-
Recent Posts
- Nissan Claims to Kill Wireless Phone Charging Bugs
- Electrify America EV Charging Adds WS Development
- Q3 2025 Airline Profits in Trump Slump
- Honda Recalls 2025 CR-V Fuel Cell EVs
- Ford Motor Eliminates Model E in Profit Seeking About Face
- Wadda You Say? Personalized Sound at Nissan, Infiniti
- Bye Sauber – Hi Audi Revolut F1 Team
- Pre-Owned Vehicle Marketing – Stellantis, Cox Automotive
- Chinese Junk Watch Death Risk – Luyuan Youth ATVs
- ICE Vehicle Mobile Apps – Wide Satisfaction Differences
- Sports Betting Tax Revenues Soaring
- IndyCar Cheating – New Independent Officiating for 2026 Series
- Ford Expands Mustang Cup USA Series in 2026
- GM Canada Leadership Change – Jack Uppal new President
- Toyota Enhances Arizona Proving Ground
Recent Comments
- Magna on its Share Repurchase Plan in reference to on Magna Posts Solid Q3 2025 Earnings Gain
- Daniel Ricciardo Global Ford Racing Ambassador on Ford Performance Rebranded as Ford Racing
- Gen 3 2026 Nissan Leaf Less than $30,000? | AutoInformed on Milestones – Nissan Begins Assembly of 2013 LEAF EV in Tennessee
- ACSI – Customer Satisfaction with Autos Dropping | AutoInformed on New DOGE Scorecard Announced to Track Trump
- Cadillac Off-Roader – Elevated Velocity | AutoInformed on Annals of Marketing – Cadillac Opulent Velocity Concept EV
Archives
Meta
Category Archives: design and styling
Lincoln MKZ Concept Derived off Ford Fusion Debuts at NAIAS
Lincoln needs some sales successes and in the U.S – virtually its only outlet for this fading regional brand – where luxury car sales range from ~10-13% of the market annually. There’s an enormous opportunity now posed by Generation Y types, 80% of whom say they would consider a luxury car in the $30,000 range, which hasn’t escaped impending product actions at Lexus, Acura, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, among others. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, concept, design and styling, news, news analysis, sales
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, Ken Zino, lincoln, luxury cars, mks, mkz, naias, u.s. luxury cars
Leave a comment
Car Spy Jim Dunne Catches Revised Lincoln MKS or MKZ?
Following the Ford Jaguar debacle, success is also not a word that can be applied to Ford’s management of Lincoln, which is a poseur in the world of luxury cars dominated by the German Brands and Toyota’s Lexus, which even though it was out of the U.S. market for five months this year because of the Japan earthquake, still managed to outsell Lincoln by a better than 2:1. Continue reading
Lexus LF-LC 2+2 Sport Coupe revealed. Sort of…
In November, the Lexus Division of Toyota reported total sales of 19,458 units, up 6.7% year-over-year, the best month since March, the month of the infamous tsunami. With Lexus attempting to regain it’s top selling luxury brand spot in the U.S. that it lost this year to the Germans post tsunami, look for LF-LC to appear sooner rather than later. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, concept, design and styling, marketing, new vehicle, news
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, Ken Zino, lexus, lexus coupe, lf-lc, naias
1 Comment
Buick 2013 Encore Teaser Photo – Will it Play in China?
The real challenge for all new Buicks going forward is not whether the vehicle will play in Peoria, but rather how it plays in Shanghai? Buick sold a record of 59,763 vehicles in China in November – more than 5 times what it sold in the U.S. Little wonder the head of GM advance design in China is now Chinese. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, design and styling, marketing, new vehicle, news analysis, people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, buick, buick china, buick encore, enclave, gm design, Ken Zino, naias, wulin gaowa
1 Comment
NAIAS – Acura, Lexus, Honda Will be Out in Force in Detroit
Acura announced today that it will show three all-new vehicles at the 2012 North American International Auto Show – NAIAS – including a compact sports sedan, a redesigned RDX crossover sport utility vehicle, and a concept version of the next generation Acura NSX super car. Honda, Toyota and Lexus will also have strong new vehicles. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, design and styling, new vehicle, news
Tagged 2012 toyota camry, 2013 honda accord coupe, acura 2013 rdx, acura ilx concept, auto informed, auto shows, autoinformed.com, automotive news, honda formula one racing, Ken Zino, lexus, naias, north american international autoshow, nsx concept, prius c
Leave a comment
Hyundai Azera Targets LaCrosse, Taurus and Avalon Sedans
The Azera – like all recently upgraded Hyundai models – is fiercely competitive entry, in this case in the large car segment. Azera will provide a real choice for shoppers of large Toyota and Lexus models, as well as the slow selling Ford Taurus – off 10% at ~53,000 ytd of 619,000 total Ford car sales. Azera is also trouble for the upcoming revised Chevrolet Impala in 2013. The existing Impala is road kill here, in my view. As always, the buyers will decide what’s the best value, with Azera likely pulling sales from less expensive and more expensive models. Continue reading
Honda Unveils new ASIMO Robot – World Debut of Autonomous Control – Production and Public Use Near?
