Auto Design

Those of you who read Car Styling magazine might have been puzzled by my report on the Geneva motor show published in the latest (and last?) issue of the magazine.
For some mysterious accident that are more common in the printed press than you can image my text was cut and mixed up. For a more accurate reading and for the records I am publishing here the original text. Just as a sign of respect for my readers.

Official statistics show that the latest and 80th Geneva Motor Show set a new record for “premieres”, with as many as eighty “new cars”, or so, unveiled for the first time there. Now, considering the space in the magazine is not growing with the number of new cars at motor shows, let’s go straight to the point and answer the usual questions: how was the show this year. What was relevant and worth recording for the years to come?

First I would say that I saw more irrelevant, disappointing or irritating cars (read designs) than interesting and attractive ones: be for their design or their lack of innovative ideas/concepts. A short list includes the Aston Martin Cygnet,  Renault Megane CC, Renault Wind and Toyota Auris.

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DR the youngest and most dynamic Italian car manufacturer, after attending the “home” motor show here in Italy, is moving outside the national boundary to exhibit its latest model. This is simply called DR2 and joins a range that already includes the DR 5 SUV, the DR1 city car. The DR2 is a 3.7 metres long “B” segment all-round family car. Read the rest of this entry »

Pininfarina fame and glory is expanding in the Far East, from where I got the news that one of the car designed and developed by Pininfarina, the middle-class JAC A 108 saloon has been nominated “Best car in Show” at the Guangzhou Motor Show run in the second part of November.

JAC is the brand name for Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. and the model name in China is Tongyue. The A 108 is available with a 1.3- or 1.5-liter gasoline engine, at prices ranging between 7.300 and 9.800 U.S. dollars.

To international standards the choice of the jury might surprise those who are  not familiar with the Chinese market today.  There, with the price of fuel having sky-rocketed and the fear of the global recession, small cars have become very popular among car buyers who are in the market for fuel efficiency and safety. Being an entirely new and fresh project with high safety standards and a modern, fuel efficient four cylinder engine, the roomy and relatively small JAC by Pininfarina seems to have all it takes to conquer the market and be the “Best Car in Show”.

Many Alfa Romeo executives and enthusiasts should pay attention to the “VIP LOUNGE show-car” one of the top-six Chinese carmakers has recently unveiled at the Guangzhou Motor Show. The reason is easily said: that show car is a preview of the sport sedan that Stilebertone (see focus story attached) is designing for Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC). Until recently, GAC has been renowned for its flourishing joint-ventures with Honda and Toyota and the only big state-owned carmaker that has not cars with its own brand so far. Read the rest of this entry »

As expected, BMW  will soon be ready to launch another X-series model. This time, after the king-of-the-hill BMW X6 coupé, the all-new addition to the range taks position in the “compact premium” class. A sort of entry-model, if you can call it so.

As usual BMW is not disappointing and it seem that the new X1 will be the sort of SAV you would expect from the company: consequent with the range and the brand quality. Read the rest of this entry »

Giorgetto Giugiaro is simply the most talented, productive and successful car designer of all times. The only one nominated “Designer of the Century” by an international Jury, he is celebrated by the Hall of Fame and has been awarded several Honoris Causa doctorate as an architect. With more than 50 years of very intense work as a car designer he is the president of a company that employs more than 1000 specialists and create cars from a white piece of paper (including the Chinese Brilliance Zhongua) and still enjoy himself at designing cars, as well as any sort of products. In his spares time he love to paint, ride his cross-country bike and crossing the Africa deserts.

About being 70, in a fast interview between two meetings he has answered our direct questions, with a smile. Here is his opening statement.

Mr. Giugiaro, you seem to be positively committed to follow the example of (the world-wide famous painter) Pablo Picasso, who at the age of 90 was still enjoying painting. You are still more than 20 years away from that age and – if we are right – you continue to personally design some of the cars created by Italdesign-Giugiaro. Is it really so? Read the rest of this entry »

In the past days, the Turin Court has ruled hat the Great Wall Peri looks like a Fiat Panda with a different front end and consequently cannot be sold in Europe. Or, to be accurate it can, at a very high cost for those who produce, import and sell it. The claim was presented by Fiat, the maker of the Panda designed for them by Stile Bertone. I do not know who has actually produced the blueprints for the Peri but I remember hearing – some years ago – to some top Italian car design and engineering consultants that some Chinese company entering the car industry used to candidly ask them to just copy an existing (and potentially successful) car and help them setting up the production lines. Obviously some of these consultants have accepted when they should have not accepted. Sure, just duplicating an existing project saves a lot of time, some money and all the risks related to experimenting with something news. Read the rest of this entry »