Automotive opinion

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)

The Bild Group has been awarding the Golden Steering Wheel for 37 years. 30 years ago, the event experienced the opening of the wall live. This time there was again a portion of automotive optimism, but also a lot of embarrassments that moderator Barbara Schöneberger served.

The golden steering wheel delights the automaker managers every year even when they go home at no cost. Because the event still celebrates the joy of automotive life that comes along carefree and is not disturbed by so-called environmental workers. Praise the car as part of our quality of life is seldom announced. Here in the Springer skyscraper you can celebrate without worrying, although the cloudiness on the horizon can be perceived subtly. Although the lay jury comes to polarizing results every year, it doesn't bother anyone. In contrast to the ADAC Yellow Angel, who died because of fraud, the golden steering wheel shows seriousness, which is particularly emphasized by the auto editors at Autobild. Read full article ... (628 words)

The topic of the picture report from October 30th is likely to be a bigger problem for electromobility with batteries than missing charging stations, shortage of range or long charging times. "This first shot will have consequences," says a senior development engineer from a South German premium manufacturer. "And that wasn't the last shot."

"The report hit us like a bomb. Because it uncovered a problem that we somehow suppressed in our work, although every developer is familiar with it and weighs heavily on his soul. ”Whether cobalt in the Congo is promoted through unspeakable conditions through child labor or whether lithium extraction is the groundwater level in Chile's Atacama- Desert dramatically lowers: Battery production - also for our cell phones - or its raw materials has dramatic side effects that are anything but environmentally friendly. Read full article ... (365 words)

The leap into the digital world in the new Golf is a huge step for VW and a giant leap in terms of technology democratization. Anyone entering here has arrived in the world of switch-free user interfaces and fascinating approaches to artificial intelligence in automobiles.

The Golf is a classless classic that has always remained true to itself. He replaced the legendary Beetle, defined a new vehicle segment and even left social traces in the "Generation Golf". The Golf is undoubtedly an automotive legend. From generation to generation it became more modern, technically refined, but always remained recognizable as golf. So also in the eighth version, which, however, points more spectacularly than its predecessors towards the future. Read full article ... (311 words, 3 images)

Car buyers are hardly or not at all influenced by anti-auto ideology. Despite the now widespread car and SUV bashing, the new car market in Germany shows a stable plus of one percent after seven months. The most important drivers of this development are, täterätää !, SUV vehicles. Their market share has doubled since 2015.

Apparently, buyers don't care about the general rant against this category of car at all. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that a (popular) anti-attitude is only represented in surveys. However, when it comes to privately buying a new car, the supposed politically correct attitude is waste. For 2019, it can be assumed that more than one in three newly registered vehicles in Germany will be an SUV. Read full article ... (585 words, 1 image)

“The Chinese will do a hell of a lot to give up coal. According to the Paris Agreement, they are allowed to CO₂- Increase emissions by the amount that Europe emits. This shows how excessive our debate has become. It will lead to poverty in the end. After all, the temperature has been falling since 2016, ”says environmental expert Fritz Vahrenholt in the Hamburger Abendblatt.

What always gets lost in the discussion when referring to the Paris climate agreement: that the Chinese are reducing their CO₂-May even increase emissions significantly, while we are committed to a physico-chemical impossibility, a “climate neutrality”. Vahrenholt says: “The climate debate has become so hysterical that it drives politics ahead. But we have no climate emergency. " Read full article ... (662 words)

When Toyota launched the Prius hybrid in 1997, many car “experts” predicted that this technology would not prevail. We also doubted. We hadn't counted on the determination and consistency of the Japanese outside the quarterly report.

They carried out their hybrid project with serenity from the Far East and were successful with it. Today almost every car manufacturer has a hybrid in its model range. Now Toyota is moving quickly towards the fuel cell: "It is the most promising path to environmentally friendly automobility," says Toyota.

Sporty coupe design should convince customers Read full article ... (711 words, 4 images)

Unlike the competitor from Munich, Audi does not leave two electric vehicles to take a break for a few years. The Audi e-tron was just the start of a long-term e-offensive that made the Munich competitor look old in this field. Audi's long-term e-strategy is turning into a credible and serious pan to swim with the flow.

It is certainly not easy to suddenly have to usher in the electrical age in a combustion company with excellent engines. For every employee, this means sometimes painful rethinking, especially since there is a risk of downsizing in the area of ​​diesel and petrol engine production. The transition to electric mobility is a gigantic balancing act, because on the one hand the combustion engines have to be praised and sold, on the other hand the e-models have to be pushed into the communicative awareness not only of the customers (!). Read full article ... (646 words, 4 images)