Honda CRZ
Some time ago I asked myself a question: What’s going on with Honda? Hoping that this weird trend Honda was presenting in recent years will somehow get reversed. Hoping that they will announce a new S2000 – faster, lighter and… better. That TypeR badge will fight back for it’s name – to lead again in the class. And instead, they release CR-Z model… (and here I should put some fancy “facepalm” jpg to express my feelings more precisely). Read more…
Mazda 2: step in the right direction
Just watched this video (found it HERE originally). And I really liked what I saw… The topic is worth mentioning as the continuation of the thought stated in some previous post: Old vs New – are the cars getting better?. Video below, made by the Fifth Gear team is showing in a pretty straightforward way what weight does with the car. Especially a small one… It’s a about doing the right thing by a car maker… finally.
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2009 Subaru Impreza Boxer Diesel
I decided to write a comparison between these two versions of the Impreza. Both of them have totally different turbocharged engines: 2.5 l gasoline vs 2.0l diesel. They have their unique characteristics, pros and cons. Of course this won’t be a comparison of performance – the winner would be pretty obvious here (WRX). It’s about a real life average Joe’s choice: whether to buy an icon – fun and performance car or a reasonable and economical diesel version, that not necessarily lacks the fun factor… And it turns out the choice is not so obvious.
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Toyota iQ
Recent Toyota IQ premiere was a big success. All car media were talking about it. The car is said to revolutionize the way people look at city cars. And I almost believed that. The car is perfectly designed for this one purpose. Its about 180 inches long (less than 3 m) and is a 4-seater. Toyota did everything possible to make the people space the biggest possible in the car this size.
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However terrifying this post title may sound – it’s not so scary. It’s about ranking of car producers, based on some Supplier Working Relations Index. Toyota lost a top place for Honda. So the news are good 
I don’t believe that Toyota’s market share, will drop significantly in US in the longer run. Probably just after many years of raising in all charts, there must be some corrective fall.
But it still makes me happy If I was a supplier, I wouldn’t sell to them Go Honda…
However there are some signals from the markets, that American buyers are turning to homemade products – including cars. It’s probably the crisis-caused local patriotism. Let’s see how it turns out in the future…
Here You can find a full article – Source: Bloomberg
Few words about my favourite marketing product: Toyota Prius. I want to underline the marketing word as in opposite to Eco. I have to admit that it was the first of a kind (or at lease one of the firsts) – hybrid sold in numbers. And despite it’s ugliness – it was successful here and there. You can treat is as a regular car to drive everyday. Everything would be ok if it wasn’t for the aura of greatness, innovation and Eco label – that are being sticked to this piece of metal. The truth is this is not an “eco car”. It is sold as one, so California citizens can calm their conscience of having 6 liter Corvette as a husbands/sons/aunts second car
To the point… I would like to divide this post:
- About usability, economy – regular car characteristics
- Ecology in wider aspect
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I know that we have a global crisis. So they say. And according to this fact, this news is nothing shocking etc. All companies are in trouble…
Link – NY Times
But after reading this article I somehow feel better It makes me smile And there is even more “smile” to come in next year quarters.