Np241 Input Planetary Gear 6 Pinion 32 Spline on 2040-parts.com

Recall is last linked to fire hazard, Ford says

Ford Motor Co.'s new recall of vehicles that pose potential fire hazards will be its last because the latest action covers all remaining cars and trucks with cruise-control switches made by Texas Instruments, even if those switches don't pose safety risks, a Ford spokesman said today. "We did this to reassure customers and make sure there will be no future actions connected to this," spokesman Wes Sherwood said in an interview. "We've gone to extra lengths to include both vehicles with risks and those that don't show risk." Yesterday, Ford announced a recall of 4.5 million vehicles--its eighth in the past decade involving cars and trucks with faulty cruise-control deactivation switches.

2006 Michelin Challenge Design seeks vehicle designs for California market

Michelin issued a call for entries to the global design community this week to kick off the 2006 Michelin Challenge Design, one of the industry's fastest growing vehicle design forums. In the last four years, Michelin Challenge Design has been the catalyst for students in design universities, design firms, professional designers from top OEMs, and individual designers from all over the world to have their work exhibited at a major international auto show in support of a central theme. Last year, submissions were received from 50 countries worldwide with selected designs displayed at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in January.

Upcoming Volvo XC90 gets new safety tech

The Volvo XC90 has been with us for 10 years now -- a long time indeed when it comes to product life cycles of comparable upmarket SUVs. The stylish sport utility was a popular seller in North America for a good part of that decade, and for a while was even offered with a 4.4 liter V8 engine developed by Yamaha and shared with the second-gen S80 (a first for a Volvo passenger car). But if there's one thing Volvo is known for, it's not V8 engines -- it's safety.