NHTSA Tests New Crop of Vehicles

A host of 2014 vehicles have earned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's five-star rating in crash tests, perhaps most notably the redesigned-for-2014 Cadillac CTS.

Both the rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions of the CTS got an overall score of five in NHTSA's safety ratings. Both earned fives in frontal-crash tests and side-crash tests, and fours in rollover tests. Meanwhile, its compact sibling, the 2014 ATS, earned fives across the board for both the rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions. Both the front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions of the 2014 XTS also earned an overall five-star score, with fives in frontal- and side-crash ratings and fours in rollover tests.

Other 2014 models joining NHTSA's five-star club earned fives in frontal- and side-crash ratings and fours in rollover tests. They included:

March's Fastest- and Slowest-Selling Cars

We won't have March sales results until later today, but the month's fastest- and slowest-selling cars depict that a couple automakers are catching a break. With a faster-charging option, more cargo space and a lower starting price, the 2013 Nissan Leaf landed a spot among March's fastest-selling cars — this after meeting less than half of Nissan's sales expectations in 2011 and 2012. In March, the all-electric hatchback averaged just seven days to sell. Leaf sales increased 13% through February, so we'll see if Nissan's little EV pulled off an automotive Florida Gulf Coast University last month — or if the faster pace drove few actual sales.

Meanwhile, the redesigned Lincoln MKZ, which was beleaguered by a slow ramp-up in dealer supply, also hit its stride. Lincoln dealers needed just 14 days on average to sell an MKZ. That beat rivals like the Lexus ES 350 (35 days, on average) and Acura TL (50 days). Other movers include the usual slate of redesigns, from the redesigned Subaru Forester to Toyota's fourth-generation RAV4. Flagship luxury SUVs had their day, too: Mercedes-Benz's GL-Class marked its sixth month on the list, and Land Rover's Range Rover flagship had its third.

Despite a cooler March versus last year's record warmth, SUVs represented a similar share of the month's fastest-selling cars. Nine of March's 17 fastest-selling cars were SUVs; that's about even with March 2012, when eight of 17 fast sellers were SUVs.

Automakers Say EV Noisemakers Too Loud

Two automaker groups are challenging a proposal for hybrids and electric vehicles to make artificial noises at low speeds. Congress authorized the initiative, aimed to keep drivers from pulling an Andy Bernard from "The Office" on nearby pedestrians or bicyclists, with the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act in December 2010. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration followed with a slew of proposals, which the Detroit News recapped today. Automakers would have to implement sounds that could be heard amid background noise at speeds up to 18.6 mph; automakers could craft their own noises, and the requirement would phase in beginning with the 2015 model year.

Several cars, including the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt, already have their own pedestrian-detection noises. But two groups — the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers — representing virtually the entire auto industry declared the rule "too complicated" and "unnecessarily prescriptive," according to a joint statement via the Detroit News. Current noisemakers in the Leaf and Volt would fail NHTSA requirements.

Association of Global Automakers safety director Michael Cammisa said Friday that automakers support the regulation's intent, but the noise requirements are too loud. The Detroit News reports automakers want the noise-making threshold lowered to 12.4 mph, or the phase-in period delayed to 2018 to give the industry enough time to adapt. They're also concerned about global standardization; rules in Europe and Japan don't prescribe noisemaking at idle while U.S. rules could.

Recall Alert: 2013 Nissan Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder, Sentra and Infiniti JX35

Nissan is recalling a yet-to-be-determined number of model-year 2013 versions of the Altima sedan, Leaf electric car, Pathfinder crossover and Sentra sedan due to a problem with the front passenger air bag sensor, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The JX35 crossover from the automaker's premium Infiniti brand is also part of the recall.

A manufacturing defect could cause the occupant sensors in the front passenger seat to fail in the affected vehicles. If an accident occurs, the airbag may not deploy, increasing the risk of injury. Nissan is still working with its supplier to determine how many vehicles will be recalled but drivers of affected vehicles will notice "The (red) supplemental air bag warning light (SRS light) will illuminate to alert the vehicle operator and the (amber) front passenger air bag status light will illuminate to alert the front seat passenger," the automaker said in a statement. 

Nissan will notify owners starting in early April 2013, and dealers will inspect and replace the affected sensors for free. Owners can call Nissan at 800-647-7261 or NHTSA's vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 for more info.

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Visteon's e-Bee Demonstrator Creates a Buzz

A new concept car has just been unveiled, but it's not from any automaker you've heard of. The car began life as a Nissan Leaf, but sit inside and you won't recognize anything from Nissan — there is no dashboard, no glove box, no visible airbags, no vents, no radio. No rearview mirror even.

This is the Visteon e-Bee, and it's a technology demonstrator from one of the world's biggest automotive suppliers — the companies that sell automakers the parts that become the cars you buy.

