Last year, here in Geneva, the Tata Nano was the sensation, and not only for those who thought a two thousand dollar car for the developing-country masses was world-changing. This year, the sensation is that the Nano is for the rest of us, too—at least for those of us with empty pockets and miniscule automotive requirements.

(Read More…)

One of the things buzzing here at the Geneva Salon is Kia’s No. 3, which, although a concept, is close to what will be marketed in 2010. No. 3 is a mini-minivan built upon the Soul platform, but has an unminivan-strong stance, recognizable personality and some pretty nifty details, such as gold Barbie-leather seats. You could tell Peter Schreyer is proud of this first Kia that is 100% his own design. Pistonheads know Schreyer as the Kraut who was responsible for the first Audi TT and the Audi A2. No 3 is also notable for the new Kia corporate grille, which will intend to make Kias instantly recognizable to one and all. Even to the overtaxed motor-show eye, it works without being ostentatious in an Audi sort of way, so one looks forward to the Schreyer treatment on the upcoming mid-class Kia Magentis. All very nice, but what about the oddtastic name? As the PR lady explained to me, Kia will overhaul all its names around the idea of Number One for the smallest, Number Two for the second smallest . . . . “Gasp, you don’t really intend to call them that, do you?” “No, it’s just an idea”, she replied, “we might call them K1, K2, K3 etc, or something else—we’ll see”. Well, that’s a relief.

When developing new car gadgetry, automakers are faced with making a very basic assumption about their potential customers. Are we the consumers willing to trade our fundamental, if somewhat-anarchistic, assumptions of freedom for some wimpy, gas saving benefit? From accident black boxes to driver-behavior monitors, most red-blooded pistonheads say, hell no! Apparently BMW reckons that more people want toys than want (perceived) freedom. And they’re developing an intelligent navigation system that will learn your driving habits to prove it.

Renault’s low cost, made-in-Romania Dacia brand can’t believe its luck. In Germany, orders are upsixfold says the Financial Times Deutschland. Due to demand stoked by the Euro 2,500.00 clunker car program, sales have taken off for low-cost cars. The newish, normal-looking Dacia Sandero usually sells around 80 units per week. Suddenly, they’re moving 1k. Unfortunately, Dacia lowered production at its Romanian plant weeks ago, in expectation of collapsing Russian and Eastern-European markets. The cars are so sold out—to the point where Dacia is buying cars off the Russian market to satisfy German demand. Dealers are rubbing hands and hiring helpers: a German dealer has students serving coffee to customers waiting in line to order cars.

(Read More…)

Efforts of folks like Willie Nelson notwithstanding, the alt-fuel scene used to be pretty uncool. Just picture guys who spend their evenings filtering used grease they get  for free from french-fry factories, or travelling salesmen who’ll drive a detour of 20 miles to fill up with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). But the supply of pretty good alt-fuel cars is increasing—at least on the right side of the Atlantic, where VW and Opel have recently introduced sexier Euro-CNG-mobiles. VW is now selling a technologically-interesting Passat version that utilizes both a turbocharger and a compressor.

(Read More…)

Rolls-Royce used to advertise the fact that their cars were so quiet that the loudest sound you heard was the [analog] clock ticking on the dash. Who said the British don’t do hyperbole? As a quiet car connoisseur, I’d have to say a Clinton-era Cadillac provided the quietest ride I’d ever experienced; if the time was one of peace and prosperity, then so was the car. Nowadays, automakers are telling us that their cars are quiet, or at least quieter than ever before. I’m not buying it. A number of recent drives have been notable for their aural uncouthness. So I set out to find the truth about automotive sonic signatures. Has nostalgia dimmed my memory (if not my hearing)? Is progress on the noise suppression front been less impressive than industry propaganda would have you believe?

The financial crisis will (this is an easy prediction to make) have a strange effect on some car brands (see Honda). A few car makers will try to move upwards towards Panameran profitability, while others will try to be anything to anybody as long as that somebody is a buyer. A few brands will steer themselves downwards in a more or less desperate grab at recession-resistance sales. And it seems that Subaru is one of them. If you think the Subaru brand means “sporty, 4WD, boxer-engined, super-reliable”, then you’re in for a surprise. If European Subarus are indicative of worldwide strategy, then two out of four of those are goners. The new Impreza 1.5 RF (Revolution Frontwheel, not a deliberate jab at Robert Farago’s loathing for brand dilution), is weak (107 HP), slow (0-60 in 13.2 sec), and FWD. It has only disc brakes in the front and lists for 16.5K € in Germany, which will probably amount to around 11K net after rebates. So it’s cheap and dull. Will people buy it?

(Read More…)

America is not the only country whose government is Hell bent on supporting an auto industry past its prime. Take Germany. Bitte. Last autumn, the German government announced it would suspend registration taxes on cars to support new-car sales. The moved shaved between $200 (for small cars) and $2000 (for more prolific carbon belchers) from the price of admission. Net result, sales-wise? Nichts. Never mind. Yesterday, Germany’s government felt inspired by the French example to introduce incentives for motorists to scrap their older cars. Now, any owner of a nine-year-old or older German ow-tow-mobile car can collect around $3,000 (€2,500) if he or she junks his or her car and buys a new, hopefully more fuel efficient model. Hmmm. Corporations account for over 50 percent of Germany’s new cars sales. Looking at the other half, few motorists who drive a genuine clunker can afford a new car, with or without incentives. And those who can usually purchase a cheap, non-German car. In light of these inconvenient Aufrichtigkeits, PricewaterhouseCooper’s estimates that the scrapping incentive will add 300k sales to the moribund annual total sounds like a load of baloney. If so, all that remains is greenwashery (“at least we got some of those clunkers off the road”) and expensive government activism. Look for an American version in the next Congressional bailout budget.

