Archive for the ‘Frankfurt’ Category
Weak demand leading Nissan’s luxury brand to focus on Europe, China.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Mar.12, 2019
The concept version of the Infiniti Q30 debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show as part of the brand's push to become an EU presence.
Infiniti has come to recognize there are limits to its global growth plans, the Nissan luxury brand announcing it will pull out of Western Europe by early next year.
Going forward, the brand will limit its scope to just two markets: the U.S. and China. Along with ending sales in Europe, Infiniti also will halt production of the Q30 and QX30 models at Nissan’s assembly plant in Sunderland, England. The parent company has raised questions about the broader viability of that plant as Britain struggles to manage its planned exit from the European Union later this month.
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A broader restructuring by Infiniti will see the luxury marque pair back on its overall product line-up, the brand’s new global CEO told TheDetroitBureau.com during an interview earlier this year.
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Tags: Christian Meunier, auto news, car news, infiniti battery, infiniti electrification, infiniti europe, infiniti ev, infiniti pulling out of europe, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Audi, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, BMW, Business, China, Concept Cars, Detroit, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Europe, Frankfurt, Geneva, Infiniti, Lexus, Luxury Vehicles, Markets, Mercedes, Monthly Results, NAFTA, Nissan, Paris, Sales, Sales, Technology, Toyota, Trends, U.S./North America | 2 Comments »
Production version to follow during autumn's Frankfurt Motor Show.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Mar.05, 2019
The Mercedes Concept EQV combines elements of the V-Class van and the new EQ series.
The Chrysler Pacifica has shown there’s a market for electrified people-movers. Now, Mercedes-Benz is taking things a step further with its Concept EQV.
The all-electric version of its V-Class is making its debut at this week’s Geneva Motor Show, but a production version of what’s also known as the Mercedes Viano is set to follow next autumn at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the automaker confirmed on Tuesday.
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“Mercedes-Benz Vans is consistently advancing the electrification of its product portfolio,” said Wilfried Porth, a board member with Mercedes’ parent Daimler AG. “With the Concept EQV, we are now taking the next step. From a daily driver for the family, a leisure-time adventurer or a shuttle vehicle with lounge ambience, the combination of these characteristics with a battery-electric drive mean the Concept EQV is a concept car with a future.”
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Tags: 2019 geneva motor show, Mercedes Concept EQV, Mercedes van, auto news, car news, mercedes electric, mercedes electric van, mercedes geneva, mercedes-Benz, mercedes-benz eqv, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Chrysler, Concept Cars, Daimler, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, First Look, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxury Vehicles, Markets, Mercedes, SUVs, Sales, Technology, Trends | Comments Off
“Electric Vision” model to usher in massive shift to battery power.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jan.23, 2019
Honda will bring a production version of the Urban EV Concept to Europe in the coming year.
Honda plans to use battery power of one form or another in two-thirds of the vehicles it sells by the end of the next decade, and the Japanese automaker plans to give a sense of where its “Electric Vision” is going at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.
The Honda Urban EV Concept builds on an early prototype shown at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show and is little more than a thinly disguised version of the battery runabout it soon will be launching in Europe.
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“Honda’s new electric vehicle is developed with a focus on functionality and purpose and the prototype sketch demonstrates this through its clean, simple and unique design,” the automaker explained in a statement accompanying this teaser shot. “A mass production version of the car will be on sale later in the year.”
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Tags: 2019 geneva motor show, Honda geneva motor show, auto news, battery car, car news, honda electric, honda news, honda urban evelectric vehicle, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Concept Cars, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, Europe, Fiat, First Look, Frankfurt, Geneva, Honda, Kia, Markets, Sales, Technology, Trends | 2 Comments »
Virtual testing can only take you so far.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Sep.25, 2018
Much of the initial development work for the Mercedes-AMG Project One was done digitally.
There’s a race underway to see who can do the better, faster job of putting Formula One technology on the road, and Daimler AG wants us to know it’s getting close, providing a handful of images showing off a prototype of the new Mercedes-AMG Project One hypercar undergoing track testing.
Which track? Could it be the legendary Nurburgring? That’s a reasonable guess considering it isn’t all that far away from the company’s Stuttgart headquarters but, for now, the automaker is only hinting that prototypes are being driven on “closed-off test grounds. However, because of their characteristic F1 sound they are hard to keep from the public.”
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The Project One, which actually looks more like a Le Mans prototype than a Formula One racer, has been generating buzz for several years, though we only got a look at a complete mock-up at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year.