The "e" is for electric vehicle, "Bee" for the way it operates in concert with its surroundings — just like the insect, it is meant to be part of a larger, connected "hive" of vehicles, sharing information, traffic status and more. It represents a fascinating look at what the inside of the average new car could look like in the near future. Unlike many concept cars seen at auto shows, the e-Bee is not based on pie-in-the-sky ideas — all of the technology in the car actually works, and many of its systems and features will be in your driveway by the end of the decade.

Nissan Leaf Adds Efficient Bose Stereo

Nissan's Leaf will be the second car, after the Chevrolet Volt, to get Bose's Energy Efficient audio series. The system debuted in 2010, and Bose says it's 30% smaller, 40% lighter and uses half the energy versus a comparable Bose system. With seven speakers, including a subwoofer, the system will be newly optional in the Leaf SE and SL.

Bose is a longtime Nissan audio supplier; the automaker says collaborations on in-vehicle audio began nearly 25 years ago. The Bose stereo in our long-term Chevrolet Volt left us with mixed impressions; some editors liked it while others didn't. But the six-speaker system in our long-term 2011 Leaf was unremarkable, so we'd like to think Bose would be an improvement.

Of course, every interior has different acoustics, and those often-compared stereo specs — speakers, wattage — mean very little. Our editorial team has no shortage of audiophiles, so we'll take a listen once we get seat time in the 2013 Leaf and let you know.

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Ford Offers Big Deals on Focus Electric

Hoping to spark consumer interest in the Ford Focus Electric — one of the weakest-selling electric vehicles on the market — the automaker announced deep discounts, including $10,750 off a three-year lease, according to The Detroit News.

With the so-called Red Carpet leases, customers can get a 36-month lease with 10,500 miles a year for $285 a month (a nearly 20% discount from last year's price) and $930 due at signing, the newspaper reported. In addition, Ford has lowered the EV's base price by $2,000 for cash sales, and for cars purchased through Ford Motor Credit, there's a $2,000 discount and zero-percent financing for 36, 48 or 60 months or 1.9% financing for 72 months. Ford now lists the Focus Electric with a cash-only base price of $37,995, a $2,000 discount from last year, according to the newspaper.

In 2012, Ford sold only about 42% of the more than 1,600 Focus Electrics built, the newspaper reported. The automaker's price reduction follows news of Nissan's 18% discount on the 2013 Leaf after disappointing sales.

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Why Current Leaf Owners Should Hate the 2013 Model

After 48 days on the market, Cars.com sold our long-term 2011 Nissan Leaf SL for just $19,000 in November 2012. Such was the result of aggressive federal and state tax incentives on the $35,665 all-electric hatchback, as well as weak demand in a market slow to embrace plug-ins. After all, Nissan sold fewer than 20,000 new Leafs in 2011 and 2012 combined. The Altima sold 15 times that figure in 2012 alone.

That was before Nissan introduced a significantly improved 2013 Leaf with more cargo space, higher-end luxury features and charging times cut nearly in half for most trim levels. In our original Leaf review, we warned that future updates could sink resale values for early owners. That appears imminent now and lower pricing could exacerbate it.

Nissan also lowered the Leaf's price $6,400 thanks to a new, stripped-down base trim level. Even existing SV and SL trims dropped $3,380 and $2,410, respectively, versus last year's equivalents. Credit a new Nissan assembly location in Smyrna, Tenn., which shelters the Leaf from currency fluctuations that hammered the Japan-imported 2011 and 2012 models. It also allows Nissan to enjoy cost savings from rolling the Leaf off the same assembly line as the Altima and Maxima, spokesman Brian Brockman said.

EV Range Info on EPA's Website is Tough to Find

Finding the EPA's official combined city/highway range ratings for electric cars is not as easy as it should be. The EPA's website, FuelEconomy.gov, lists the rating in a comparison tool within its electric-car section, but not on the vehicle's main page alongside the prominently displayed miles per gallon equivalent rating. MPGe is not an estimate of how far a car can drive until it runs out of juice, like the EPA's estimated range.

The EPA defines combined range as "When the vehicle is fully charged, this value represents the approximate number of miles that can be traveled in combined city and highway driving before the vehicle must be recharged." In our testing, the EPA's estimated range has proved accurate with our long-term 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt. When driven until it was intentionally drained of power, our Leaf traveled 72 miles before calling it quits; that's a mile short of its 73-mile combined range rating.

Nissan Works on Leaf Range Concerns, Expects Sales to Rise

Amid sales uncertainty, Nissan has doubled down on its all-electric Leaf. The automaker brought production stateside for the 2013 model, which sheltered it from currency fluctuations that played havoc with pricing for Japan-imported 2011 and 2012 Leafs. Nissan introduced a new base model — the Leaf S — and lowered the starting price by $6,400. And it plans to do more, including address concerns over the Leaf's range predictions.

More 2013 Detroit Auto Show Coverage

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn had plenty to say about the Leaf, which has sold fewer than 10,000 cars a year in the U.S. since its debut. Nissan originally targeted 20,000 annual sales.