by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
Just about anything is possible as Daimler, Renault and Nissan announce yet another big expansion of their global alliance – except for the possibility of a full-out merger, the CEOs of the three makers said during a joint Paris Motor Show news conference. The...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
Daimler AG will “probably” announce by year-end a decision on where it will build a new North American assembly plant, Chairman Dieter Zetsche tells TheDetroitBureau.com, and there is a strong possibility that the new factory will be part of a planned mega-complex...
by Bryan Laviolette | Sep 28, 2012
When Ford debuted the F-150 King Ranch SuperCrew in 2000, the truck market had never seen anything like it. It was a match made in marketing heaven. Team the country’s best-selling truck with one of the largest and most famous ranches in the world, located in Texas,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
The floor of the Paris Motor Show is covered with an array of hybrids, plug-ins and pure battery-electric vehicles, the latter ranging from the little Nissan Leaf up to the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive. But barring a sudden shift in consumer sentiment,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
For those who think that going green requires significant sacrifices – starting with that concept known as “fun-to-drive,” a stop at the Mercedes-Benz booth at the Paris Motor Show is clearly in order. While the German maker isn’t the first to argue that battery cars...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
Though its new Accord may be winning favorable reviews, Honda has admittedly missed the mark with a number of recent niche vehicles – especially hybrids like the Insight and CR-Z. The latter was a particular disappointment coming as the long-awaited replacement for...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
Two of Europe’s top automotive executives have – at least for now — papered over an increasingly fractious dispute that threatened to further divide an industry facing a sharp slump in sales and increasingly serious losses. The dispute between Volkswagen CEO...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
McLaren is billing the new P1 as the “ultimate supercar,” a claim the folks from Ferrari and Lamborghini might protest. But it’s the closest we’ve yet seen to the legendary McLaren F1 of more than a decade past – and its rollout at the Paris Motor Show generated more...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 28, 2012
There was plenty of action on the Audi stand during the first Paris Motor Show press day, the maker balancing the futuristic Crosslane Cabriolet Concept with two more down-to-Earth production models. But that doesn’t mean that either the new S3 compact sport hatch or...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 27, 2012
Lexus has been dropping a number of surprises in recent months – all meant to demonstrate that it’s serious about pumping more “passion” into the brand. The latest effort, the LF-CC Concept, may be the most aggressive example of that to date, taking the maker’s L...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 27, 2012
The world is rapidly changing for automakers and nowhere is that more obvious than in the once-huge SUV segment. Sales peaked at more than 3 million in the U.S. a decade or so back and have been sliding ever since. Only a handful of models continue to exist in the...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Sep 27, 2012
Spend much time with automotive planners, designers or engineers at this year’s Paris Motor Show and you’re bound to hear the words, “white space,” come up quite frequently. In today’s hotly competitive automotive market, manufacturers are struggling to find products...
