
family-type
vehicles. So
this is trying
to take that
idea, put it
over an electric platform,
shrink it
down, make it
as efficient as
possible sizewise, with a
cavernous
RALPH GILLES
interior."
Chief designer,
Portal is
the result
of interviews with millennial-age staff within FCA
and its suppliers, and outside research, Gilles said.

It offers occupants a "third
space" besides home and
work that can be a social
as well as a transportation
hub.
Gilles has been showing
the concept, first at CES in
Las Vegas in January, then
in Detroit.

TOP PRIORITY: PRACTICALITY
"We're really focused on
people who would consider a monospace, a monovolume vehicle," said Gilles.
"Most of the ones we
interviewed said they
want something functional. It's not about zero-to-60
[mph] times, it's not about
image so much. They want
to show the world they've
made a conscious choice to
be practical."
It's not happenstance
that the Portal, developed
at the Auburn Hills design
centre, was shown first at
CES before turning up in
Detroit, where it was located somewhat off to the side.
Occupying a footprint
roughly that of Chrysler's
first-generation minivan, Portal
showcases a wealth
of ideas on
connectivity, autonomous capability and
EV operation.
"We're
looking at a
concept that
embodies
FCA
everything
we know
right now with a level-three
(semi) autonomy, potential level-four (full) autonomy," said Gilles. "Really,

We consider
ourselves experts
in minivans and
family-type
vehicles.

Ralph Gilles says the Portal concept is not intended for
people who are interested in zero-to-60-mph times,
adding, "It's not about image so much." ( P H O T O : F C A )

Some of the Portal
concepts features are
destined for production,
even if the vehicle isn't,
says Canadian-born FCA
designer Ralph Gilles.

it's been an absolute ball to
work on this."
Like most concepts, the
Portal as shown won't see
production but some of its
ideas will.

CHRYSLER REBRANDING
"Some of that we can
implement really quickly," said Gilles. "Even the
design language for me is
something that could potentially pave the way for
where we want to take the
Chrysler brand. It's really
designed around consumer goods versus traditional
automotive ascetic."
Portal runs on battery-electric power with
an estimated 400-kilometre
range and a fast-charging
system capable of recharging to 240 kilometres of
range within 20 minutes.
Pairs of sliding doors
open in opposite directions
on either side to allow ease
of entry. Individual bucket
seats can be arranged to different cargo and passenger
configurations.
"We've been very quiet
in this space for a lot of
time," Gilles said. "We
don't believe in beating a
drum for no reason, so it
has taken a while for us to
get here." - ANC

By ROBERT BOSTELAAR
O T TAWA C O R R E S P O N D E N T

OTTAWA - NEW SAFETY
laws expected to gain
Parliamentary approval soon
will give the Canadian government broad, U.S.-like powers
to order recalls and fine manufacturers who don't comply,
actions that current legislation
does not afford.
It will also allow regulators to
set strict timetables for repairs.
The bill would require companies "to provide and justify"
the earliest date
by which parts
would be ready to
repair a recalled
vehicle, said
Transport Canada
spokesman Daniel
Savoie.
Yet even this new
authority couldn't
hasten repairs in
the Takata recall,
already the largest in auto history and with the
potential to top
100 million airbag inflators. A
plan organized by the U.S. government is sending replacement
parts first to hot and humid
regions where the ammonium-nitrate devices are most at
risk of exploding and hurling
metal shards through a vehicle
cabin.

RECALL SIZE TAKES TIME
In Canada, grouped withnorthern U.S. states on the
replacement schedule, the
recall total reached 5.2 million
in January with the addition
of 900,000 new notices as parts
became available. Most were for
vehicles from Toyota, Ford and
Honda, the latter for 260 Gold
Wing motorcycles as well as
cars and SUVs.
"Given the millions of airbags that need to be replaced,
this recall will take some time,"
Savoie said.
A larger potential target for
the new federal powers could
be Knoxville, Tenn.-based airbag producer ARC Automotive,
which unlike Takata has been
linked to a death in Canada.
In July 2016, an 83-year-old
Newfoundland woman was
killed when an ARC airbag
inflator ruptured in her 2009
Hyundai Elantra in a low-speed
collision.

ARC UNDER FIRE
The U.S. National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) was already investigating two incidents in which
drivers were injured by exploding ARC airbags and in October

made public a letter blasting
the supplier for missing deadlines and failing to report the
Canadian fatality as required
by law.
The agency threatened to
hold a public hearing and level
fines of up to $21,000 a day. It
said ARC's lax response "does
not demonstrate the behaviour
that NHTSA expects of manufacturers, much less manufacturers of vital safety components
utilized in vehicles across the
globe."
Transport Canada has taken
a lower-key approach, noting
only in public statements that
it is working with its U.S. counterpart on a "thorough" investigation with no set timetable for
completion.
The Canadian agency has,
however, posted on its website a list of 2001'17 models from
seven manufacturers - BMW,
FCA, Ford, GM,
Hyundai, Kia and
Mercedes-Benz
- equipped with
driver's airbags
produced by ARC.
The lists represents some 3.5
million vehicles,
though how many
are equipped with
the single-stage
inflator used in
the 2009 Elantra
is unknown.
ARC, ranked
the world's fifth-largest airbag
producer with seven per cent
of the market in 2014, has not
responded to repeated requests
by Automotive News Canada for
comment.

PAY REPAIRS OR BUY BACK CARS
Canada's enhanced powers
will come via the Strengthening
Motor Vehicle Safety for
Canadians Act, introduced by
the federal Liberal government
in May 2016 and further bolstered by Senate amendments
to prevent dealers from selling vehicles with open recalls.
Manufacturers, in turn, will
be required to pay dealers
for repairs and supply parts
promptly or buy the recalled
vehicles back.
Transport Minister Marc
Garneau has promised that
the law will be a tonic for his
department's vehicle safety
efforts, which were criticized in
a recent federal auditor general's report as plodding and overly dependent on work by other
countries.
"Technology is evolving faster than the regulations and
standards designed to protect
Canadians," the November
report said.
The department also was criticized for having cozy relationships with carmakers in discussing proposed regulatory changes
while failing to seek input from
stakeholders such as equipment
suppliers, consumer groups,
police and the insurance
industry. - ANC

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - February 2017