Honda Motor Company today unveiled an all-new ASIMO humanoid robot equipped with what Honda claims is the world’s first autonomous behavior control technology. This means the all-new ASIMO can now continue moving without being controlled by an operator. In theory, with this improved artificial intelligence and the physical ability to adapt to situations, ASIMO is close to practical public use. How close production is remains to be seen. Continue reading
The Film – Chevy 100, An American Story – Debuts in Detroit
Do not confuse this Chevy 100 infomercial with other serious documentaries sponsored by GM and produced by Ken Burns during his long association with the largest automaker in the U.S. Chevy 100 lacks an organizing theme – other than it’s time to sell more Chevrolets. Instead, Chevy 100 is comprised of sporadic observations along with snapshots of the history of the brand, supplemented with large amounts of quick-cut contemporary footage from collectors clubs and fawning owners. Be forewarned, you will not see the history of Chevrolet, or the history of the automobile in U.S.A. that Chevrolet is such a significant part of, given justice in this treatment. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, design and styling, fools 'n frauds, manufacturing, marketing, milestones, news, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, auto news, Autocrat, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, Chevrolet, chevrolet centennial, chevy 100, chevy 100 birthday, GM, gm bankruptcy, Ken Burns, Ken Zino, news, roger Sherman
Leave a comment
Holden Hurricane Concept Restored to its 1969 Self
Nothing even remotely like it ever saw production in Australia, although – ironically – former GM executive John Z. DeLorean marketed something sort of like it under his own name decades later. Nonetheless, Hurricane has been restored as a labor of love by a dedicated group of Holden designers and engineers. The restored Hurricane will be on display at the Motorclassica car show at the Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building from October 21-23 Continue reading
Driving the 2012 Hyundai Veloster – a Marketing Twist Aimed at Geeks over What’s a High Mileage, High Style Econobox
For the money Hyundai is selling what it dubs a “reverse halo” vehicle. Marketing babble aside,Veloster is really just a twist on the perennial attempts by salespeople to avoid the feared “econobox” label. The purported Veloster selling points therefore involve high performance electrons in the guise of Hyundai’s Blue Link telematics system with a hands-free phone system with voice recognition, Pandora internet radio, with seven-inch touch-screen display, and video game console connectivity with 115-volt power outlet. Continue reading
White is Favorite Color for Automobiles around the World
The color white is the most popular vehicle color in the world. Roughly 21% of 2011 model year cars have been produced in white. Regional differences do exist, but white’s popularity makes it the number one choice of car buyers Continue reading
IAA Frankfurt Motor Show Emphasizes Concepts and Electric Vehicles as Euro Zone Economic Crisis Threatens Automakers
The auto markets in the EC have declined for three straight years now, and 2011 is thus far following the same downward trend. It’s against this backdrop of political crisis and economic uncertainty that automakers are revealing cars at the Frankfurt Motor Show that are being dictated – or heavily influenced – by expensive EU regulations – with an emphasis on electric vehicles that will be required to meet impending EU CO2 standards. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, concept, design and styling, economy, electric vehicles, environment, new vehicle, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, auto news, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, co2, concept cars, electric vehicles, eu, eu economy, eu emissions rules, EVs, iaa frankfurt, Ken Zino, zino
Leave a comment
BMW Developing Laser Lights for Vehicles; Safety Issue?
While LED lighting creates about 100 lumens per watt, laser lights generate about 170 lumens. Aside from being more efficient, the diodes used in laser lights also are much smaller, presenting the option of drastically reducing the size and shape of conventional headlights that are crucial to automotive front end design. Continue reading
Book Review: Car Spy – an Inside Look at an Auto Culture Past
Car Spy is entertaining, funny, and sardonic. It captures the voice of Dunne – caveat here – whose adventures I sometimes participated in, whose photos I ran in various publications and still run in AutoInformed.com, and whose stories related in Car Spy I heard first hand. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, concept, design and styling, marketing, new vehicle, news analysis, people
Tagged auto informed, auto marketing, auto news, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, big three, car spy, cartechbooks, detroit three, jim dunne, Ken Zino, popular mechanics, popular science, zino
2 Comments
Tiny Three-Cylinder VW Up! to Debut at IAA Frankfurt
Volkswagen has released pictures of the production version of the tiny VW Up, which last appeared as an electric car concept two years ago at the IAA or Frankfurt Motor Show. The two-door, four seat small car at 3.54 meters is seven inches smaller than the Mini, and will also compete with Alfa Romeo MiTo, Fiat 500 and in Europe the Toyota iQ. No word on whether the VW Up will come to North America. Continue reading
