Takata Airbags Recall Update.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has today (January 14) reported that the website relating to the Takata airbag safety recall, www.ismyairbagsafe.com.au, has reached 12 million checks. As a result, over two million vehicles equipped with the faulty Takata airbag inflators have been identified as having the problem airbags, which have the potential to kill or seriously injure vehicle occupants.

Across Australia, car manufacturers have replaced faulty Takata airbags in more than 2.72 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Vehicle owners unsure of the recall status of their vehicles can immediately check by visiting the website or by texting the word TAKATA to 0487 247 224.

The 12 million represents a staggering 67 per cent of the 17.8 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles on Australian roads. The FCAI chief executive, Tony Weber, said: “The website has been an outstanding success in helping people identify whether their vehicles are affected by the national Takata recall. The heavy usage of the website clearly demonstrates that vehicle owners appreciate being able to readily access important safety information.”

And although the deadline set by the industry had passed, manufacturers are still working to identify more vehicles, said Mr Weber. “We will continue hosting the website through early 2021 to ensure vehicle owners can readily check the recall status of their vehicles. If owners identify any outstanding faulty airbags, manufacturers and dealers will replace them free of charge.”

If you have a vehicle that is unregistered, it’s recommended you check by contacting the relevant brand directly. This, said Mr Weber, is important as he warned that state and territory governments were now deregistering or refusing registration of vehicles fitted with unrectified Takata airbags. “Don’t let your vehicle be taken off the road by the authorities. Vehicle owners can easily avoid the inconvenience and serious legal risks associated with deregistration by making prompt arrangements for free replacement”.

The www.ismyairbagsafe.com.au website is an integral part of the automotive industry’s national communications campaign in support of the airbag recall. The industry campaign has made extensive use of national and regional television, radio, print, cinema, digital and social media, and of non-English press.

Our Population’s Need for Cars

The numbers are saying that there is a growing percentage of our population here in Australia that are classed as elderly; by elderly I mean over 65 years of age with a bit of a white/grey background in their hair colour.  Our largest age group sits in the 30 to 34 year old bracket.  Our population of youngsters under the age of 10 also continues to increase.  As well as that, Australia’s overall population is continuing to grow swiftly – thanks mainly to Australia being a great place to make the shift to live and work in.  Building our infrastructure to keep up with the influx and accommodate the population growth is something Australia continues to do well, and definitely Australia does infrastructure a whole lot better than most countries in the rest of the world.

Brisbane, Perth and Sydney know how to do public transport, with Melbourne a shining light when it comes to usable public transport; in fact, more than 80 % of all public transport kilometres in Melbourne are travelled on roads.  All our big Australian cities do the public transport service pretty well, Adelaide being well up the user-usability, user-friendly, and user-satisfaction rankings, too.  However, most of us rely on our own private vehicles to get us across town and city, to travel from one township to another, or even to get from one major city to another throughout, and across, Australia.

The Australian road network covers more than 877,000 kilometres, which is quite phenomenal when you think about it, and well over half a million Australians rely on these roads for their full-time employment.  A relatively recent (2016) analysis of the preferred method of travel that residents in Australia used to get to work showed that 11.4 % used public transport, while 66.1 % used a private vehicle.  These figures still followed pretty-true in Australian Greater Capital Cities surveys, where 15.7 % used public transport and 63.3 % used a private vehicle.  Whilst many of the elderly move closer to the city centre or find a hub that is close to amenities, even the elderly find it hard to totally give up the car keys.  You can’t beat the park just outside your destination!

Here are some interesting stats and bits of info taken from various recent surveys held in Australia, and we need to thank the likes of the Australian Bureau of Statistics for keeping us informed.  Did you know that there were 19.8 million registered motor vehicles across Australia as at the 31^st January 2020.  This points to our national fleet having increased by 1.5 % from the same figures discovered in 2019.  Of the 19.8 million vehicles, 25.6 % of the national fleet are diesel and 72.7 % are petrol.  Light, rigid, diesel trucks continue to have the largest growth rate in registrations, increasing 5.8 per cent over the year.  This is followed, rather contemplatively for me, by campervans with a 3.5 per cent growth in registrations.  Light rigid trucks include your Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux type vehicles.

