Category: Uncategorized
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Moving forward — and backward
A century ago, my grandmother Mary Lienert knew firsthand about freedom of mobility — both the upside and the downside. The purchase of a family automobile confined, rather than freed this young Nebraska farm wife, who never learned to drive. Before then, my father Bob Lienert wrote in a 1979 essay, my grandmother’s principal mode of…
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A great Leapmotor forward? Ask Stellantis
Is the new Leapmotor B10 a sneak peek at the future of electric vehicles in North America? Or is it simply another warning shot in an ongoing series of trade skirmishes between China and a number of key overseas markets? Unveiled October 14 at the Paris auto show and targeted at global markets in 2025,…
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And Binguo was its name, oh . . .
I have often smiled at Asian automakers’ attempts to create “English-sounding” names for their vehicles. Who wouldn’t grin to see the Suzuki Every Joypop or the Isuzu Giga Light Dump? The Japanese, however, have been nudged aside by the Chinese when it comes to christening cars. In a previous column, I mentioned two recent favorites:…
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How Maverick might morph into King Kong
At the risk of offending fans of Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, I have a modest proposal for Ford CEO Jim Farley: Go global with that hot Maverick pickup. You’ll need the right partner to pull it off — to design and build a true “world truck” that appeals to consumers in North America, Europe and,…
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If it had a Blue Oval in the grille . . .
I’m ignoring the temptation to make a cheesy Jaws reference — but automakers from Ford to Toyota surely must hear that nerve-jangling “da-dump” movie soundtrack playing in the background as they read the dispatches from Mexico on the new BYD Shark. Was there ever a vehicle so appropriately named? No, this Chinese-designed and -built mid-size…
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Bookend: A $150,000 Chinese SUV. Seriously.
If you found my previous post on the $3,850 Zhidou Rainbow a bit difficult to digest, try not to choke on this: The U8 “Master Edition” from BYD’s hyper-premium Yangwang brand. It’s a plus-size, four-motor electric SUV, unveiled at the Beijing auto show and priced at just over $150,000, according to our friends at CNEVPost.com.…
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A $3,850 China EV? Seriously?
As automakers in the US and Europe scramble to come up with more affordable electric cars, a little-known Chinese automaker named Zhidou has lowered the bar again with a cute micro EV called Rainbow. Price: $4,400, with a discount for early-bird buyers that drops the sticker to an unbelievable $3,850, according to CNEVpost.com. Zhidou’s achievement…
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I was promised . . . turbines
I think Peter Thiel is wrong. I don’t remember anyone promising ME flying cars. Not that I didn’t dream about them. I grew up in the Fifties, a period of wretched excess in automotive styling in my hometown Detroit: Too much chrome and too little taste. Even the dream cars from European auto shows of…
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What the US can learn from China’s EV playbook
Consider an electric vehicle partnership between Ford Motor, Apple and Lear. For the moment, it’s just wishful thinking, but imagine the possibilities: It would be a formidable business combination that could put a serious dent in the EV competition in North America. Now meet the oddly named Avatr, a new Chinese auto brand that has…
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Forget the ‘Apple Car’ — check out the ‘Xiaomi Car’
You thought Apple’s official closure of its long-gestating car project was big news? Stay tuned to China for bigger mobility bombshells from that country’s burgeoning tech sector. Case in point: Telecoms giant Xiaomi’s announcement in late March of its first car, a stunning all-electric sedan dubbed SU7 that will be priced in the Chinese domestic…
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