Bijan and Rolls-Royce Richard Carter, global director of communications for Rolls-Royce, talks to Warren Brown, Washington Post, and myself about Bijan, the designer creating bespoke rolls-Royce Phantoms for Bijan's clients, called driveable art.
2010 Los Angeles auto show Victor Muller, CEO Saab & Spyker, talked to me at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show on the GM IPO. What does Muller think of the GM IPO? Does it have any bearing on Saab?
It was a long day at the Los Angeles auto show. I had been interviewing executives and designers from 8 am. It is now 4 pm. I ran from the Mercedes stand to the Saab stand, late again. I had never met the new CEO of Saab, Victor Muller and was told he was running [...]
Arwed Niestroj, Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell Manager showed off the new B-Class F-CELL, the first series production fuel-cell powered electric vehicle available in the U.S., at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show. Mercedes-Benz is the first manufacturer to offer a fuel-cell powered Zero-Emissions Vehicle that has been certified by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and CARB (California [...]
Ian Callum, Jaguar C-X75, at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show The cars Ian Callum, the chief designer for Jaguar, are so beautiful, so fluid. What does he dream about? The JAGUAR C-X75 is an electric car, or a two gas turbine range extender. The car is purported to go 200 miles per hour and [...]
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Ola Kalenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz AMG talked to me at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show about the new 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The 2011 SLS AMG is a beauty to behold and the flagship of Mercedes' lineup. The Mercedes-Benz limited-production gullwing coupe is the first-ever car designed and developed from the [...]
Coming to America Laura Soave, head of the Fiat brand for North America, talked about Fiat coming to America - again. The first Fiat 500s -- Cinquecentos to my European friends -- will begin rolling into 130 Chrysler dealerships early next year. That's right, Chrysler. It is the best plan Sergio Marchionne has come up [...]
Dave Zuchowski, Vice President of Sales at Hyundai Motor America stopped to talk to me at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show. Hyundai has gotten their marketshare the old fashioned way, they've earned it. But how do they continue to get that marketshare, produce premium product and garner profit's? Hyundai has 4.7% marketshare. They came to [...]
Everyone talks about the General Motors IPO and the price of their stock, but BMW has quietly been doing quite well with their stock. Peter Miles, Executive Vice President, Sales and Operations, BMW of North America talked to me about BMW Group operations at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show. How is BMW doing in the U.S., [...]
2010 Los Angeles auto show (LAAS) It's been a humbling year for Toyota's Robert S. Carter Group Vice President and General Manager “ Toyota Division Toyota Motor Sales, USA. But Carter says that Toyota is coming back, and has stats and awards to prove it. But Lexus is also looking at taking some of Toyota's sales [...]