Though still a very small portion of the pie, electric vehicles are gaining some traction in Australia.  Sarah Kiely, Director of ABS Transport Statistics, stated that “While electric vehicles are still small in number, less than 0.1 per cent of the fleet, the 14,253 electric vehicles registered in 2020 is almost double the previous year.”

The growth in our population and the need for more new cars for transportation are reasons why we are seeing the WestConnex  infrastructure project (US $16bn) that is linking Western and South Western Sydney with the city, airport and port in a 33 km continuous motorway.  Once this project is finished, motorists will be able to bypass up to 52 sets of traffic signals from Beverly Hills through to Parramatta.  The Melbourne Airport rail link (US $5bn) is set for construction beginning 2022.  There are many big-ticket infrastructure items on the go, and in the pipeline, that all help get our people about efficiently.

It might be time to trade in your 10.4 year old car (the average age for an Australian car) in for a new Toyota, which is the most preferred manufacturer by Australian new car buyers.

Kia Updates Logo And Carnival For 2021.

This is the new logo for Kia. It was unveiled on January 6, along with the new motto for the Korean car company. “Kia’s new logo represents the company’s commitment to becoming an icon for change and innovation” said Ho Sung Song, Kia’s President and CEO. “The automotive industry is experiencing a period of rapid transformation, and Kia is proactively shaping and adapting to these changes. Our new logo represents our desire to inspire customers as their mobility needs evolve, and for our employees to rise to the challenges we face in a fast-changing industry.”

The company also employed drones to make a skyshow reveal, with 303 separate craft took to the darkness above Incheon. By doing so the drones are now listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the most unmanned aerial vehicles involved in a pyrotechnic display. Kia have also released details of the 2021MY Carnival. Based on the same new platform as the recently updated Sorento, the Carnival brings striking new looks to the four model range. Here is the pricing matrix, with premium paints at $695. Kia’s signature is the “Tiger Nose” grille and this now extends widthwise via the front lights to further dominate the bluff nose. Slimmer headlights incorporate LED Daytime Running Lights at either end. The Carnival will feature a full tail-width light bar, similar to the look as shown on the Korean release Stinger. It loses weight visually for the rear of the Carnival.

Depending on specification, Carnival will have 17, 18, or 19 inch alloys. Eight colours for the skin will be available, and a “floating island” roof is a stand out, thanks to blacked-out A And B pillars, along with the new signature for the C pillar, a fin that abuts the rear of the sliding door.

Kia have shortened the front overhang, and moved the A pillar rearward to give a longer bonnet to the popular people mover. The chin has the familiar black urethane airdam.The chassis is new and provides better interior packaging, enhancing and providing a more useful interior. Kia calls the philosophy “Spatial Talents”, with a futuristic feel including a wider panoramic screen dash and haptic feedback tabs. The drive selector is now at a more “fall to hand” position at the centre console’s base.

Interior room improves thanks to an increase in the wheelbase, up to 3,090mm. Width is up slightly, by 10mm to 1,995mm. In length, an extra 40mm has been added for a full 5,155mm. This adds 30mm to the rear overhang and increases room for both cargo and third row passengers.

With the middle and rear rows laid flat, cargo is up to a class leading 2,095L. With the third row up there is a huge 627L. Loading items in is now easier with a lip drop of 26mm.The hub of the car’s connectivity features is the high-tech digital display. In Si, SLi and Platinum trims this links Kia’s latest 4.2-inch digital driver instrument cluster and 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment and navigation system under a single seamless piece of glass. The S level trim has an 8-inch Audio Visual Unit and a 4.2-inch TFT information cluster for the driver. Voice recognition tech is on-board with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

In a market dependent sense, Kia Live will allow for information such as live traffic updates, weather updates, remote destination provision, and potentially even parking information. The satnav system has a ten year update availability for the maps.

