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Winning Sports Car Design About To Be Revealed
5 years after his sports car design won out of over 400 contest entries,, we are about to see how 22 year old Ryo Mukumoto’s sports car design has turned out.
Ryo Mukumoto was 22 and into his third year making mock-ups at Honda’s research arm when he won an in-house competition.
Honda made him the youngest lead engineer in the company’s history and gave him a young team to help translate his ideas into reality.
Mukumoto’s vision — a low-slung roadster inspired by a speeding bullet — goes on sale next month in the most competitive segment in Japan’s shrinking car market.
“People of my generation think cars are simply a tool for transportation,” Mukumoto, now 26, said in an interview in Wako City, Japan.
“I wanted them to say — hmm, this car is different,” he said. “We have made a car that will turn heads.”
The introduction of the S660 roadster, named for the 660-cc engine capacity limit that defines the mini car category unique in Japan, comes as Honda searches for a way out of record vehicle recalls and quality lapses.
The company has blamed these problems in part on an overly ambitious sales target that placed undue stress on its vaunted engineers.
New Technology Allows Insurance Companies Insight On Teenage Drivers
It takes years for drivers to build up creditability with insurance companies. Now thanks to Ingenie and Aviva Insurance young drivers can receive compensation for good driving habits early on.
Normally insurance payments are steep until drivers reach 25. However, with this new UK based company operating in Canada, drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 have the chance to prove they are good drivers and receive lower rates.
How this is done is through an internet operated device that will review, record, and evaluate driving habits. This is a first in North America, as most drivers must wait until they reach 50 for the possibility of low rates because they are safe drivers, now we can reward them for their success earlier in their lifetime.
New Car Designs Astound At Geneva
Car enthusiasts everywhere look forward to innovations in their favorite cars in terms of design, speed and technology. Geneva annually demonstrates the best of the best when it comes to the automotive industry.
Geneva has long been less about the business of auto-making, more about the look – the design – of it. The Geneva Motor Show is held on neutral ground in Switzerland. All other major global shows – Frankfurt, Tokyo, Detroit, Shanghai/Beijing – are hosted by countries where auto-making is a key industry. Switzerland is famous for banks and other money-managing businesses, along with watches, chocolate and a host of non-governmental agencies such as the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee.
No one has a home-field advantage – or disadvantage – in Geneva.
Here, the designers and the visionaries take the stage, with the messy business side of the industry taking a back seat to old-style automotive glitz and glamour.
Audi Prologue Avant
The e Audi prologue Avant is a five-door luxury car that allows the driver and up to three passengers to enjoy a luxurious ride that allows everyone to be digitally connected thanks to a state-of-the-art infotainment architecture and connect technology. This plug-in hybrid is a look at possible styling for the next A6 wagon Power output by the 3.0 TDI engine and the electric motor in combination make the car sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds.
BENTLEY EXP 10
This is Bentley’s interpretation of a high performance, two seat sports car. “This one car showcases modern automotive design, highly skilled British handcrafting, the finest materials and advanced performance technology,” says CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer.
What would you pay to stay at the “fastest hotel in the world?”
A Phoenix man has listed his Tesla Model S on AirBnB, offering guests the opportunity to stay overnight in the trunk. He calls it the “fastest hotel in the world.”
You won’t actually get a chance to drive the $118,000 car that can go zero to 100 km/h in four seconds, but for $109 a night, you can sleep in it while it’s parked in a locked garage.
The experience is offered as an alternative to a hotel.
“The airbed in the back sleeps two in climate-controlled comfort all night,” writes Steve Sasman in his AirBnB listing. “You can set the mood with your selection of any Internet music you would like on a huge 17” monitor. … It comes with clean sheets, pillows and a blanket or comforter if you like.”
The twin airbed is only a bit longer than two metres so tall people may not be comfortable.
“Sorry, NO NBA players allowed. Despite my love for basketball, the Tesla is just too small for anyone over 6’6”. Please…stop asking,” he writes.
Guests have access to Sasman’s kitchen, living room and bathroom, but because he needs the car to get to work, they must be up by 8 a.m.
“I’ve already slept in this thing three times so why not let other people do it,” Sasman told CBS5. “To sleep in it one night is to give somebody a taste…They get to spend some time in the car, experience it without actually buying it.”
Last-minute football fans, note: The Tesla Hotel will not be available in the days leading up to Super Bowl this weekend, taking place just outside of Phoenix.
Read the full story here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/news/trans-canada-highway/us-man-offers-tesla-trunk-for-109night-on-airbnb/article22635276/
Mercedes is looking to expand production in North America
Mercedes is reporting possible expansion and more jobs to its North American plants.
Daimler is looking to add production capacity in North America for both its compact and rear-wheel-drive models, CEO Dieter Zetsche said.
Plans are in the “very early” stages for the rear-wheel-drive vehicles and “it is totally open,” Zetsche said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Geneva auto show here.
He would not say whether Mercedes-Benz is looking to expand its factory in Vance, Alabama, or build a new plant. Mercedes just began production of the redesigned rwd C-class sedan in Alabama, primarily for the U.S. market.
Alabama builds the all-wheel-drive M- and GL-class crossovers and will add a M-class coupe crossover next year.
To cope with the shortage of front-wheel-drive cars, Mercedes is adding shifts and outsourcing some production to contract manufacturer Valmet in Finland. There are already shortages of the CLA sedan in the United States that aren’t likely to be remedied until early summer.
Audi Superstore Opens in Houston Texas
The largest Audi dealership has opened in Houston. A unit of Sonic Automotive Inc. has opened the largest Audi dealership in the United States — a glitzy 142,000-square-foot store.
Audi Central Houston’s seven-story facility is more than eight-times the size of a conventional dealership, and roughly four times that of a typical Audi dealership built in the last five years, an Audi spokesman said.
The store’s ground-level 10-car showroom and sales area takes up roughly 16,000 square feet, Sonic President Scott Smith said in an e-mail to Automotive News.
There is “an additional 10,000 square-feet on the second level for support space,” Smith wrote.
Mark Del Rosso, COO of Audi of America, said in a statement Thursday the new dealership speaks volumes to customer and ownership experience.
“This new dealership exemplifies the growing investment of our dealer body,” Rosso said.
A Look at the High Cost of Building Cars
There are a couple ways to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Detroit Three since the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse. On one hand, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler Group are posting modest profits from the relative strength of the North American auto market, dragged down by European operations.
A $.4-billion loss from its troubled Opel/Vauxhall European operations offset GM North America’s $2.0 billion earnings before income tax (EBIT), which was down from $2.2 billion in the second quarter of ’11. GM’s global net revenues fell 41 percent against a 4.6-percent drop in net revenues, and the automaker blamed the revenue decline on the strength of the U.S. dollar versus the euro.