NISSAN “NUVU” Concept .
Nissan Nuvu is a concept designed to offer next generation car from Nissan with rear-mounted electric motor and lithim-ion battery pack. The design of this concept car is quite unusual and small. For city use, the Nuvu’s performance is more than adequate. Across the all-glass roof are a dozen of small solar panels. Basically, natural, organic and recyclable materials are used to make its cabin. The steering of the car is very direct for quickness and maneuverability in the city. No one will have any problem in crowded roads and limited parking slots with this tomorrow’s city car.
NUVU: RESHAPING THE CITY
Within just a few years, cities all over the world will be at near bursting point. If mankind wants to retain the level of personal mobility it currently enjoys – and if the city is to survive – the only way forward is for a radical rethink of the type of cars driven there. One solution could be a car like Nuvu, designed for the city of the not-too-distant future.
“Nuvu is literally a ‘new view’ at the future of the city car. It is electric, of course, but as far as Nissan is concerned, for tomorrow’s city cars that is a given. No, the most important aspect of Nuvu is the interior design which provides great comfort and space in an intelligent package designed to make best use of our crowded roads and limited parking slots.”
At a glance
- 2 +1 seating in compact 3m package
- Unique platform for Nuvu
- Zero emissions from EV drivetrain
- Drivetrain previews production EV due soon
- X-By-Wire control for all dynamic functions
- Extensive use of natural, organic and recycled materials
- An urban oasis complete with its own tree inside, which…
… provides shade for the interior, and
… generates solar energy via its ‘leaves’
Overview
There is about to be a seismic shift in the urban landscape. Within the next five to seven years, some 55 percent of the world’s population will live in the city, threatening total gridlock. Unless something is done, the irony of the phrase ‘personal mobility’ will be self-evident.
Look around at the cars in a typical city traffic jam today and the vast majority will have only one occupant and four empty seats. Some might have two occupants, a few three. But find one with four occupants or more and you’ll be doing very well.
Nissan’s vision for the future of urban transportation is encapsulated in Nuvu, a ‘new view’ of the type of car we will be driving in the middle of the next decade. Compact – it’s just 3 metres long – Nuvu is a concept vehicle with unique 2+1 seating. It is aimed at urban dwellers who don’t want to compromise on their personal freedom or their comfort, yet who appreciate that ‘something has to give.’
Nuvu is agile, easy to drive, even easier to park. And it is, of course, an electric vehicle (EV). As Bancon says: “We believe zero emission vehicles are one of the key solutions for tomorrow’s city car.”
Nuvu is described as a moving oasis, a haven of green tranquillity in the urban jungle. To underline this message, Nuvu incorporates a witty representation of its green credentials: across its all-glass roof are a dozen or so small solar panels. Shaped like leaves on a branch, the power they generate is fed to the battery using a ‘tree trunk’ within the car as a conduit. Nuvu also uses natural, organic and recycled materialswithin the cabin.
Nissan has already announced plans to introduce an all-electric car in Japan and the US in 2010 and to mass-market it globally in 2012. Nuvu is not that car, though it does share some of the technology that will feature in the planned production vehicle. Rather, it is a concept of how a Nissan EV might look in the near future.
In the longer term, Nissan foresees a future based around a line-up of zero emission vehicles regardless of their size, category and usage. Nuvu – or its production equivalent – is just one element of this emission-free future.
Nuvu in detail
The central thrust behind the development of Nuvu is not its motive power but its layout and use of space. Nuvu has been created for a city of the future, one that’s even more crowded than today.
That’s why it’s compact on the outside yet roomy on the inside. Built on a unique platform, it’s just 3 metres long and sits on a wheelbase of 1980 mm but is 1700 mm wide and 1550 mm tall to create a large and airy cabin.
Interior package
These dimensions provide all the interior room needed for the vast majority of city journeys. Nuvu has two regular seats and a third occasional chair that can be folded down when required. But, unlike some two-seater city cars currently on the market, it is a thoroughly practical proposition with an integral luggage area providing sufficient space for a typical supermarket or shopping expedition.
“It is a real car,” says Bancon. “There would be no disadvantages to using a Nuvu everyday. For the vast majority of users, three seats are more than enough most of the time.”
The packaging is designed to give priority to driver comfort with C-segment levels of space and the flexibility to invite one or two passengers on board. Cabin layout places the regular passenger seat beside but largely behind the driver’s seat, allowing the passenger to stretch right out. Ahead of this seat is a third occasional chair which, when not in use, is folded away into the dashboard assembly. But even when the third seat is in use, there remains sufficient legroom for both passengers.
In the interests of saving both weight and space, the third seat has a centre section made from hardwearing yet comfortable netting. This hammock-like approach also has the benefit of allowing cool or warm air to circulate around the occupant’s body for extra comfort.
Shopping bags, briefcases and smaller items of luggage can be stowed behind the driver’s seat while if the driver is travelling solo, larger items can be stowed in the passenger footwall.
City car research
“We did a great deal of research into how people use their cars in the city. We found that for 90 percent of the time, the driver was alone. For five percent of the time there was one passenger and for four percent of the time there were two passengers. You can do the math to find out how often four or more people were in the car!” says Bancon.
“We gave the second seat much more room than normal because when you take one passenger in your car it is usually someone you love and you want to make sure he or she is being carried in outstanding comfort,” he adds.
Natural materials
Many of the materials used inside Nuvu reflect an increasing concern for the environment. The floor is made from wood fibres pressed into laminate sheets and is studded with rubber inserts made from recycled tyres for grip.
To create a light and bright interior, the windscreen and roof merge into one extended panel running virtually the entire length of the car. But undoubtedly the most unusual feature of the interior is the ‘energy tree’ which rises from the luggage compartment floor to the roof behind the driver’s seat.
Solar panels
The energy tree is shaped like a thin trunk. As it reaches daylight it branches out under the glass roof providing occupants with protection from bright sunlight… just like a real tree. And providing a visual reminder of Nuvu’s green credentials, covering the branches are dozens of small solar panels shaped like leaves.
The panels absorb energy from the sun which is then fed back down the energy tree and used to help recharge the battery and provide an extra power boost for the electric motor. As well as being genuinely green energy, it is estimated that the power generated via the solar panels will save the equivalent of one full overnight charge from mains electricity each month.
