Auto Design

I think it is time for Sergio Marchionne to present a gift to Italy, to his shareholders and to himself: sell Alfa Romeo to Volkswagen as soon as possible. At the best possible price, sure but without wasting time.

By selling now SM will avoid the embarrassment of missing to deliver what he has announced: sell half a million Alfa Romeo by 2015. There is no way he can do it, unless he is thinking of a range of Chrysler derivatives that would carry the Alfa Romeo shield but would be rebadged Chrysler. This can work for Lancia. Not for Alfa Romeo. Read the rest of this entry »

Here the first official images of the all-new Ford C-MAX, whi

ch will make its global debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show next week.

The new Ford C-MAX takes its design cues from the stunning iosis MAX concept car unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show early last March and represents Ford of Europe entry in the compact MPV market. In Frankfurt Ford is expected to announce that the C-MAX will also be sold in the North American market.

The all new MPV comes with a clear personality and a coupé-like silhouette and sweeping roofline with no apparent compromise on the use of space.

According to Ford the C-MAX will introduce a host of new technologies such as an all-new 1.6 litre direct injection petrol engine, a semi-automatic parallel parking and a blind-spot detection system.

Ford says it will start selling the new C-MAX in the second half of 2010 as the first in a new generation of global vehicles developed from Ford’s new C-segment platform, scheduled for introduction over the next several years. The global range will also include the all-new Ford Focus due in late 2010.

Ford proved to be one of the most sentitive carmakers among those presenting a new concept car in Geneva. Its attractive Iosis Max is indeed a “scaled down” SUV that you could well quilify as a small-to-medium alternative to medium-to-large or large vehicles actually in the market. For its dimensions it fits between the “compact” Fiesta and the “middle-class” Focus. According to well placed sources its front design does anticipate more than a trait of the next generation (2010) Focus.

Ford says that its “second generation kinetic design” concept is powered by a 180hp, 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline direct-injection four cylinder engine of the new EcoBoost family, with stop-start technology that can save up to 20% fuel in comparison with previous generation of equivalent performance.

For the complete photo gallery click on the image below:

Back from the Geneva Motor Show I choose to offer first a first selection of interior shots, either from the show itself or its carmaker. Part 1 shows the ones I liked. Part 2, tomorrow will show what could be better.

In these pages a selection, for the entire gallery click on the image at the bottom.

 Rinspeed iChange

 Rinspeed iChange

Ford 2009 Iosis MAX

Ford 2009 Iosis MAX

Lexus RX 450H

Lexus RX 450H

Hyundai ix-onic

Protoscar Lampo

Italdesign Giugiaro FN Namir

Click image below for the photo gallery:

Going to an international motor show is like going to the annual market. You meet a lot of friends and people, see many things and you come back home with the head full of information, impressions, news, comments and opinions. So much so that indeed you need a few days to arrange everything in some sort of order so that you get to the essence of the experience. This is all the same and yet all different every time. And I am not just talking of the cars.

As for cars, new cars I mean, I have come home with an incredible load of pictures and information.

I would have to share them all with you the very moment I sat back to my PC last Saturday but this is simply impossible. It takes a lot of time to put a label and classify more than 2000 images.

Now, having done just that I can start sharing with you some of the most significant. Or at least some that I image you want to see as soon as possible.

This is why, at this time I am offering you a series of photo galleries to look at. What you see is a combination of images shot at the Paris “Mondial de l’Automobile” and images provided by the press offices and design studio of the car makers.

I am giving priority to the latter ones, as the most attractive and unique.

Related information and comments will be posted shortly. Click on images below to access their photo gallery.

PREMIERE AT THE PARIS MOTOR SHOW IN OCTOBER.

As the count down to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in China is coming to a close, the automotive industry – just back from the London Motor Show – has launched its count-down for the introduction of a wave of new cars at the Paris “Mondial de l’Automobile” Motor Show opening its gates to the public at large on October 4^th.

First on August 1^st to unveil its new baby is Ford.

The look of its new KA developed and engineered with the co-operation of Fiat and Italdesign-Giugiaro can now be seen in the first official pictures. The car is build in Poland on the industrial platform of the Fiat Panda and Cinquecento but its looks share nothing with the Italian rivals. The new KA looks charming and  attractive, a sort of miniature Fiesta but with a design and a personality of its own. Read the rest of this entry »

Eager to see and comment on the all-new Ford Ka, made in Poland by Fiat? Come back after midnight CET.