Automotive opinion

If you are driving in northern Sweden in February, vehicle control on the icy roads is not only a necessity, but also a source of the greatest driving pleasure. It's not for nothing that Audi presented its new RS Q3 and RS Q3 Sportback on a frozen lake. Their outstanding driving characteristics come into their own here particularly well.

At first it is difficult to get used to the slick streets. With every oncoming truck you ask yourself the question: what if it now skids ...? In the new Audi, you quickly get used to the fact that, thanks to Quattro drive and spikes on the wheels, you stay in control. And you can clearly feel that the new generation RS Q3 far exceeds its predecessor in all criteria of driving dynamics. Read full article ... (1094 words, 4 images)

The association comments on the discussion at Hart but fair Environment technology law: “The first successes are proudly presented: The destruction of the intact power plants has already been ordered, the electricity has already been increased dramatically and blackouts have probably been made! Cheers in the stands!

The climate cult is a very profitable business, even for dubious scientists. Trillions of euros are stolen from citizens for this business. Most citizens do not notice this because common sense has been completely obscured. "Gretel we thank you!" Read full article ... (1662 words)

If you listen to the human resources departments of the automotive industry, it is not the climate catastrophe that is painted on the wall behind the scenes, but a “dramatic reduction in personnel that should only be communicated in slices.

This development will be confirmed on February 11, Daimler boss Olla Källenius at the balance sheet press conference. "And it will get worse," an insider told us. It is bad enough that instead of the recently rumored reduction of 10.000 Daimler jobs, there are now 15.000. Read full article ... (410 words)

When it comes to Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, the traditional auto industry has reached the end of its development. The car will become an “Internet device”. In his speech to executives, Diess described fewer problems in the auto industry, but essentially the problems of Volkswagen. The fact that speech among employees does not act as a motivational accelerator can be felt right up to the retailers.

"Today we have to sell our diesel and petrol engines and at the same time tell our customers that they should then buy the dying past and actually renounce it and take a battery-electric ID.3? That is an irreconcilable contradiction! ”Says the sales manager of a large Munich VW company. "With his speech, Diess took away any motivation to talk a customer into a new Golf ..." But it had to be sold "to finance the questionable e-mobility". And: “Every day, customers ask us whether it is better to wait with a new purchase. We have to bend our heads enormously in order to represent our products of today credibly. ” Read full article ... (726 words)

So much unity seems seldom in politics. In principle, Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze and parliamentary groups in the Bundestag seem to agree: synthetic fuels make sense. Most of them even see an opportunity for German industry to take a leading position here worldwide. You want to get started. In their view, the e-fuels produced with the help of electricity are exactly the stuff that will keep planes in the air, ships in motion and trucks in motion in the future - but not a passenger car, please. It should drive electrically. That's the plan. Read full article ... (878 words)

If you visit the CES in the gaming paradise of Las Vegas, which takes place in the first days of a new year, you think you are at a car show. Here, digitization in the automobile is more visible than at the car shows in Los Angeles, Geneva, Frankfurt or Detroit.

However, the highlights of consumer electronics also play an important role, but no longer the main role. Audi is one of the first manufacturers to discover the Consumer Electronic Show as a projection screen for innovative future developments. All major automakers are now present in Las Vegas. Read full article ... (974 words, 3 images)

When the Chancellor speaks of man-made climate change, even though she knows as a scientist the uncertainty of this claim, I doubt that she is a physicist. The intelligent, no cleverly orchestrated climate hysteria has led to the fact that with the CO₂- Guilty the government and the EU have virtually generated a money printing machine. CO₂ as a license for unlimited turning on the control screw.

I had just written these sentences when this open letter "fluttered" into my electronic mailbox, which the association UTR | Environment | Technology | Law | e.V. transmitted. Sender of the renowned graduate chemist Dr. rer. nat. Hans Penner. Read full article ... (962 words)

The Vienna Philharmonic is still playing the traditional New Year's concert, so I catch myself in the middle of a Korean manufacturer's configurator looking for the right infotainment for a compact SUV - with battery drive. Should I be one of the more than fifty percent of Germans considering buying an electric car? They raised me with petrol from an early age, first for the Fiat Topolino, then with a mixture for the DKW 1000 SP with a proud 55 hp. Read full article ... (676 words)

It was worth it that Toyota boss Akio Toyoda demanded more courage from his designers a few years ago and also gave them the necessary freedom. The striking design of the currently face-lifted C-HR (Coupé High Rider) has not been revised, but it has been skilfully polished.

The optical design revision of the front and rear view does not make the characterful crossover a new car, but in the sum of numerous renewed details it creates a modern and pleasing impression with a presence typical of SUVs. For example with narrow LED headlights and a sculptural front. The rear is dominated by a spoiler growing out of the roof and interestingly shaped taillights. The large wheels look for protection under muscular wheel arches and suggest impressively off-road capability, which the front-wheel drive as a crossover, i.e. as a compact SUV, does not want to show and should show. Read full article ... (663 words, 3 images)

China is years ahead of us in electromobility. This has been a mantra of environmental activists and the media for years. They saw German industry at risk because it allegedly refused to accept the technology change that had begun long ago. The Greens and even the anti-car association Deutsche Umwelthilfe with its less than 300 members were able to stand up and shed crocodile tears in torrents. With their extreme demands, they only wanted to enable the German automotive industry to survive, they claimed.

