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Tesla opens its patents for everyone to share EV knowledge

By Michael Karkafiris Motor Industry 13 June 2014 10:43 Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and one of the most talked-about personalities in the automotive industry, announced today that his company has opened all of its patents to make way for the competition to catch up and promote electric mobility for a wider audience. Open-sourcing your patents is a rather unusual strategy in the automotive world but Musk says that ‘Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal.

Saab targets customers' hearts, brains and wallets in North America

Saab executives said they're optimistic the struggling brand will be able to attract customers despite production stoppages at the company's Trollhaettan, Sweden, plant and cash flow problems. The Swedish automaker aims to target consumers and instill confidence with a grass-roots marketing campaign that focuses on the "heart, brain and wallet," Saab Cars North America President Tim Colbeck told reporters at Saab's North American headquarters in suburban Detroit on Thursday. Colbeck said the company must move away from selling vehicles based on price and focus more on making customers enthusiastic about driving Saab's vehicles.

Crash deaths down 40% since 1960

CAR CRASH DEATHS have plummeted over the last five decades despite the rising number of drivers on the road, figures show. Since 1960, the number of annual deaths from collisions in England and Wales has fallen by 41%, researchers said. There were 1,647 deaths from a road traffic accident in 1960 and 964 deaths in 2009, according to an article published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.