New fleet director for Hyundai Europe
A couple of years back I went on a really useful trip to Hyundai Europe’s Offenback HQ in Germany to see a preview of the Hyundai i40.
It was hugely informative. And the one thing – no, the two things – that struck me was how serious Hyundai was about fleet; and how serious they were in being a low emission leader in Europe.
That focus on the fleet sector has been ramped up with the appointment of Brit Adrian Porter to the newly-created position of European fleet director. Hyundai wants 2.6% of the Euro fleet market in 2014 – up from 2.2% last year. And it wants more quality fleet orders, too.
As for low CO2, the Hyundai i40 was massively impressive when launched with its class-leading 113g/km CO2 in early 2011. Hyundai has since announced that its going into production with zero emission fuel call Hyundai ix35 Hydrogen car due to launch in 2015. Everyone take note.
An app that positions your driving seat
I came across this story and it’s from Johnson Controls, a global multi-industrial company with a focus on the car industry. It’s ingenious.
The company has developed an app that automatically adjusts the driver’s seat into a comfortable and safe position based on an individual’s size. At least if the seat got electronic adjustment.
Those who share their company car or business car with their partner will know how useful this can be. And thinking ahead, it will have applications for rental cars and car sharing where a seat can be adjusted correctly in an unusual car to the driver.
“We discovered that correct positioning of the seat track cannot be derived directly from leg length, nor can the height adjustment of the seat be derived directly from the torso length. The human body is more like a complex system. If you change one parameter, this has an impact on other variables,” explained Andreas Eppinger, who is group vice president technology management at Johnson Controls Automotive Seating.
Sign me up! Sounds perfect for jumping in and out of test cars – and will stop me being skewered by the steering wheel after my wife has been driving our car!
