<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"NHTSA Sued Over &amp;quot;Quiet Recalls&amp;quot;   The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is being sued by two consumer groups for permitting automakers to limit vehicle recalls to certain regions and not alerting all affected vehicle owners, the Associated Press reported.   Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety claim the policy prevents all consumers from getting potential defect warnings and denies them free repairs. The groups also allege that NHTSA established the policy without public comment.   &amp;quot;Regional recalls make no sense, particularly in a mobile society where people often drive from one region to the next,&amp;quot; said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook, who was NHTSA&amp;#039;s administrator under President Carter, the story said.   NHTSA includes regional recalls in a monthly recall list published on its Web site which lists the affected states for each regional recall, but doesn&amp;#039;t warn drivers in other states, the story said.   NHTSA wouldn&amp;#039;t comment on the lawsuit, but spokesman Rae Tyson confirmed that the agency allows regional recalls. &amp;quot;The feeling has been that it provides a remedy for the consumers that are affected by the problem,&amp;quot; he told the AP.   Chrysler Boosts Minivan Production   Workers are putting in overtime to meet demand for the 2005 and minivans, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Thomas LaSorda, who will take over as Chrysler&amp;#039;s Chief Operating Officer May 1.   LaSorda told reporters attending a press tour of the company&amp;#039;s Windsor, Ontario assembly plant \u2014 where the minivans and the Chrysler Pacifica crossover are built \u2014 that the company has shipped more than 41,000 of the redesigned minivans since they went into production.   The 2005 models are the first minivans to offer both second and third row seats that fold flat into the floor.   Chrysler hopes this feature, which it calls &amp;quot;stow and go&amp;quot; seating, will help it regain ground from Honda and other competitors that beat it to market with fold-flat third row seats.   Despite the disadvantage, Chrysler still sold more than 350,000 minivans in 2003, the story said.   Ford Adds Shifts to Shiftless Transmission   With the introduction of Five Hundred, Freestyle and Mercury Montego later this year, the company will also introduce a new, state-of-the-art transmission that saves gas and operates more smoothly than current transmissions, The Detroit News reported.   Although the Continuously Variable Transmission, known as a CVT, has already been put in use by and other automakers, it&amp;#039;s a first in Ford&amp;#039;s lineup.   But, because drivers have come to expect and even enjoy perceptible gear changes, which the CVT eliminates, Ford will use software that simulate such gear changes.   &amp;quot;We have done some of that,&amp;quot; Phil Martens, Ford&amp;#039;s group vice president of North American product creation told the News. &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;ve got to be careful here because public perception will take some time.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a10229/nhtsa-sued-over-quiet-recalls/>