European safety-styled cars due in U.S.

European styling is migrating to U.S. showrooms as global automakers race to comply with new EU safety rules.

Tougher European Union regulations take effect next year aimed at better protecting pedestrians who are struck by vehicles. As a result, the next generation of many vehicles sold globally will have higher hood lines and lower bumpers -- changes designed to soften the blow to a pedestrian's head and legs during a crash.

The prevalence of vehicles designed for global markets means these styling changes are making their way to the United States on many nameplates due out this year.

Take the redesigned 2013 Ford Fusion, expected to arrive in volumes at dealerships in early fall.

"From the side, the new Ford Fusion looks like a box," said Aaron Bragman, an IHS Automotive analyst.

Compared with the previous Fusion, the redesigned car's front end is taller and the hood is higher, to shorten the distance a pedestrian would fall if hit, he said.

The 2013 Chevrolet Malibu and 2013 BMW 3 series also are global models with EU-compliant front ends.

The new pedestrian safety rules are part of a worldwide effort coordinated by the United Nations and supported by the global auto industry to standardize auto design regulations.

The EU has signed on to the pedestrian safety rules, and U.S. regulators are working to set hood and bumper rules this year.

In 2009, 4,092 pedestrians were killed in the United States from being struck by vehicles, accounting for about 12 percent of all U.S. vehicle-related deaths that year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Safety advocates say those numbers are significant.

"Pedestrian protection is one of the last frontiers of vehicle safety," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director for the Center for Auto Safety in Washington. But he added: "NHTSA has been reluctant to regulate it because it so closely relates to styling."

Europe's requirements aim to ease the blow to a pedestrian's body in two areas: the head and leg.

To comply, designers have sought more pliable hoods that can deform to absorb impact in case a pedestrian is thrown onto the hood. They also have moved hoods higher to create space over the hard points underneath, such as the engine.

On front-end bumpers, designers have lowered them, and have used softer materials, such as foams and crushable plastics to reduce the severity of impact on legs.

Pete Harding, Ford Motor Co.'s manager of advanced safety rulemaking, said the requirements play a big role in design, especially engine placement.

Often, major structural changes must be made during a redesign, he said. "It's not something where we can just make a few tweaks," Harding said.

Styling is another challenge.

Designers must incorporate changes without compromising a vehicle's look or producing vehicles that appear too similar, said Larry Kwiecinski, an engineering group manager at General Motors' safety center. That means tucking a lot of the changes under the hood or behind the fascia, he said.

But add-on technologies, such as front-end sensors and energy-absorbing materials, can get pricey. Some can add several hundred dollars to a part, said Jay Baron, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Volvo, for instance, showed a pedestrian airbag last month at the Geneva auto show. The airbag, an industry first, pops out from the base of the windshield to protect a person's head upon impact. But the airbag probably would be costly, Baron said.

Some U.S. safety advocates aren't convinced the EU rules would have much effect.

U.S. Department of Transportation research in the 1990s found that pedestrians are more likely to hit the windshield or front roof pillar with their heads than the hood, said Dave Zuby, a chief research officer for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The reason, the government found, was because hoods had become shorter over the years, he said. His group produced similar findings in a recent study analyzing Virginia pedestrian-vehicle collisions data, Zuby said.

Still, NHTSA is required to evaluate the EU rules under its obligation to implement global technical regulations set by the United Nations, Zuby said.

At the same time, adopting overseas requirements would be a challenge for the United States, with its large number of light trucks on the road, Ford's Harding said.

Making some light trucks, such as the Ford F-150, pedestrian safe would be difficult, he said. Auto companies likely would have to use more active safety technologies, such as radars and cameras, to alert drivers of foot traffic.

"That is one of the challenges NHTSA is struggling with today," Harding said. "It's inevitable they're going to implement something. What that something is, I don't know."