Driver controls are as simple as possible. All the major functions – steering, braking, transmission and throttle – are ‘By-Wire’ while the steering is controlled by an aircraft-style steering yoke: with just one turn from lock to lock, the steering is very direct for agility and manoeuvrability in the city. Nuvu’s turning circle is just 3.7 metres. Thanks to its wide track and the use of 16 inch 165/55 tyres mounted on lightweight, almost transparent, wheels, ride comfort, stability and agility is of the highest order.
There are two pedals – for stop and go – stalks for minor controls and a digital instrument panel with dials for speed, distance covered and battery range. The instrument panel itself is formed of layers – rather like an onion – and like the energy tree is another example of design inspired by nature. “We call it bio-mimicry,” says Bancon.
Rear view/parking monitor
Two screens on the dashboard display the view behind the car – there are no door mirrors to disturb the airflow, but small cameras – and double as monitors for the Around View Camera which give a bird’s eye view of the car when manoeuvering or parking.
Saving energy was the guiding force behind the use of low-energy LED head and tail lamps, while Nuvu’s heating and ventilation system filters and cleans the city air as it passes through the vehicle. Not only does it produce no emissions at source, but Nuvu actually helps clean up the city environment.
Exterior and interior design
“Nuvu’s design is further clear evidence of Nissan’s continued desire to challenge convention and to explore all the possibilities that the EV could bring us. In many ways it was inspired by our two most extreme EVs of recent times: Mixim and Pivo 2.
“Significantly, though, Nuvu delivers a more realistic interpretation of two of the most important aspects of its forerunners – the ‘Friendly Innovation’ found in Pivo 2 and the ‘Sports Dynamics’ central to Mixim
“The result? We have designed a radical concept car that with just a few changes could go into production tomorrow,” explains Masato Inoue, Chief Designer, Product Design Department, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Developed by designers at Creative Box Inc. – Nissan’s design think-tank – Nuvu’s green house has flowing lines with gentle curves inspired by nature. The distinctive shape of the door glass on either side gives the impression of a hot air balloon that’s being gently inflated by pressure from within, while tropical fish inspired the profile of the side window graphics as a whole.
This contrast between the natural, fluid shape of the greenhouse and the strength implied by the solidity of the lower body gives Nuvu a feeling of quality rarely found in a compact car.
Colour and materials
Nuvu’s visual impact is further enhanced by its unique body colour. Developed by Nissan Design, the shade is officially called Soft Feel Sandy Gold.
Matching the ecological values of an electric vehicle, the moulded plastics and synthetic elements found inside a typical production car have been replaced by natural materials and organic alternatives, such as the wood fibres and rubber from car tyres used for the flooring. The result helps create a relaxed, warm atmosphere within Nuvu’s cabin.
During the design development stage, key targets were to develop an EV that encompassed obvious modernity with engaging ambience and a playful aspect – hence the energy tree. “You don’t need to be a car lover to fall in love with Nuvu,” adds Bancon.
EV drivetrain
Nuvu is more than a styling concept of a future EV. It is a fully working mobile test bed for much of the technology that will be used in Nissan’s production EV to be launched in 2010. For this reason elements of its technical specification are being kept secret for the time being.
The electric motor used in Nuvu is mounted at the rear of the vehicle and drives the back wheels, though neither its exact specification nor the power and torque figures are being released at this stage. A driving range of 125 kms and top speed of 120 km/h are being made public, however.
Li-Ion battery
Similarly although it can be revealed that the batteries used are of the latest laminated lithium-ion type and have a capacity of 140 Wh/kg (watt-hours per kilogram), the total capacity of the batteries and number of modules are not being disclosed at this stage.
Nissan began research into high output Li-Ion cells as long ago as 1992, but today development is carried out by Automotive Energy Supply Corp. (AESC), a joint venture company set up by Nissan and NEC Group.
Unlike a conventional lithium-ion battery with its bulky cylindrical cells, the laminated Li-Ion battery as used in Nuvu has thin laminated cells and fewer components overall. This boosts its power by a factor of 1.5 at the same time as halving its physical size. It also remains twice as efficient as a conventional cylindrical Li-Ion battery even after five years or 100,000 kms of continuous usage.
Another bonus of the compact cell construction is that a thin modular design is possible with a commensurate improvement in battery cooling efficiency. Higher power outputs are achieved through material improvements made to its lithium manganate positive electrode and carbon negative electrode. The use of chemically stable spinal-structured manganese for the positive electrode also helps ensure safe operation.
Its compact size allows the batteries to be mounted under the seats and the vehicle’s flat floor, thus helping to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible.
A quick charge from empty to full should take between 10 to 20 minutes while a full charge should take between three to four hours from a domestic 220V socket.
Typical users
“The people who will be drawn to a car like Nuvu are many and varied,” says Bancon. “It is a cross generational car and not a signature vehicle for one generation.
“There will be common threads, however. They will be early adopters but more importantly they regard themselves as urban citizens. They don’t just work or live in the city; they are part of the city. They want a car that somehow expresses who they are and which reflects their personal ideology.”
Conclusion
Although clearly a concept vehicle exploring aspects of future vehicle design, Nuvu nevertheless embodies many messages for today. Its clever interior provides ample headroom, legroom and comfort for most everyday needs without occupying more road space than it needs.
The use of recycled and natural materials underlines Nuvu’s environmental message and while the energy tree might be considered as a piece of whimsy, the use of solar energy is an entirely sensible and practical technological solution to aid an emission free future.
“Nuvu is a concept car, for sure, but it is an entirely credible vehicle,” says Bancon. “It is light, clean and easy to drive. It is practical and a sensible size, yet it is also embodies an element of fun: the future doesn’t look so bad, after all.”
A Final word on the concept
Okay, so here is the most exciting part……taking the design ( and off course the CAD model ) into the final stages……..and me getting some vital time to do the systems part…….but before that, a look at what i did in last three weeks or so….the most important stuff…….doing the interiors of the car, and making the car a bit more practical.
As you can notice, the design language follows the route set by BMW’s “Flame Surfacing”.
The intent is to create an interesting combination of convex / positive surfaces, convex / negative surfaces, and some rare flat surfaces that will embody the car’s volume in a way that justifies its function as a combination of ” City car” and an ” Utility Vehicle”.
The large wheels helps in adding to the car’s utilitarian character, while the transparent A – Pillar, the absence of B – Pillar, and the thick C-Pillar adds to the city car feel, where the passengers and drivers will enjoy the clear and unobstructed view of the surrounding city-scape.
