Wheels: Trucks and Architecture: Ford’s Design Chief Chats With Architects

Technology: Getting Their Trucks in a Row, Europeans Revisit the Convoy

Researchers in Europe are working on a concept that will be familiar to anyone who has seen films about the bands of travelers who settled the American West. The project is developing an electronic communications system that enables a wagon train of tractor-trailer trucks and cars to make semiautonomous road trips possible — without the complexity of efforts like Google’s driverless vehicles.

The Volvos — both the car and truck companies, that is, which have different owners — call the idea “platooning” and see it as a bridge to traveling by driverless cars. It may look as simple as a pack of Nascar drivers strung together for a 200-mile-an-hour draft at Talladega, but this bridge is years away and faces challenges.

Rather than the increased speeds that are the incentive for nose-to-tail spacing on the racetrack, the goal of platooning is to reduce accidents caused by driver error.

Erik Coelingh, senior technical leader for safety and driver support technology at Volvo Car in Sweden, said in an interview that his group participated last year in successful tests involving a semitrailer that led another truck and three cars on European tracks and roads. The tests were part of a project called Safe Road Trains for the Environment, or Sartre, financed by the European Commission.

Drivers in vehicles outfitted with radar and laser systems that inform the adaptive cruise control, emergency braking and lane-departure systems, as well as video cameras, pulled in behind a moving semi. After getting the leader’s permission, the cars and truck linked wirelessly, and computers took over.

While the lead truck driver guided them, drivers in the following vehicles — each 12 feet apart — relinquished control. Alerts about emergency maneuvers were passed instantly through the platoon.

Fuel economy increased 10 percent to 20 percent, according to participants, because airflow behind a long, tapered shape creates less fuel-gobbling turbulence.

Asked about the system’s commercial viability, Mr. Coelingh did not mince words: “We’re not there yet.”

He said it could be a decade before platooning became a reality.

Volvo’s platoon research involves mostly technology that automakers already offer, as well as solutions expected in coming years,, including vehicle-to-vehicle computer communication. Installing that equipment in a new vehicle today, Mr. Coelingh said, would add about $5,300 to the sticker price. That includes redundant systems in case primary systems fail.

According to Mr. Coelingh, the project was started to answer questions about making driving safer. “But we’ve come up with a lot more questions,” he said.

Then there’s the interval between vehicles. Twelve feet might be too tight.

Volvo researchers found that at that distance, at highway speeds, even the computers couldn’t always read the lane markings needed to position vehicles. It also resulted in truck tires firing road grit into the radiator of the car behind the lead truck.

Intervals can be extended, but that cuts fuel savings, Mr. Coelingh said.

Trucks Help Detroit Carmakers Post a Strong April

The boom in truck sales fed double-digit sales growth at all three Detroit automakers and kept the industry on track to sell more than 15 million vehicles this year.

Over all, the industry sold 1.28 million new vehicles during April, an 8.5 percent improvement over the same month a year ago, according to the research firm Autodata.

It was the best April performance since 2007, and another indication that sales of new cars and trucks in the United States are returning to prerecession levels.

“As long as automakers keep reporting their best sales in at least five years, we’ll continue to be in good shape,” said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with the auto research site Edmunds.com.

Auto executives said pickup sales grew three times as much as the overall market during the month and were a direct result of improved housing starts and strong demand for trucks from the energy industry.

The biggest beneficiary was Ford Motor, the second-largest American automaker, which reported selling 212,000 vehicles during the month, an 18 percent gain from a year ago.

Ford, which recently reported strong first-quarter profit in North America, said sales of its F-series pickup increased 24 percent in April to 59,000 vehicles.

“F-series continues to lead the pace in the truck industry,” said Ken M. Czubay, Ford’s head of sales and marketing in the United States. “We are building as many as we can.”

Ford reported impressive gains across its lineup, with sales of the Escape sport utility vehicle up 52 percent and the Fusion sedan up 24 percent. Even its struggling Lincoln luxury brand had a 20 percent improvement because of strong sales of the new MKZ sedan.

To meet the growing demand, Ford is quickly moving to increase truck production by adding 2,000 jobs by the end of the year at its assembly plant in Kansas City, Mo. About 900 of the jobs will go toward adding a third shift of workers for F-series pickup production. The rest of the new positions will support the introduction next year of Ford’s new Transit commercial vans.

About half of the additional jobs will be filled by union workers who were laid off. The others will be entry-level hires who will be paid about half as much as experienced union workers.

General Motors, the largest of the domestic automakers, said it sold 237,000 vehicles during April, an 11.4 percent improvement from a year ago.

Cadillac had the best performance of G.M.’s four brands, with a 34 percent gain primarily from sales of its new ATS compact sedan and large XTS model.

G.M. also reported big gains on the truck side, as sales of its Chevrolet Silverado pickup increased 28 percent to 39,000 vehicles.

Chrysler, the smallest of the Detroit companies, said it sold 156,000 new vehicles during April, an 11 percent gain from a year ago and its 37th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.

The Ram pickup led the way with a 49 percent gain from a year earlier. Chrysler also enjoyed strong performances by its profitable S.U.V. models, with sales of the Dodge Durango up 65 percent and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee model up 27 percent.

All three Detroit companies gained market share during April and could sustain that momentum with a host of new products arriving this summer.

Growth among the Japanese automakers has slowed since their big comeback last year from inventory problems associated with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.

Toyota, the largest Japanese auto company, said sales fell 1.1 percent in April to 176,000 vehicles. The most significant drop was in sales of its flagship Camry sedan, which dropped 14 percent.

The company is preparing to bring out several new models, including fresh versions of its Lexus luxury cars. In April, Toyota said Lexus sales increased 3 percent.

The other two major Japanese automakers, Honda and Nissan, fared somewhat better. Honda said it sold 130,000 vehicles, a 7.4 percent improvement.

Nissan reported its healthiest gains in some time. The company said it sold 87,000 vehicles in April, a 23.2 percent increase from a year earlier. The Altima midsize sedan rose 35 percent, and sales of a new version of the Pathfinder S.U.V. more than doubled from April of last year.

Of the European automakers, Volkswagen reported that it sold 47,000 new vehicles, including Audi luxury models, during the month. That was a 4.5 percent decline from a year ago.

VW is rapidly expanding in the United States. It is relying on North American results to compensate for weakening sales in the sliding European market. A VW executive called April “a challenging month,” but said the company remained focused on its long-term growth strategy.