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Tags: amg project one, amg project one pic, auto news, car news, hypercar pic, mercedes amg project one pic, mercedes hypercar, mercedes news, mercedes project one, mercedes-AMG project one, mercedes-amg news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Concept Cars, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, First Look, Frankfurt, Hybrids, Lamborghini, Luxury Vehicles, Mercedes, Motorsports, Muscle Cars, Sales, Sports Cars, Super Cars, Technology | Comments Off
Show car offers broad hints about BMW's next all-electric model.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Sep.15, 2018
BMW offered a handful of journalists a sneak peek at the iNext concept during an around-the-world tour.
BMW was one of the first of the traditional automakers to enter the plug-in vehicle market, well ahead of luxury rivals like Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus. But it has been slow to follow up on its original i3 and i8 models, especially when it comes to all-electric offerings, even as those competitors have laid out aggressive plans to launch literally dozens of their own new products in the coming years.
BMW has been dropping hints about where it might go next for several years. And the Bavarian automaker is looking to get back in the game with the appropriately named iNext, an all-electric and autonomous crossover set to make its debut in 2021.
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A handful of select media outlets, including TheDetroitBureau.com, got a chance to check out a prototype version of the iNext during an otherwise top-secret, around-the-world series that took the concept vehicles from Germany to New York, then Los Angeles and, finally, Beijing.
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Tags: BMW concept, BMW iNext, auto news, bmw autonomous, bmw electric, bmw i, bmw ivision, car news, electric vehicle, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, seat sensor, thedetroitbureau, touch fabric
Posted in Audi, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Autonomous Driving, BMW, Business, Crossovers/CUVs, Driverless Vehicles, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, First Look, Frankfurt, Fuel Economy, Infotainment, Jaguar, Lexus, Luxury Vehicles, Mercedes, SUVs, Safety, Safety, Sales, Semi-autonomous Driving, Technology, Technology, Trends | Comments Off
“We are flipping the switch,” says CEO Zetsche, with new Tesla challenger - and more to come.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Sep.04, 2018
The new Mercedes-Benz EQ features a pair of electric motors producing up to 402 hp.
Mercedes-Benz is “flipping the switch,” Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche said Tuesday as he pulled the covers off the new EQC, the German brand’s new, long-range electric crossover.
The first entry from the all-new EQ sub-brand, the compact CUV won’t be alone for long, with Mercedes developing a wide range of battery-electric vehicles set to come to market by the middle of the coming decade, including the smaller EQA due out next year. Along with all-electric offerings in the works from brands as diverse as Audi, Infiniti, Volkswagen and Volvo, they pose a potentially existential threat to Tesla, according to many industry analysts.
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“With the EQC – the first fully electric SUV from Mercedes-Benz – we are flipping the switch,” said Zetsche, during the EQC debut in Stockholm. “Electric drive is a major component in the mobility of the future. We are therefore investing more than ten billion euros in the expansion of our EQ model portfolio, and more than one billion euros in global battery production.”
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Tags: auto news, battery car, car news, daimler news, dieter zetsche, luxury battery car, luxury ev, mercedes battery car, mercedes electric, mercedes eqa, mercedes eqc, mercedes news, mercedes takes on tesla, mercedes-benz eqc, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, tesla news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Audi, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Business, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, First Look, Frankfurt, GM, Markets, Mercedes, SUVs, Sales, Sales, Technology, Tesla, Trends, Volvo | Comments Off
“Mystic Details,” says terse news release.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Aug.27, 2018
What might Mercedes mean by "Mystic Details"? Could it reference the distinctive accent lights expected to show up on the production EQ C crossover.
These days, we’ve become used to receiving terse news releases from automakers teasing upcoming product launches, but the one we just received from Mercedes-Benz all but reaches the limits of brevity, with just two words accompanying this image: “Mystic Details.”
While we’re not sure what the word, mystic, references, the odds seem to favor the pic being a close-up of headlight and grille details on the new Mercedes-EQ C battery-electric vehicle that will make its debut on September 4th, the first in an all-new sub-brand the German automaker will be fleshing out over the next few years.
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Roughly the size of today’s Mercedes-Benz GLC, the EQ C will be company’s first long-range all-electric model, essentially a competitor for the Tesla Model Y crossover that is still a few years away from production. It will be followed soon after by a production version of the Mercedes EQA Concept that was revealed in June.
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Tags: auto news, car news, electric cuv, electric suv, german battery-car, mercedes electric, mercedes eqc, mercedes mystic detail, mercedes news, mercedes tesla, mercedes-eq, mercedes-eq c, paul eisenstein, tesla model y, thedetroitbureau.paul a. eisenstein
Posted in Audi, Automakers, Automobiles, BMW, Business, Chevrolet, Concept Cars, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Environment, First Look, Frankfurt, Jaguar, Luxury Vehicles, Mercedes, Product Reveals, SUVs, Sales, Technology, Tesla, Trends | Comments Off
Sponsors aim to revive what's been North America’s leading car show.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jul.23, 2018
Toyota Pres. Akio Toyota is shown here revealing the 2019 Camry during this year's NAIAS.