The overall form of the car represents a strong character, which is necessary since its a part utility vehicle as well, while on the other hand, the low height and sleek surfacing gives it the agility and sophistication of a city car.
The design is dominated by two single curved lines, one which forms the shoulder line and runs over the front wheel arch, and the other which runs down the C-Pillar and cuts through the two doors to meet the front wheel arch.
The first curved line that i mentioned helps to give the car a fairly backward stance, indicating clearly that it is not a powerful car. On the other hand, the other curved line, which is aided by the two-tone color combination, helps in creating a visual shift of balance equally in the favor of front and rear.
Most of the surfaces exhibit a sense of function, which is a must for any utility vehicle. Amongst those, are
- The two separate shutters for the cargo bays at the rear end ( one for the flat floor bed for storage of long items and other one on the top for additional storage of large items ).
- The centrally split rear windows and the flat top rear end leading to it.
- The Front Scooped portion.
Reversed hinged doors ( better known as suicide doors ) opening at an angle of 90 degrees – allowing easy access to all the 4 seats.
Wait……..don’t start with the usual criticism of the front scoop yet……….because its nothing but a cargo area, and i have a couple of renderings showing the retractable cargo cover made out of reinforced fabric, which is supposed to be the solution for the front cargo bay.
I can understand your situation, as we have all grown up seeing the bonnets and specifically the ” power bulges ” on the bonnets giving us a clear idea as to how powerful the monster under the bonnet is.
Earlier, i had just planned to leave the front scoop the way it is, because it was meant to be a symbolic representation of a ” non-powerful ” car , by giving a negative bulge in a way….but people around me are so conventional, that they are used to see conventional things under the name of design, hence nobody seemed to welcome the idea of having a ” BONNET – LESS ” car- as nobody understood that im actually reducing the overall weight and visual mass of the car, and it was also about eliminating the material used to make bonnet and the hinges, etc.
Off course people asked -” if you want to make a bonnet-less car, then why don’t you make a VAN instead ?”
AGAIN – Conventional questions !
I didn’t bother to answer that, because i didn’t want my concept for car-sharing system to look like a van, since i had imagined it to be a combination of a city car and a utility vehicle. And i was ready to deviate a little from the conventional shape of a today’s car….others sadly couldn’t digest it.
I would like to question – WHY DO WE NEED BONNET ANYWAYS ? ” Just to hide the Engine ?
And what if there is no Engine there ? That’s it……there should be no hood at all.
And that is exactly why I still decided to keep the scoop as it is………in spite of all the possible discouragement by faculties, other designers, batch mates, etc……………. by using it as a cargo bay, and just giving a retractable fabric cover which will provide easy access to the small luggage bags.
Off course, the electric powered, retractable, reinforced and water-proof fabric cover will run along the guide rails, and fix into the top bit of the bumper via a simple locking mechanism.
CHECK THESE ONES ………….FOR THE SCOOP COVER
Okay, now enough explanation of the front scoop – since i have other interesting things to talk about as well.
INTERIOR DESIGN
The above few images show the seating mechanism of the car .
The seats are supported by the central shaft, which houses the fuel tank to store liquid hydrogen. So the seats rest on the fuel tank, and can be folded into a flat position, giving more than ample of space to slide large bags and daily cargo via the upper cargo bay at the rear end of the car.
Check out the section below, for a clear idea of the flat floor bed, and the additional cargo bay as well as the suspended flat-folding seats.
And since the seats are suspended over the fuel tank, it means that we get a clear , uninterrupted flat floor bed , which is very necessary for periodic cleaning purposes, considering that its a public transport vehicle.
The flat floor bed can be used for carrying large flat objects like surfboards, folding push-bikes, skateboards, etc, which comes to be very handy in case of day-to-day transportation of household goods.
Regarding the glowing wheels………well, the vehicle’s got a motor to propel it in each of its four wheels……so the neon lights in each wheel glow when the respective motors are powering the car – that means, if the car is being powered by the two front wheels, then only the front wheels will be glowing.
DESIGN OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL
The Instrument panel ( IP ) is a very simple one – in tune with the minimalistic theme for the interior.
Effectively speaking, there isn’t a thing called as ” DASHBOARD ” in the car.
The place for housing the IP is just an extension of the central shaft – with the 13 inch LCD screen acting as the balancing point between the central shaft and the central IP dock.
The touch screen LCD panel can be swiveled in both directions along a central pivot point , so that it can be controlled by either the driver or the front passenger.
It will give access to exclusive functions like satellite navigation, google maps, street view as secondary options, while the service interface being its primary function.
Since there are no switches and buttons on the IP Dock, the controls for commonly needed major functions like air-conditioning levels, audio settings, light and ambiance settings, door locks etc are provided on all the four doors for individual access, leaving the central console absolutely neat and uncluttered.
There is a space for docking the i Pods on the central shaft, wherein every user can listen to his/ her own music via the wireless headphones.
Also provided on an individual basis, are the charging sockets for their cell phones, laptops etc, and a foldable table-top for personal use.
In addition to the touch-screen LCD, the other two components of the IP are the two large semi-circular Pods over the top surface, one each for the rev counter and speed display.
Alternatively, if the member changes the settings through the LCD screen, he gets to see the fuel level indicators ; for Hydrogen and Battery reserve level respectively , in those same two pods.
The whole interior space is fairly uncluttered, with no obstacles or hurdles in the way of any passenger or driver, allowing clear access and exit through the doors.
There is ample legroom, shoulder room and headroom for all passengers owing to the design and layout of the seats and the central console.
The chief intent behind this kind of interior design is the fact that this vehicle will be used for car pooling as well, which means that four fairly unknown car sharing members could be traveling at the same time.
Henceforth, every member should have individual access to certain functions which otherwise would be shared / common ones in any other car.
MATERIALS USED
Following materials were researched to a certain extent, wherein their properties, applications, merits and demerits were studied, and proposed in following areas -
MAKROLON Plastic – for the body of the car.
ZEOFORM – For the molded seats.
CARBON FIBER – For the fuel tank and chassis only.
SISAL – for dashboard, interior panels like floorboards, inner door walls etc.
ALCANTARA – Alternative for leather used in trim and other upholstery.
HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps – new generation LED’s for headlamps.
INTERACTIVE LED lamps - for Blinkers.
LIGHT EMITTING WALLPAPER – for communication purpose .
SHAPE MEMORY POLYMER – for seat cushions, steering wheel etc.
IMPERMEABLE / WATER PROOF COTTON - for seat covers specially.
