Automotive Trends

     Once upon a time, Volkswagen was known for selling simple and inexpensive cars. The unconventional simplicity of the automaker’s designs carried over into the brand’s straightforward nomenclature designating its vehicles as the Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3. Somewhere in its history, VW decided to be more than just the company that provided Beetles and Microbuses. Read more…

     If you want to understand the Honda Odyssey, you need to look at the ’96 Chicago Bulls.
     Why the sports reference? Because that’s the year Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman played on the same team, making the ’96 Bulls one of the most dominant teams in the history of sports. They won 72 out of 82 games and made the NBA championship look easy. No other team has dominated like the ’96 Bulls, and no other minivan has dominated like the Odyssey. Read more…

A Celebration of Survival

     Automakers had a lot to celebrate at this year’s North American International Auto Show. The first of which was simply being at this year’s auto show. After surviving a period filled with bankruptcies, shuttered brands, mergers, recalls and the Great Recession, all but one company saw sales rise in 2010. A little recall you might have heard about is responsible for Toyota’s negative sales performance. With the worst hopefully consigned to history, the industry is setting its sights on how best to entice cautious consumers in 2011. Each company will approach this challenge differently. While their results will vary, one thing is certain: car buyers will be the real winners. If you can’t make it to Detroit to see all the new offerings on display, allow us to highlight the winners at this year’s auto show. Read more…

      Kia used the Detroit Auto Show to reveal a possible entry into, of all things, a dormant segment. The KV7 is a concept designed to do a van right. It’s not one of these minivans that pretends to be manly or sporty or something it’s not. Kia designers wanted to build a van that was proud of its shape. Read more…

     Even when there were approximately 67 better options Chevrolet still managed to sell a lot of Aveos. So GM Brass should be feeling pretty confident about the Sonic’s future now that Chevy’s new compact class entrant can take on any competitor without excuse. Read more…

     Ford is stretching its C-Platform for all it’s worth by introducing a new derivative to the extended Focus family called C-Max. Europe has enjoyed the people moving capabilities of the various C-Max offerings for years, but Americans would never have warmed to the small people mover when gas was only a couple bucks a gallon. Ford thinks the time is right to make a move and will do its best to convince us of the C-Max’s benefits later this year when the 7-passenger mini-minivan hits US showrooms. Read more…

     Audi seems destined to repeat BMW’s formula from the ’90s by making one sausage at 3 different lengths. Just as the 3, 5 and 7-Series sedans were clones of each other in sizes small, medium and large, so too has Audi developed a lineup of A4, A6 and A8 sedans that are nearly indistinguishable. We aren’t implying that’s a bad thing. Audi’s clean, tidy lines contribute to a timeless design that has served the company well. Read more…

     Honda isn’t quite ready to debut the new ninth-generation Civic lineup yet, but that didn’t stop them from teasing us with mildly exaggerated coupe and sedan concepts. If you visually downsize the wheels, relocate the center exhaust tips and install an interior you’re looking at the 2012 Civic that will debut in a few short months. Read more…

      For more than a year Volkswagen has promised a larger midsize sedan to replace the long lived Passat name. The car was to be designed to fit US consumer’s tastes and buying habits and be built in a brand new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Code named the NMS (for New Midsize Sedan) Volkswagen had the industry waiting with baited breath for the official name of the Passat replacement. Our collective breath was held in vain only for VW to reveal that the NMS would be designated – wait for it – the Passat. Read more…