Design & Auto Shows

Charlie Rose Talks Design With Leaders From GM, Hyundai, and Tesla

Reilly Brennan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:10:27 -0500

Charlie Rose, that iconic PBS television interviewer who sits in the middle of a dark room, recently hosted a design discussion with some captains of our industry. It’s well worth your hour (after work, of course) as Rose is known as sort of an anti-Larry King—in other words, he actually does a world of research before his interviews. His love of technology is well documented and, in this video, it appears he’s got a car bug as well.

Rose sits down with design bosses Ed Welburn of General Motors, Joel Piaskowski of Hyundai, and Franz “Hollywood” von Holzhausen who is now at Tesla (most recently at Mazda).

VIDEO: GM Europe Talks about the Opel Meriva

Dustin P. Walsh — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:00:54 -0600

No, it’s not the Saturn Flextreme, it’s the Opel Meriva. This Euro-only car won’t be utilizing the E-flex powertrain of the Flextreme Concept, but, instead a 1.4-liter turbocharged I-4 motor.

The Meriva has even got some cool suicide-door action (Flexdoors). There’s no timeline on Opel’s compact, but we doubt it’ll come stateside as a Saturn anytime soon. Check out our gallery of the Meriva at the Geneva Motor Show below.

+ YouTube: Geneva Show: Opel Meriva Concept & Agila

If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com

Meet the Bosses: WINDING ROAD Interviews the Detroit 3 Bigwigs

Winding Road Administrator — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:00:14 -0600

Brrr, Detroit in January. Still, it’s the only spot where for two days straight we can go tête-à-tête with any and every major car executive under the same roof.

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Tata Will Maintain British Heritage of Land Rover, Jaguar

Dustin P. Walsh — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:00:47 -0600

Despite earlier reports flying around the blogosphere that Tata Motors would acquire Jaguar and Land Rover, then sell Jag and move LR to India, Ratan Tata maintains that his company will retain the British heritage of the two.

"Our plan would be to retain the image, the touch and the feel of Jaguar and Land Rover. We will not tinker with the brands in any way. They are special global brands and whoever acquires them has a responsibility to nurture them and enable them to prosper," Tata said at the Geneva Motor Show.

He also said that Tata would not move Jaguar or Land Rover production from the UK, as was speculated and feared by the UK labor unions. He said, “We are conscious that the brands belong to Britain. These brands will continue to belong to Britain.

Bentley Commits to Green Issues, New Powertrain Coming

Dustin P. Walsh — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:00:43 -0600

At the Geneva Motor Show today, Bentley CEO Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgan voiced Bentley’s Commitment to the environment and fuel-economy.

He said in a speech to reporters, “We believe that there are two major issues facing the automotive industry in the 21st century: the security of fuel supply, and climate change. Our strategy seeks to address these two related issues simultaneously, and is based on long-term solutions.

KTM Chairman Says X-Bow will Lead Five-Model Lineup

Seyth Miersma — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:30:25 -0600

Austrian motorcycle builder KTM is readying the final production version of its X-Bow roadster for a big debut at the Geneva Motor Show, and company chairman Stefan Pierer has said that the track car is just the tip of the iceberg.

Pierer envisions KTM competing in the specialty performance car market with the likes of Lotus. To that end, the X-Bow is set to mark the beginning of what will soon be a five-model KTM lineup. The new models are said to share the same engine and chassis design as the stripped X-Bow as way of keeping production costs down, but with separate characters all their own.

First up of the new KTM’s will be a racing X-Bow, built to compete in the FIA FT championship’s GT4 Light class. Next on the docket is a more refined road-going version, with doors, a roof, and an uprated engine. Further down the road is a model that trades on KTM’s off-roading heritage, and an ultra-high performance race car with Le Mans in mind. Dream big KTM. We’ll just be excited to see the first consumer X-Bow when Geneva opens up in just over a week.

+ Motor Authority: KTM planning five-model lineup

If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com

GM’s Bob Lutz On the Automotive Industry and More

Dustin P. Walsh — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:00:47 -0600

In an interview with reporters in Arlington, Texas GM vice chairman Bob Lutz aired his thoughts on global warming, hybrid cars, and the industry – quite candidly.

Lutz told reporters that hybrid cars by Toyota “make no economic sense