Author Peter Schwerdtmann Read full article ... (385 words, 1 image)

Those who believe in science sometimes have to wonder how changeable their findings are at times. Also to be observed on the cover pictures of magazines that disseminate the respective findings. Not only the renowned Time Magazine, but also German media warned of an impending ice age in the seventies to the eighties of the last century: "How To Survive The Coming Ice Age".

In 30 years' time, will we also look at today's climate discussion with the looming heat wave with amusement and realize that we were wrong with the looming "climate catastrophe"? We don't know, but even serious climate scientists like Hans von Storch warn less of a "climate catastrophe" than of the religious climate hysteria. For every weather event, this is referred to as the result of climate change. "Many of my colleagues are fed up with these exaggerations," says von Storch and has thus caught a brilliant shit storm. Read full article ... (861 words, 1 image)

A few years ago, Kia shone, especially with its sensational seven-year guarantee at that time, the brand has long since developed to a high level in terms of tangible product quality, especially in the passenger compartment. Materials, processing and design now meet the highest standards.

This is not a South Korean miracle, but is largely due to the fact that the head designer is Peter Schreyer, who previously shaped Volkswagen and Audi (e.g. Audi TT). Today Schreyer is not only the top design authority at Kia and Hyundai, but also Kia president. In both houses, Schreyer has enforced its high standards both in terms of design and in terms of quality. With Peter Schreyer, the South Korean brand has grown significantly worldwide. His design signature is based on the Bauhaus philosophy of simplicity. He calls it "The simplicity of the straight line". And further: “It is a clean European language of form that we have and continue to do. Good proportions are important to us. Kia as a brand is the "Youthful Challenger", that is the fresh youth challenger, "says Schreyer. He has been supported by ex-BMW design chief Karim Habib since September. Read full article ... (771 words, 3 images)

Finally an interesting talk show. Because on the one hand it makes the absurd demands of "extinction rebellion" visible, and on the other hand because climate researchers from Stork's voice of reason made the real problem clear. It was due to the moderator that he hardly had a say and that he seemed bored somewhat frustrated.

The situation seemed to ease that von Storch affirmed the reality of man-made climate change. But when he then calculated how ineffective our "climate hysteria" is, he got verbally beaten. From Storch's reference to global CO₂ -Output of 38 gigatons a year and our share of one gigatonne caused the other participants to catch their breath. Read full article ... (812 words, 1 image)

The auto show in Los Angeles is different from all the others in this universe: The automobile is viewed positively, although California continues to set the pace with consumption and emissions regulations in the USA. The car enthusiasm can be clearly felt at the fair. V8 combustion engines are presented without a guilty conscience and electromobility is quietly celebrated next door. Only one thing was missing from the press conferences we attended: the hysterical reference to climate change.

In fact, the auto show that takes place on 1.12. comes to an end, in sunny California completely relaxed towards the automobile. The latest combustion engines, sports cars and thick SUVs still predominate at the exhibition stands. But electromobility is also clearly noticeable, which is immediately visible on the streets around LA, where Tesla is particularly eye-catching. In Los Angeles, for example, Ford presented its first electric SUV, which, strangely, as the Ford Mustang Mach E, is supposed to subtly suggest a relationship with the cult sports car. Read full article ... (685 words, 3 images)

There is one constant in the development of automobiles: the better is the enemy of the good. Of course, the new three is again a development leap on the open quality and perfection scale. But it's not the best ever because we can't look to the future. In this respect, the current three is not the best of all time, but the best to date.

The pun "inflation of all times", which is being used by auto journalists, of course, cannot refer to the future, but many seem to express this subtly. Today's threesome, however, provokes superlatives, because it is actually the tip not of the iceberg, but of Bavarian automotive development in this class. We even ask about intensive test drives, whether a five or seven is still needed, that's what convinced us the 320d xDrive. That is nonsense, of course, but when it comes to not only getting from A to B comfortably and dynamically in a limousine, but enjoying “driving pleasure”, the 320d xDrive is the best choice for you. We never had the feeling of being underpowered, we would never have wished for the stronger sibling models, the legitimacy of which should not be doubted, however. The customer has the choice and should keep it. Read full article ... (978 words, 2 images)

If the Süddeutsche Zeitung mentions Elon Musk's intention to build a Tesla gigafactory in Brandenburg as a "humiliation" for the German manufacturers, it will completely ignore reality. It is again an expression of the addiction of many media and politicians to accuse the German auto industry of "oversleeping developments". This is nonsense and cannot withstand a fact check.

Is the construction of BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Volkswagen factories in the USA a humiliation for the American auto industry? The strategy not only of German manufacturers to build cars where the markets are is not new and for BMW u.Co. a matter of course for decades. What the South Germans want to express is the subtle assumption that the German manufacturers actually did everything wrong, relied too late on e-mobility and preferred to sell heavy SUVs. This constant defamation is not made more true by repetitions. It's plain nonsense. The German manufacturers not only have e-mobiles on the market, but are also intensively developing other solutions such as synthetic fuels and the fuel cell. Read full article ... (463 words)