Man-made Modern Luxury Materials in Cars
Luxury, within the context of a car interior, has been closely related to the use of wood and leather for over a century. These natural materials have a familiar organic, tactile quality that are intrinsically desirable attributes for most people and, in today’s mass manufactured plastic world, they also assume a luxury or premium quality.
Throughout the last century, metal, leather and wood have also been progressively supplanted by bakelite, vinyl and then polymer-based plastic materials in car interiors as well. Initially plastic had a new (and therefore desirable) quality in cars, much in the same way that Napoléon Bonaparte had the world’s only set of aluminum cutlery for his most important dinner guests 200 years ago. Everyone else at his table had to make do with silver.
Today, more so than ever before, there is a common perception that leather is the material of choice for a car’s soft furnishings. Designers have little alternative but to specify this material for any upper-premium to luxury car. There is, however, one particular exception to this rule: Alcantara.
Alcantara is a unique type of man-made material that has much of the organic and tactile qualities associated with leather, and several other qualities as well. The material was invented in 1970 by Dr. Miyoshi Okamoto in Japan who then chose an Italian commercial partner to take the new material to market. Since then, Alcantara has become established in the automotive sector with many premium brands such as Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche using the material for seating, door furnishing, and roof linings.
The material has the central quality of a fine, suede-like soft texture. But, unlike suede or other leathers, Alcantara is softer, can be boldly colored and has several functional benefits: its high coefficient of friction locates the occupant more securely in their seat than any other car furnishing material, it is dimensionally stable when wet, and is light for its strength – a whole car interior covered with Alcantara is from 30 to 50 percent lighter compared to leather.
Relative to leather, the material also has the benefit of ‘breathability’, which means that it is not too hot in summer or too cold in winter. Alcantara can also be combined with several materials – such as metals, resins and foams – without changing the surface appearance. It can be applied using different technologies, such as standard cut and sew, thermo-forming, in-situ Reaction Injection Molding, and In Mold Decoration. The Alcantara company then adds to the material’s intrinsic qualities by offering many different treatments: perforation, embossing, embroidering, laser cutting, lamination, electro- and thermo-welding and printing.
Alcantara is a good example, if not the only example, of a man-made material for car interiors that has organic tactile qualities typically associated with natural materials. Its success in the market illustrates what premium car buyers want and expect from car interior materials to such an extent that its brand name is now referenced by car companies because it is recognized as having a strong added value by consumers – a unique achievement.
With many other areas of car interiors still reliant on generic plastics – often with an embossed leather grain – and occasionally a veneer of wood or thin strip of metal, there seems to be a significant opportunity for new man-made materials to cater to the many consumers wanting modern interior environments. For these buyers, and the makers of the vehicles in which it is featured, Alcantara has established itself as the desirable, premium material of choice for car interiors.
Hello SPRING season – and Hello Daylight Saving !
YES !!!! 5th October – Spring season starts officially in Australia !!!!!!
This is magnificent and beautiful !!!!!! Never seen before stuff !!!!!
This is a reminder for all of you in Australia – to turn your clocks forward ONE hour for the official start to day light saving on Sunday 5 October, 2008.
Turn Your Clocks FORWARD by ONE HOUR .
2008/2009
Starts: 2am Standard Time (Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday 5 October, 2008
Ends: 3am Standard Time (Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday 5 April, 2009 .
Daylight saving time (DST; also, summer time in British English; see Terminology) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn. Modern DST was first proposed in 1907 by the English builder William Willett. Many countries have used it since then; details vary by location and change occasionally.
The practice is controversial.[1] Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours,[2] but causes problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun.[3][4] Extra afternoon daylight reduces traffic fatalities;[5] its effect on health and crime is less clear. Although an early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a primary use of electricity,[6] modern heating and cooling usage patterns greatly differ and research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited and contradictory.[7]
DST’s clock shifts can serve as fire safety reminders,[8] but they complicate timekeeping and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, recordkeeping, medical devices, and heavy equipment.[9] Many computer-based systems can adjust their clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST rules change.[10]
Day VIII – Splitting up the Cad model for CNC Milling
Now that the model was properly knitted, and converted into a solid without too much difficulties, time for splitting it up into parts which can me CNC milled. To make a physical model out of timber /soft wood, the 3 axis CNC router in the RMIT workshop demanded every single part / piece to be less than 90 mm – coz thats what the depth of the Drill bit was…..still it was recommended by Paul, the one man army at the workshop – that the parts should be 80 mm deep to be on the safer side.
And off course………..after all the above parts will be milled and glued together…….and with the wheels in their respective place…the car should look very close to what we see below -
Keep looking for more….
Day VII – Cad Model
So with most of the surfaces and knitting done – it was time to do a solid model of it…….and some minor fillets and adjustments as well……..so that the model could be converted into IGES file and the work on the physical model could be started as soon as possible.
Awesome Mercedes Commercial
iHologram – whats new from iPPLE
A New Dimension to Sustainability – to work hand-in-hand with car-sharing program
Sell Sustainability
As natural resources diminish everyday, a sustainable way of making products slowly also becomes economic. Sustainability and a flourishing economy don’t have to be enemies. Far from it!
William mcDonough is an architect that takes this vision into practice and builds factories and buildings that are both more economic and more sustainable. Read more on MSNBC ( google it … )
Similar to solar panels, sustainable products can be an investment. A high purchasing price might return low usage costs. But solar panels don’t sell…
There are four types of people in making choices financially -
1.controllers
2.aspirers
3.advise sensitives
4.ease orientated.
Solar panels only aim at the small group of controllers that have an idealistic view on the environment. This ‘brand’ should aim at the other three groups by using the message of ‘Enabling people to show-off their environmental consciousness’.
The Lease program
> Cars stay in ownership of the company.
> Leasing means a contract for three years or a certain amount of kilometers, after that a new car can be purchased.
> Now the difference: after three years the car is being ‘upcycled’: parts like a fuel-cell and electro motors might be updated and reused in the new models, while structural- and bodyparts are shredded and recycled into a new car.
> All is done in a ‘green’ facility that gets its energy from natural resources.
> Customers pay for the hippest sizzle on the street and can keep up-to-date.
> These cars do not have to be expensive.
> This approach doesn’t have to stay limited to cars.
Hydrogen Filling Station
A solution to the distribution problems of introducing hydrogen as a fuel can be a network of self sustaining filling stations. These self-service stations use wind and solar energy to convert water into hydrogen. The water could even be reused from the cars.
