by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 12, 2010
Smart’s new U.S. boss says she’s confident the brand can turn itself around after suffering a devastating sales decline of nearly 40% in 2009. And it won’t take the addition of a second model, insisted Jill Lajdziak, though the subsidiary of Germany’s Daimler AG is...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 12, 2010
The electric car revolution is firmly underway, said Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk, as he rolled out a prototype of the Silicon Valley start-up’s second battery car, the Model S, at the 2010 North American International Auto Show. Once derided as something of a...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 12, 2010
In its continuing quest to rebuild the brand, Lincoln rolled out a heavily updated version of its MKX crossover, setting in motion the second day of the North American International Auto Show. The visual changes to the 2011 Lincoln MKX give the CUV a more familial...
by Ken Zino | Jan 12, 2010
General Motors confirmed today that it will no longer supply free cars to PGA Golfer and philanderer Tiger Woods. The contract expired at the end of last year. Woods, of course, crashed his black Cadillac Escalade SUV in his super exclusive gated community on November...
by Henny Hemmes | Jan 12, 2010
Mercedes-Benz launched the new E-Class Cabriolet with much pizzazz and a fashion look from the past. The car rolled on the stage with three female passengers – all with “beehive” hairdos once the height of fashion in the sixties. With this demonstration the Germans...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jan 12, 2010
Kia Motors America showed in Detroit its new in-car communications and entertainment system, “UVO powered by Microsoft,” to be available in select Kia vehicles starting this summer. The system provides, it is claimed, consumer-friendly voice- and touch-activated...
by Ken Zino | Jan 12, 2010
China’s fourth largest automaker unveiled an all electric vehicle at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit today. BYD claimed it plans to launch the “e6” in the United States later in 2010. The e6 is a pure electric vehicle in a...
by Henny Hemmes | Jan 12, 2010
Here in Detroit, Subaru showed a concept that tells the world, once again, that they are planning to bring a hybrid vehicle on the market in the near future. Taken into account the size of the company, that will be a vehicle for worldwide markets, we think. We asked...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jan 12, 2010
Daimler AG chief executive officer Dieter Zetsche said that the German automaker is holding talks with the French automaker Renault about collaborating on some future products and hoped to wrap up the discussions during the first half of 2010. “We are in...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 12, 2010
There’s more than a faint resemblance between the new Mini Beachcomber concept vehicle and a classic dune buggy. The show car is missing a roof and the removable doors are little more than frames. So, it takes a little imagination to recognize that Beachcomber is the...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 12, 2010
Like a sinking ship, the pieces of the Detroit ad community have been breaking off and plunging beneath the waves, in recent months. After losing the Chrysler account, BBDO closed its Detroit office. Chevrolet has pulled a large chunk of business away from its...
by Ken Zino | Jan 12, 2010
Cadillac has revealed its XTS Platinum Concept at the 2010 North American International Auto Show with much marketing hype and jargon, and barely a nod that the idea goes all the way back to the Catera of three decades ago and subsequent failed or weak forays into the...