The North American International Auto Show will move from January to June in 2020, a new timeslot that organizers are betting will help revive the flagging momentum of what had long been one of the industry’s most important annual events.
The Detroit Auto Dealers Association had signaled its intention of abandoning its traditional, mid-winter schedule, though a switch to October was also under study. But that would have conflicted with other shows in Europe and Asia, the dealer group’s Executive Director Rod Alberts told TheDetroitBureau.com in an exclusive interview.
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In a background briefing ahead of today’s official announcement, Alberts said one of the advantages of a summer event is the ability to add new functions that expand beyond the confines of Detroit’s sprawling Cobo Hall convention center. “We realized we have to change the show (and) showcase Detroit, too,” said Alberts, who has been running the DADA for the past 28 years.
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Tags: 2020 detroit auto show, 2020 naias, Consumer Electronics Show, auto show trouble, auto shows, auto shows fading, car news, car shows, ces, detroit auto dealers, detroit auto show moving to june, dieter zetsche, naias moving to june, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisensteinauto news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Advertising, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, Autonomous Driving, BMW, Beijing, Business, CES, Chevrolet, Citroen, Concept Cars, Daimler, Detroit, Driverless Vehicles, EVs, Electrified Vehicles, Executives, FCA, Fiat, First Look, Ford, Frankfurt, GAC, GM, Geneva, Honda, Infiniti, Infortainment, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, Los Angeles, Markets, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Monthly Results, New York, Nissan, Paris, Personalities, Sales, Sales, Semi-autonomous Driving, Technology, Tesla, Tokyo, Toyota, Trade, U.S./North America, Volkswagen, Volvo | Comments Off
Automaker joins Volvo in not attending show.
by Michael Strong on Jul.03, 2018
Ford has a history of making news at the Geneva Motor Show, like the introduction Focus RS.
The list of automakers pulling out of auto shows just got one name longer: Ford is skipping the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said the show’s timing didn’t fit its launch schedule and wouldn’t represent good value. It’s the second major automaker that has pulled out of the show, Volvo being the first.
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“It costs a sizeable amount of money,” a Ford of Europe spokesman told Automotive News Europe. “If you’re not going make a return on the investment in terms of media attention or people on the stand, why do it?” (more…)
Tags: Ford pulls out of Geneva, Geneva Motor Show, NAIAS losing automakers, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, auto show news, automakers dumping auto shows, car companies cutting Paris Motor Show, michael strong, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Advertising, Asia Pacific, Auto Shows, Automakers, Business, China, Detroit, Europe, Executives, Ford, Frankfurt, Geneva, Markets, NAFTA, Paris, Personalities, South America, U.S./North America, Volvo | Comments Off
NAIAS still studying possible date change to revive flagging fortunes.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on May.11, 2018
Audi has traditionally used the NAIAS for major intros, like the Q8 Concept it debuted in 2017.
Already hit by key defections, the organizers of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit learned Thursday that Audi will also be a no-show in January 2019 – though the luxury arm of Volkswagen Group said it will “continue to evaluate” a return at a later date.
A once-regional event, the NAIAS became the most significant auto show in the U.S., and one of the world’s most widely watched, when it added the “International” designation in 1989. At its peak around the start of the new millennium, Detroit could count on virtually every manufacturer to participate, with some years seeing more than 70 new cars, trucks, concepts and crossovers debut.
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As the industry plunged into recession, things began to change. Some manufacturers, such as Nissan, pulled out temporarily, but others decided to abandon the Motor City event entirely. That included some of the most exclusive marques, like Ferrari, as well as mainstream and luxury brands like Mazda, which was a hold out this past January. Volvo had no corporate presence, though its local dealers did roll a few vehicles into Detroit’s Cobo Hall convention center. Now, it seems, the exodus is turning into a rout. Audi follows Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche in planning to stay home next January. (more…)
Tags: 2019 naias, Audi NAIAS, Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes NAIAS, NAIAS, audi detroit auto show, audi news, audi pulling out of naias, auto news, auto show trouble, auto shows, bmw detroit auto show, frankfurt bmw, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Audi, Auto Shows, Automakers, Automobiles, BMW, Business, CES, Chicago, Detroit, Europe, Ferrari, First Look, Frankfurt, Jaguar, Land Rover, Los Angeles, Markets, Mercedes, New York, Nissan, Paris, Rolls Royce, Sales, Technology, Toyota, Trends, U.S./North America, Volvo | 1 Comment »