GM Design Intern Program
Triobike: Three is the Magic Number
They’re so cool, they started the Dogme film movement. They’re so cool, they’re 83% Lutheran. They’re so cool, they can make bikes with a stroller attachment (which are admittedly not as crave worthy a concept as say a Balenciaga bag) into something super desirable. From the country that loves biking as much as they do open rye bread sandwiches, comes the triobike.
As the name suggests, Denmark’s uber stylish triobike comprises three main functions: a carrier bike; a bike; and pushchair (that’s stroller for you guys). Which adds up to an exciting new concept in transportation, especially for parents with a penchant for cycling. Here’s what sets it apart from other kid wheeling bikes. While a regular carrier bike is great when you have kids in it, once they’ve been dropped off why pedal harder than you have to? With the triobike, you drop the kids off to daycare/school/the mine (I’m kidding), leave the front carrier there and bicycle solo onto work. The trio also gives you the flexibility of having your spouse pick up the kids, simply fitting the carrier onto their bikes or walking home with the kids in the stroller.
It’s not only the pedal-happy Danes who enjoy are the triobike. The concept has also taken off in other parts of Europe including England where “influential mums” like Jools Oliver own and rave about their trios, while TV chef husband, chef Jamie uses them for local deliveries for his philanthropic Fifteen restaurant. The triobike is a triumph of design with all three components working as super stylish as separates (I especially love the Jetson-inspired stroller) whilst epitomizing versatility and function when put together. With six color schemes to choose from: urban jungle; candy floss; knight rider; pink power; bumble bee; and ice baby, the triobike really is irresistible.
Not as Green as it Seems – Hydrogen as a sustainable Fuel
By Christian Wüst
BMW is manufacturing the first series of hydrogen fueled cars. They’re not as green as they seem. For a start, they’re incredibly thirsty — and they will put more strain on the environment than a heavy diesel truck.
There’s a new method for fueling cars. Instead of the usual dispenser nozzle, a plastic hose about the size of a sewage pipe is attached to the vehicle. An automatic clasp closes automatically around the tank opening.
The airtight hose system was developed by Germany’s Linde conglomerate and has already been installed at several German gas stations. It’s designed to allow the average person to fill his or her car with liquid hydrogen in just eight minutes. Berlin is one of the few places that already disposes of such a filling station.
Last week, German car-maker BMW used the facility to present car testers with the first small series vehicle in the world that drives on both gas and liquid hydrogen. The “Hydrogen 7,” will be part of BMW’s upscale “7″ series of vehicles, and BMW is now carefully preparing to make the new car available to customers.
Starting in March, the car will be delivered to about 100 celebrities, but so far BMW is keeping mum about their names or what their leasing rates might be. The car’s developers are hoping to gain insight into the practical reliability of a technology many consider the be all and end all of the car industry’s ecologically clean and climate friendly future.
The Munich-based company is promising “sustainable mobility and sheer joy of driving,” citing the car’s 260 horsepower, 12-cylinder engine. The Hydrogen 7’s standard combustion engine has been adapted to run on both liquid hydrogen and regular gasoline as well — and tons of it. The company says the car will consume an average of 13.9 liters (3.7 gallons) per 100 kilometers (roughly 17 miles per gallon) using regular gasoline and a whopping 50 liters to drive the same distance when fuelled by hydrogen.
In other words, BMW has created an energy-guzzling engine that only seems to be environmentally friendly — a farcical ecomobile whose only true merit is that of illustrating the cardinal dilemma of a possible hydrogen-based economy.
The problem is that hydrogen is in scarce supply and producing it requires vast amounts of energy. Climate-friendly production of liquid hydrogen on a large scale presupposes a virtually unlimited supply of ecologically produced electricity — not something likely to materialize in the near future. That’s why energy experts from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy believe forcing the transition to a hydrogen-based economy within the next three to four decades is “not an ecologically sound” idea.
Storing the volatile energy source also requires energy and money. The only method that promises a reasonable storage life is liquid storage at temperatures below -253 degrees Celsius (-423 degrees Fahrenheit). The process of cooling the storage facility down to such a low temperature alone uses up to one-third of the energy contained in one fuel tank.
Volatile fuel
BMW’s thermo-tank, specially designed to hold liquid hydrogen as well as regular gasoline, has the same diameter as the drum of a washing machine. It has a volume of 170 liters (45 gallons) and takes up half the trunk. But it can only hold eight kilograms (17.6 lbs) of the extremely light hydrogen fuel — barely enough for a 200 kilometer (124 mile) trip. What’s more, some of the tank’s contents have to be released as they heat up and evaporate — even the best insulation system can’t keep temperatures down forever. After nine days, half the tank load has gone bad.
BMW’s competitors are somewhat puzzled by the company’s decision to adapt combustion engines — known for their high fuel consumption — so that they will run on a fuel as sensitive and problematic as liquid hydrogen. “We think it’s non-sense,” says Frank Seyfried, research director for hydrogen-based propulsion at Volkswagen.
With the exception of BMW, every car company out there is betting on a different technology: fuel cells, which transform hydrogen into electricity via a chemical process. The electricity generated in the process then drives the vehicle. This method promises far greater efficiency, but the current technology yields only modest driving performance. Test cars with fuel cell engines can produce between 50 and 90 kilowatts, but they consume only about 14 liters of hydrogen per 100 kilometers (62 miles) — a fuel value corresponding to that of four liters (one gallon) of gasoline.
BMW’s chief developer Klaus Draeger still thinks there’s good reason not to shelve the combustion engine. “It’s the only engine that meets our requirements in terms of dynamics,” he explains.
And so, in creating the Hydrogen 7, BMW is announcing a future of putatively clean, full-throttle driving. The new car caters to the pleasing fantasy of customers spoiled by high-horsepower engines: That they can conform to ecological standards without making any sacrifices, burning “clean” fuel to their heart’s content. Advertizing images display the Hydrogen 7 against a backdrop of wind turbines and solar panels.
But the image is one of deceit. Because the hydrogen dispensed at the new filling station is generated primarily from petroleum and natural gas, the new car puts about as much strain on the environment as a heavy truck with a diesel engine. Add the loss of environmental benefits involved in the production and transportation of the putatively clean fuel to the consumption of the car itself and you get an actual consumption corresponding to considerably more than 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of fossil fuel.