Guys are funny: we lust for beautiful, fast cars with which we hope to impress the neighbors, the guys, and the other sex. But memories are not made of pistonheads’ wet dreams. Looking back, the memorable machines I had were more mutt than thoroughbred: the go-anywhere, never-let-you-down, unpretty, everyday companion. Like the pickup trucks you Americans love, or the iconic 2CV, Renault R4, and VW Beetles we Europeans have in our collective memories. The Fiat Panda has always been on my short list of potential cars-as-buddies: cheap, reliable, fun to drive, unpretentious. So, I was curious: is the 4×4 version of the Panda a faithful mutt, or just another automotive dog?

For some companies, the ongoing financial crisis will be fatal, but for others, it may turn out to be a historical opportunity to re-define themselves. When weak brands disappear, others can fill their niche. Honda, for one, seems to be one of the first car makers to seize the opportunity that the industry’s re-structuring is providing. “Where we want to be by 2015 is the environmental leader. I mean that in a credible sense, not a greenwash sense,” Chris Brown, the head of marketing for Honda Motor Europe, told The Guardian. Which is easy to say, although Brown says Honda does support an eco-rating system to prevent misleading environmental advertising claims. But the first step in this branding conversion was announced last week, when Honda said it would be terminating its Formula One activities and re-assigning its F1 engineers to work in eco-technology. Egads! Is Honda about to put all that talent towards becoming the car for the dour, anti-car league?  Honda is directing its $150m+ ad budget for Europe and Africa towards addressing this question. As Brown puts it, “We want to change the conversation completely. At the moment everything is heavy-handed, preachy and overwhelming. We want it to be positive, optimistic, joyful, powerful.” (Read More…)

You already have Schadenfreude, Rucksack, Kindergarten, Fahrvergnügen. May I offer another useful German compound word? Verschlimmbesserung. Meaning: making something worse (in the process of trying to improve it). Car companies are good at Verschlimmbesserung, as proven by the Mitsubishi Colt.

(Read More…)

The other day, I told my mechanic I needed winter tires, and asked for a recommendation. “I’ll get you some Dunlops, they’re not bad, and cheaper than the Uniroyals you had last time.” When I asked him about rolling resistance and about tire wear, he looked at me like I was stupid, and repeated: “They’re pretty good tires”. So I looked at some car sites in the Internet, gave up after about five minutes, and ordered the Dunlops. Does buying tires have to be a “trust the guy in the greasy overall” event? The EU Commission (the executive branch of the European Union) says no, and intends to introduce new rules for labelling tires. The tire industry agrees that yes, change is probably necessary, with some qualifications, under certain conditions… (Read More…)

This is what happens when a company makes more money by playing the markets than by selling product: the financial guys take over. In the good old days, Porsche made smallish, nimble cars that had great SPM and MPG ratings (the former being smiles per mile). Nowadays, Porsches are no longer small, but still manage to be desirable to car enthusiasts, Yuppie moms and pimps alike. With few exceptions, Porsches have always delivered a unique package of intuitive steering, a great soundtrack, a tractable engine with a wide power band, fantastic brakes and everyday reliability. Did somebody at Porsche explain “well, four outta six ain’t half bad” when the question was asked whether the “soundtrack” and “wide power band” parts are dispensable? We ask this since Porsche announced that for the first time ever, it will be using Diesels. Spiegel Online reports from Februrary 2009 onwards, European markets will enjoy (not!) Cayennes fitted the VW 3.0 TDI engine I kinda liked (and disliked) in the Audi Q7. It is not a bad engine, as it has more torque than the basic gasoline version. But it does make the Cayenne seem even more like an overpriced Touareg on steroids, which is saying something, since the Touareg is kinda like an overpriced Passat on stilts. More data for Chuck Goolsbee: 244g CO2; 550NM; 25.3 MPG according to EU ratings; €56k. Porsche thinks it needs this one because of CO2 regulations, until it gets its hybrid up and running. We suspect the real reason is that German Cayanne sales are down 13% this year.

Brand management can be so easy. Take car brands. You take a good clear look at your portfolio, you write down in simple language on one piece of paper what positives, negatives, and potential of each brand. Kill the brands that are below par, lack a USP (Unique Selling Point) and/or wouldn’t fetch chump change on the market. At least, that’s what I’d do with Seat, Lancia, Maybach, Daihatsu, Kia (or Hyundai?), Mercury, Dodge, Pontiac, Cadillac, Hummer, Saab, Vauxhall. Did I forget anything? Yugo, girl! Yes: Tony Fixed It Again, this time for good. Fiat, bless their soul, has decided it will close down the Yugo brand. Just-Auto reports that, contrary to previous plans, Fiat will not do a Dacia. The Balkan factories will be used for low-cost manufacturing, and nothing else. Serbia is grieving: apparently, Yugo was one of the (few) things that held Yugoslavia together. Anybody who ever sat in a Yugo or God forgive, ever drove one, rejoices. The Topolino, a two-cylinder urban competitor to the Smart and the iQ, will be built in Yugo’s former Serbian digs from around 2012. Also, Serbia has high hopes to join the EU, sooner or later. Life goes on, often better than before, after you cull a sick brand.