An unusual feature is the Rear Passenger View & Talk. This allows the driver to keep their view ahead whilst using a small camera and microphone to check on and converse with the passengers behind them. The rear seat passengers also may be able to operate the infotainment system.The SmartFob provides a higher measure of hands-free operation for the powered sliding doors and tailgate with a presence sensor opening or closing the doors if read for three seconds. A safety feature embedded in the Carnival’s extensive package is SEA, Safe Exit Assistance. Sensors will monitor traffic and stop the sliding doors from opening if traffic is detected. This is aimed at the family users with smaller children eager to disembark.

HDA, Highway Driving Assist, is Kia’s Level 2 autonomous driving technology. This brings the Carnival into a different level of safety, with a front view camera and radar reading forward traffic and adjusting braking, acceleration, and steering if required.

A new safety system is Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA) and this works by automatically braking the Carnival if sensors detect oncoming rear traffic. Other features such as Lane Following Assist (LFA); Highway Driving Assist (HDA); and Surround View Monitor (SVM) will be available on a market dependent basis.Power will come from either a 216kW/355Nm petrol V6, or the grunty 2.2L diesel with 148kW and 440Nm. The latter will already be familiar to many, and has also been given a makeover with new injectors, balance shafts,an alloy block instead of iron, and a different exhaust system for better emissions. Kia says 170 grams per kilometre. For the petrol engine, refinements have a combined fuel consumption figure of 9.6L/100km, a betterment of around 10 percent.

Transmissions will be the very good eight speed auto across the board. Underneath are completely revamped front and rear suspension components with a new IRS and a new “skeletal cross member” up front. This provides a better geometry to improve ride and sharpen handling. Liquid filled suspension bushes further improve ride quality. The body is comprised of different styles of steel, adding flexibility where required, strength where required.

We’ll have the Carnival Platinum soon.

Should I Buy a Second Car for the Family?

Gathering the money for a new car to replace your old one is already a challenge for many, which underlines the importance of shopping around for the best deal. However, there is also another complexity if you don’t want to replace your old car, rather, you are looking at buying a second car for the family.

Initial considerations

With a second car, you have to weigh up a few questions and think hard about your budget. If you’re still paying off the existing car, will you have enough in your pay packet to meet the repayments for two cars? Have you factored in that you will now need to pay for two registrations and two sets of maintenance costs, not to mention extra petrol? It really pays to do your homework and have a good hard think.

On the other hand, if you have already paid off the existing car, it might be easier to fund your second car given the implications for your credit history as well as cash flow.

No matter what your situation, it doesn’t hurt to think about whether you actually need a second car. Most of the time we can make do with one, but for families where mum and dad run to a different schedule, or one of the kids has just gotten their licence, a second car becomes very practical.

Making the decision

Here’s a handful of questions that you might want to ask yourself before you decide whether you should get one car or two:

1. How many people are there in your family? What are their travel needs? If mum or dad are on the road a lot, and/or the kids do a lot of sport or out-of-school activities, a second car is a bit of a necessity.
2. Where do you live? It goes without saying that the more remote your location, the more critical it is that more than one member of the family has access to a car at any given time. You can’t overlook the prospect of an emergency, where a matter of timing can be everything.
3. What sort of trips are you likely to make? If they are all short trips, you might be able to make do with a bike or by walking.
4. What is your local public transport like? If public transport provides you with sufficient access to shops, services and amenities in your area, save yourself from buying another car. Plus, you’ll do your bit for the environment!
5. Do you have to transport a lot of items with you? Tradies are the obvious ones here, where a ute might make sense as a second vehicle. But if you’re riding around with an empty boot most of the time, is another car really all that useful?

As you’ll see, the decision is a highly personal one, and only you and your family will truly understand your vehicle needs.