The environment isn’t the only loser: Customers will also have to shell out a lot of money for their deceptive display of ecologically responsible driving. The current standard price for liquid hydrogen is 57 euro cents (0.73 US cents) per liter (0.3 gallons). And the price tag on a 100 kilometer (62 mile) drive in the Hydrogen 7, at a comfortable speed, is about €30 ($38).
H.I.D – The new age LED lighting system
IT flashes, points and lights up puddles. The humble side mirror has come a long way from simply supplying a rearward glimpse of traffic, and it is all because of new lighting technology.
Flashing mirrors are only part of a larger technology push that is changing the look and function of a car’s lights. Carmakers call these lights and lenses jewelry, and cars are increasingly adorned with more of them as new plastics, electronics and manufacturing methods change necessary but dull structures into bright and sexy selling points.
Most noticeable may be high-intensity discharge, or H.I.D., headlights, whose blue-white glow contrasts sharply with the yellow light of ordinary tungsten filament headlights. The xenon-gas-based H.I.D. lights generate a spectrum that is much closer to sunlight, so they appear brighter, giving drivers who use them a visual advantage after dark.
”The H.I.D. is more expensive, but you get two and a half times the light,” said Mark Evans, engineering group manager of exterior lighting for General Motors.
The H.I.D. headlight requires a different design. In one form, it resembles a bulbous round lens deep inside a shiny headlight module. This is called a projector headlight, and it works much like a slide projector. Instead of one light for ordinary driving and a separate high-beam headlight for longer-distance vision, the projector lens uses a single bulb and moves the reflector shield surrounding it to change the light focus.
H.I.D. lights have been common on European luxury cars, and Cadillac cars will soon carry them as standard equipment. Ford’s Lincoln line is also using them.
A BLENDING of North American and European approaches is emerging, too, in the way light is beamed in front of a car. American designers have traditionally used a diffuse focus, with the pool of light created by the headlights fading at the far reaches, while European designers favor a precise cutoff at a set distance for the headlight beam to reduce surplus glare. As headlamps become brighter and more engineered, automakers are tending to the European approach.
Even where the specialty lights are not yet in use, headlight assemblies themselves have been changed significantly. Where once a headlight bulb existed, today there is a multifaceted lens assembly carrying four or more separate bulbs. These can include a low beam, a high beam, a daytime running light and a special turning lamp that throws white light in the direction the car is about to go.
Another star player of the emerging design revolution is the light-emitting diode, or L.E.D., the same green, amber or red solid-state widget that has been used for decades in computer equipment and home appliances. In the 1990’s, technology advances created reliable high-intensity diodes, and carmakers were charmed.
”The L.E.D.’s illuminate about 200 milliseconds faster than a light bulb, which doesn’t sound like much but equals about a full car length at 65 miles per hour,” said Al Gagne, an engineering spokesman at G.M.
Mr. Gagne said the L.E.D.’s created faster taillights to help prevent collisions, and soon might be bright enough to use in headlight assemblies.
In addition to being fast to light up, L.E.D.’s have other advantages. They use only 20 percent of the electricity it takes to power fragile and failure-prone light bulbs. They generally last longer than most cars. They emit less heat than bulbs, which frees car designers to replace huge, clunky taillight assemblies with slim, elegant ones.
The first L.E.D. taillights were crude industrial chic, mostly for delivery trucks and tractor-trailers. Automakers began using them in the extra taillight called a chimsel, for center high-mounted stop lamp, but as reliability increased, the diodes moved on. G.M. put its first L.E.D. taillights on the 2000 Cadillac DeVille.
”You’re going to see G.M. come out with designs that showcase the L.E.D.’s a little bit more,” Mr. Gagne said.
With the appropriate glues and heat-dissipating design, future taillights might become a stick-on external component, freeing trunk space and simplifying the use of sheet metal, which now must be pierced to hold lamp assemblies.
The diodes have also been popped into side mirrors to function as extra turn indicators. Mercedes-Benz uses L.E.D. technology for both brake lights and extra turn signals — called repeaters — on its S-Class sedan and CL-Class coupes.
Signal repeaters on the front sides of European cars have been required for a long time, but Mercedes-Benz came up with a twist, putting signal repeaters in the front of the mirrors on the 2000 S-Class.
Muth Mirror Systems of Sheboygan, Wis., an auto supplier, has a side mirror that flashes a chevron-shaped line of diodes when a turn signal is activated; they have appeared as original equipment on premium Ford trucks and sport utility vehicles, including the Excursion. The mirrors are sold as ”power safety signal mirrors” on the 2002 Windstar minivan, in which they also flash in the side mirror to show that a sliding door is open and passengers may be exiting.
The Donnelly Corporation of Holland, Mich., has its bulb-based side mirror signals installed on G.M.’s GMC 360 sport utility vehicles, which sell as the TrailBlazer, Envoy and Bravada. Donnelly’s mirrors combine turn signals and ”puddle lights,” an increasingly popular feature that shines a small spotlight on the ground near car doors to help the driver and passengers avoid stepping into a mess after dark. The light is activated by opening the driver’s door or by a remote entry key fob.
THE Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says there is no research yet to indicate that the side-mirror signals improve safety. Not enough cars equipped with the systems are on the road to measure their effectiveness, said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the institute.
But if the signals are even somewhat as effective as daytime running lights or chimsel brakelights, side-mirror signaling and advanced headlight and brakelight systems may end up saving hundreds of lives and millions of dollars in property damage annually.
Though many drivers do not like them, automotive researchers say that daytime running lights have reduced multiple vehicle crashes during daylight hours. A study completed last year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found a 3 percent decline in such crashes in a nine-state area during the time period that daytime running light systems were introduced.
The figures seem to show that lighting cars for visibility is beneficial. The systems have typically used either regular headlamps at half their normal brightness or special marker lamps near the headlights. Carmakers are now experimenting with cutting down the brightness to try to make daytime running lights more appealing to customers.
The same safety logic has led to the introduction of what are called rear fog lights. The lights are actually an amplified version of the typical taillight, and they are meant to brighten the rear marker lamps of a car so that drivers coming up from behind will notice a car sooner in foggy or hazy conditions.
Lighting has become so important, automotive executives say, that lighting engineers are now routinely included during the earliest phases of car design and production. Concept cars that once were displayed with generalized, nonroadworthy head and taillamps are now displayed in all their shining glory.
Designing Cars for Low-Carbon Chic
As governments seek to cut carbon emissions through regulation and consumers react to rising fuel prices, automakers and designers are mapping out a new generation of lighter, sleeker vehicles that could give a radical new look to urban streets.
