2nd January 2010
Filed under: Concept Cars, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Aston Martin, Design/Style
Aston Martin will be shepherding perceptions of its forthcoming Cygnet as much as it can, and it will doubtlessly be monitoring the reception that the Toyota-turned-Aston microcar receives as closely as it can.
On that former front, the company has begun video marketing for a car it still only suggests will go into production at the end of this year. The intent, of course, is to make the Cygnet appear as cool as possible, and the method used in this application is the French sport of parkour. Follow the jump to watch the vid and then answer this question for us in Comments: Did it work? Thanks for the tip, Victor!
[Source: Aston Martin via YouTube]
Continue reading Video: Aston Martin tries to build street cred with Cygnet
Video: Aston Martin tries to build street cred with Cygnet originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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2nd January 2010
Filed under: Sedan, Tesla, Electric
Tesla Model S – Click above for high-res image gallery
Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo.com and erstwhile founder of Weblogs Inc. (of which Autoblog and AutoblogGreen are a part) is a big fan of Tesla, and now he’s announced that he’s giving one away. Calacanis is already the owner of an early Tesla Roadster which he let us drive in late 2008. Even before he took delivery of his Roadster, Calacanis announced his intention to buy the company’s second vehicle, the Model S. When Tesla unveiled the sedan last spring, Calacanis made good on his promise and put down deposits on two of the upcoming electric car, including serial #1.
Now Calacanis wants to give away his second Model S by getting his newly established Twitter account @auto to number 1 on the micro-blogging service. That position is currently held by actor and cougar-catcher Ashton Kutcher who has over 4.2 million followers. As this is written, @auto is up to almost 1,000 followers after only one hour. If you want a crack at a free Model S, just follow @auto.
[Source: Jason Calacanis]
Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis giving away his Tesla Model S (you know, when he gets it) originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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2nd January 2010
Filed under: Car Buying, Earnings/Financials
This just in from Hard Numbers News: From 2000 to 2007, an average of 16.8 million vehicles were sold in the States. In 2008, that figure dropped to 13.2 million. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the tally for 2009 is expected to put the sales needle somewhere around 10.4 million. According to Bloomberg, that would make last year the worst for new car sales since 1982, when there was not only a recession but also 25 percent fewer Americans.
The good news: sales began to rise at the end of 2009, having sustained themselves nicely after the revelry of cash-for-clunkers. The final data isn’t in yet, but Bloomberg’s survey of analysts suggests two months of gains in November and December. Predictions estimate that Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan saw increases, with General Motors and Chrysler looking at slipping sales.
The silver lining? Meager sales could “indicate significant pent-up demand.” That kettle of demand is going to take some time to boil, but a rise in household spending is penciled in for late 2010, along with greater availability of credit, and a drop in unemployment numbers is in the forecast as well. The road to recovery will be a slow one, but hopefully with the turn of the calendar year will come a turn in fortunes for the U.S. economy.
[Source: Bloomberg | Image: Scott Olson/Getty]
Bloomberg: U.S. auto sales “probably rose” in December originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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2nd January 2010
Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, GM
A top Apple Inc. executive is reportedly be being considered for the chief executive officer post at General Motors. Over the last couple of years as the Detroit auto industry descended into financial oblivion, numerous observers from (mostly) outside the business promoted the idea of hiring Apple CEO Steve Jobs run GM. However, for a variety of reasons – not the least of which was Jobs’ health – that never came to fruition.
This time around, according to an (admittedly unsubstantiated) rumor on Silicon Alley Insider, rather than Jobs, executive search firm Spencer Stuart is said to be promoting Tim Cook. Cook is the chief operating officer at Apple and second in command to Jobs, filling the CEO slot on an interim basis last year while Jobs was on medical leave.
Cook would certainly be an interesting choice, and if hired, would join fellow tech industry vet and new GM CFO Chris Liddell who is coming over from Microsoft. It’s not clear, however, if he would be the best choice. As COO, Cook has had plenty of operational experience at Apple, and by all accounts, he has done an outstanding job running day-to-day operations. However, according auto industry analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics, the CEO at GM is traditionally the big picture/visionary position. In that respect, Cook would seem better suited to the President/COO role, a job recently awarded to Mark Reuss.
[Source: Silicon Alley Insider]
Rumormill: Apple COO Tim Cook for General Motors CEO slot? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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2nd January 2010
Filed under: Coupe, Budget, Hybrid, Honda
2011 Honda CR-Z video stills – Click above for image gallery
As the 2011 Honda CR-Z gets prepares its assault on your heart and pocketbook, it is showing its face in more and more places.
This time, the 126-combined-horsepower hybrid eco-runner has been spotted in a video, from which a number of stills have been taken. While there aren’t any additional specs to come with it, you can at least see what you’ll look like driving down the road while you get somewhere above 50 miles per gallon. We note that while we still look forward to its tidy packaging and (hopefully) nimble dynamics, the front-end looks rather unfortunate with a U.S.-sized number plate.
The car is expected to bow for the first time in Japan sometime next month, but we hear it could show up earlier at the Detroit Auto Show. In the meantime, find all the images below in the gallery.
[Source: Gazoo via Carscoop]
Yes, There’s More: 2011 Honda CR-Z video captures leak out originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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