Car makers agree to make automatic braking in US

Ruckersville 

A group of major automakers accounting for more than half of US auto sales will make automatic emergency braking standard on new US vehicles in one of the industry’s biggest auto safety moves since it embraced technology to prevent rollovers more than a decade ago.

The car makers, which accounted for 57 per cent of car and light truck sales in the US last year, said Friday they will work with regulators and the insurance industry to roll out collision avoiding braking technology.

The automakers are Volkswagen and its luxury car division Audi, BMW, Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co, Mazda Motor Corp, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, Tesla Motors Inc, Toyota Motor Corp and Volvo AB.

“We are entering a new era of vehicle safety, focused on preventing crashes from ever occurring,” US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement Friday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is overseeing the effort, said the collaborative agreement took shape over the last two weeks and that other car and truck manufacturers are still considering joining.

Analysts say it could still take years for automakers to redesign the electrical and braking systems of their cars to install autonomous braking. Among the automotive technology suppliers that could benefit are Continental AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Delphi Automotive Plc, Denso Corp and Autoliv Inc.