Toyota has already set a benchmark for low emissions and fuel economy. Its Prius model, introduced in 1997, pioneered new technologies, including the first fully integrated hybrid engine, able to switch between gasoline and battery power, and electronic and computerized controls replacing heavy hydraulic systems.
Toyota has been followed by another Japanese company, Honda, with a Civic hybrid, and a string of releases or planned models from European and American competitors. Carmakers are now racing to design more innovative bodies incorporating advanced aerodynamics and light, biodegradable plastic components. They are also trying to second-guess the kind of styling that the next generation of car buyers will want.
Gilles Vidal, designer of a recent “green” concept car, the C-Cactus, for the French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroën, said, “To make a real environmental effort, you need to work on all of the possible factors — materials, optimization of processes, simplifying, going back to essentials.”
Students at Créapôle, a leading industry-sponsored design school in Paris, are among those working with manufacturers to develop new designs and technologies that could become auto industry standards.
Alec Moran, a final-year master’s student at the school, said that instead of selling cars based on the size of the engine, the car’s relationship with its surroundings and how it interacts with people should be increasingly important.
“We are trying to develop the aesthetic element of the shape and interior comfort while assimilating the car’s essence to the cultural needs of a particular social group,” he said.
The evolution in fuel economy is continuing. For example, Ford fitted its EcoBoost engine this year to the new Lincoln MKS and Ford Flex models. The motor combines direct injection for higher fuel efficiency with additional turbo-charged power generated by using waste exhaust gas energy.
Guy Negre, a motor engineer and founder of MDI Enterprises, a company that studies new technologies and production concepts to reduce the environmental impact of carbon dioxide, invented a compressed-air engine in 1996. The engine emits one-third the carbon dioxide of conventional motors of the same size. Cold air, compressed in tanks to 300 times atmospheric pressure, is heated and fed into the cylinders of a piston engine. No combustion takes place, meaning there is no pollution, although the energy needed to compress the air may still come from polluting oil- or coal-burning power stations.
“Obviously, we are obliged to make changes to the design in relation to the requirements and specifics of new technologies,” Mr. Negre said. “The weight, for example, is extremely important for many reasons. The heavier a vehicle is, the more energy is needed to power it and the more it pollutes.”
Mr. Negre’s engine will be offered as an option in Tata Motor’s new production model, the Nano, next year. The Nano, a minicar with an ultralow price tag, was introduced in January and is primarily aimed at the Indian market. Mr. Negre said a full tank of compressed air would cost about $3 and provide about 200 kilometers, or 125 miles, of driving. The tank could be filled by gas station compressors used for inflating tires, or a built-in compressor powered by plugging in to an electrical outlet, he said.
Designers at automakers like Chrysler, Toyota and Citroën are already adapting to changing customer needs and perceptions. The Citroën C-Cactus, a retro take on the legendary 2CV, is designed for a post-SUV urban world where small is beautiful and low environmental impact is a top priority.
Maria Mack, a senior design specialist in Brussels for Toyota, said, “From the very first stage of design, the project leader responsible for a particular vehicle sets environmental impact reduction targets.”
The C-Cactus is an example of how manufacturers are experimenting to reduce the industry’s total carbon footprint, including production and driving emissions. Besides choosing a hybrid engine, Mr. Vidal, its designer, said, he halved the weight of the car and simplified everything that could be simplified to cut energy consumption.
Olivier Frémont, head of Créapôle’s department of transport design, said: “Four or five years ago much of our design work was focused on the Chinese and emerging markets. But in the last three years or so trends have radically changed as designers have become much more ecologically minded.”
He added, “We are regularly looking to simplify the vehicle whether it be outside or inside,” and he said that “we are coming back to basic questions of what is actually useful inside the vehicle, what we actually need.”
Mr. Moran, the Créapôle student, has designed a car that addresses two main issues: the escalation of oil prices and the need to minimize environmental impacts. His car runs on an electric motor using a lithium-ion battery, substantially lighter than traditional lead-acid batteries. It has a chassis made of bamboo, reinforced with spiders’ silk and plant resin.
Car companies like Mazda are looking to bioplastics for the fenders and dashboards of future models. Mazda says that the plastic will be made from cellulosic biomass produced from inedible vegetation like plant waste and wood shavings. Toyota’s concept car, the COMS BP, an electric vehicle, also uses bioplastics for some of its body parts, including the hood, pillars and roof.
Mr. Moran said his car was designed for people he likes to call “No-Nos” — those who reject mainstream consumerism and popular advertising.
“ ‘No-Nos’ are a growing minority of people who care a great deal about their carbon footprint,” Mr. Moran said. “Aesthetically conventional but technically advanced,” he said, his target buyers would be “activist consumers who are both thoughtful and introspective.”
Cyril Randuineau, another master’s student at the school, spent some time at Toyota’s main design center in Tokyo, where he studied cultural trends and noticed that many Japanese people had small garages and tended to travel in groups.
His response was to design a car with a miniaturized hybrid engine to maximize passenger space within a small frame, and a molded cocoonlike interior where driver and passengers could relax in comfort when stationary.
He has also designed a car for an emerging African market that he hopes will take off in the future. He says that rising oil prices will open up the market for exciting new technologies using electricity and solar power, all of which will change the shape and functions of the car.
“It’s uncertain that this type of car would actually have mass appeal,” Mr. Moran said. “The aim of this project is really to throw the idea out there.”
BMW Design Chief Sees Art on Wheels; Some Just See Ugly
Since the 1960’s, BMW has pried open the wallets of the affluent by producing handsome, conservative cars known for handling, performance, luxury and, most of all, status.
But now, even as BMW threatens to overtake Toyota’s Lexus as the best-selling luxury brand in the United States, a 46-year-old American executive from Wisconsin is not satisfied. He is trying to make the yuppie dream car as idiosyncratic as it once was predictable. And a lot of longtime BMW lovers hate him for it.
Christopher E. Bangle, BMW’s first non-German design chief, wants each BMW to be a conversation piece known as much for design as precision engineering. Where BMW’s all looked very much alike, he is trying to make each model different — some with bulging back ends, some with unusually reflective surfaces and sharp curves, and some, like the Mini, just plain small.
Why change what is already succeeding? BMW’s new chief executive, Helmut Panke, is asking Mr. Bangle to help raise United States sales of BMW’s almost 50 percent, to 300,000, in just a few years. And that demand comes even as many other car makers enter the luxury car market, which, they think, will be the fastest-growing part of the business in the coming decade.
Mr. Bangle’s answer is to make cars that stand apart from the crowd and appeal to younger buyers’ sense of individuality. ”Car design got into a comfort zone in the 80’s and 90’s and people were terrified to break out of it,” Mr. Bangle said. ”BMW should be applauded for having the courage to say the future is ahead of us, guys.”
But many devotees view him as an interloping artiste sullying the exalted Bimmer by trying to foist on it his version of hipness. The controversy began early this year, when the talk of the industry was the bumptious trunk lid of the 7 Series sedan, which bulges above its posterior.
”It’s a very Wagnerian-looking car; that back end, you can’t explain it,” said Horst Reinhardt Jr., a 32-year-old mechanical engineer who lives in the Detroit suburbs and drives an older BMW but is not sure he will be able to stay with the brand. ”It’s just plain ugly,” he said. (Sales have not been deterred though; they are up 45 percent this year.)
Others have been puzzled by the design of the company’s new interior control system, iDrive, which unifies a dizzying array of functions into a single knob and has left some drivers scrambling for the manual just to start a new BMW. (”iDrive?” went a headline in Road & Track magazine. ”No, you drive while I fiddle with the controller.”)
BMW has also introduced a line of Mini cars, featured in the latest installment of the Austin Powers movies. And mixed feelings have sprung afresh with the recent debut of the company’s Z4 roadster, which resembles a metallic shark with a highly reflective surface and unusual lines. ”Just plain goofy looking,” is how one reviewer, in Automobile magazine, describes it.
Some BMW fans, who have long viewed their cars as unassailable temples, fear worse could be ahead. One of BMW’s most controversial recent prototypes was even off-kilter, with a back end that looked like it sprang from a Cubist paintbrush.
”There’s not one human being on this planet that symmetrical,” Mr. Bangle said. ”So why do we demand it of an emotional product?”
One of a coterie of designers trained at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., in the 1970’s who have gone on to leading industry roles, Mr. Bangle exudes confidence. He hails from Wausau, Wis., a town founded by logging barons. The name is an Indian word for ”faraway place.” Insurance is now the town’s biggest industry, hunting and fishing are favorite hobbies and the Green Bay Packers are a religion. If Mr. Bangle still pronounces ”roots” like ”puts,” in the Midwestern style, he has become somewhat Continental after marrying a Swiss woman and spending the last 21 years working for carmakers in Europe (the last decade for BMW).
Queried about his rank, he asked an American handler: ”I’m not a V.P., am I? I have no idea what I am in English.” He sometimes slipped into German as he talked to an American reporter.
Mr. Bangle has much of the deep-thinking artistic soul in him. He is supremely intense. At a dinner at the Detroit Institute of Arts — sitting under an imposing Diego Rivera mural depicting the auto industry of the 1930’s — he briefly grew teary when describing the frustrations of a profession that has him telling his artists, all at various points, that projects of years in duration will never see the light of day. Such is the car business.
Mr. Bangle often speaks in language that floats beyond pedestrian conversation and can leave one a little puzzled. For instance, he calls the Z4 a car that ”truly separates itself far apart visually from the predecessors of the last century.” How? To the untrained eye, it might look like just a flashy new roadster. But Mr. Bangle said it was a leap beyond other cars the way sculpture changed when classical sculptors discovered the power of draping cloth on nude forms and infusing them with motion.
”That nude, now with the revealing and energizing aspect of a tissue of cloth, is the Z4,” he said. ”To me that’s as big a jump in terms of aesthetic value systems as there was between an Eve before the fall, where she was innocent and pure, and the sexiness that she had was an animalistic pureness that radiated out of her, and an Eve after the fall who discovered and was aware of the surface of her body, could use clothes and the drapery of form, a slit here an opening there, to bring a new kind of erotic sensuality. Same woman, two different aspects.”
When Mr. Bangle joined the Munich-based BMW in 1992, the company had not even had a chief designer for several years. He has spent the last decade elevating his own role, and the role of design, to the point where he has the influence to play a major role in the transformation of the company’s image.
His hypercerebral approach to car design was apparent during an hourlong interview, in which he mentioned Archimedes, Vermeer, Pythagoras, Euclid and the British art historian Kenneth Clark.
Criticism? He is not shy in shrugging it off.
”I’ve often told people that the 7 Series, to me, is the first car of the century, in all of its contents and technical aspects and certainly in its presence,” he said. ”This car is miles apart from anything that came before.”
Not everyone can appreciate that. Even some dealers concede the car is not sold from the rear.
”No one falls in love with the trunk,” said Greg Dickson, general sales manager at Nick Alexander Imports in Los Angeles.
He added: ”Some people say it’s ugly. I say, come on, sit in this car for five minutes. You can’t see the trunk from the driver’s seat.”
The criticism has hardly hurt sales of the 7 Series — BMW’s most expensive line, starting at about $70,000 — which have increased 45 percent this year. One fan is Chris Cedergren, co-founder of a California firm that does market research for the auto industry.
”It moves away from everyone else and differentiates the brand,” he said. ”It makes a statement. The more you can get the consumer to be one with that vehicle and really link their emotion to that vehicle, that will translate into a situation where the consumer will say, ‘I want it.’ ”
”What Chris Bangle is doing is reading that into the marketplace, and, rightly so, developing vehicles that go after individual emotions,” he added.
BMW had 11.4 percent of the luxury car market in the United States during the first 10 months of the year, second only to Lexus, which had 11.6 percent. BMW’s share has doubled in a decade as domestic brands like Cadillac and Lincoln have plummeted, according to data compiled by Sanford C. Bernstein and Ward’s AutoInfoBank. BMW sales generally are up an impressive 17 percent this year, but all is not rosy in Wall Street’s eyes.
”The problem,” said Scott Hill, auto analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, ”is every single mainline vehicle manufacturer is now trying to take their product line upscale.”
Mr. Hill thinks the trend is already putting pressure on the company’s profit margins and will give BMW less flexibility to raise prices. He also says Lexus will have an advantage in an increasingly competitive environment because of Toyota’s greater manufacturing efficiencies.
Mr. Bangle is confident. But speculation has already begun on whether he will continue to push the design envelope or pull back.
Just don’t call his cars automobiles.
”We don’t make automobiles, which are utilitarian machines you use to get from Point A to Point B,” Mr. Bangle once wrote. ”We make cars, moving works of art.”
