Car Blog

Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Germany wins the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge competition after the presentation of its Smart 341 Parkour vehicle, a futuristic vehicle that steals the screen in a fictional action adventure.

This year’s Design Challenge focused on designing Hollywood’s next hottest movie car. The entries ranged from vehicles acting as faithful companions to their human counterparts to strong protectors of freedom and justice.

In a city famous for its friendly people and beautiful weather, the Smart 341 Parkour helps reporter Annie Angle on the mission to write her first, potentially career-making, front page news article in a city notoriously known for a lack of parking spaces. On an early Sunday morning, an article in a newspaper catches Annie’s eyes: “Smart Granny Robots Missing!” Using her Smart 341 Parkour and its three different modes – a typical drive mode, a fly mode that allows the vehicle to hover far above the streets and a climb mode that allows the vehicle to run up the walls of skyscrapers – Annie sets off on an investigation to discover the missing link for her journalistic masterpiece. The Smart 341 Parkour design tells the story of a more optimistic view of the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Hyundai Motor America introduced the all-new Hyundai Azera in a North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Azera is the fifth vehicle to adopt the company’s signature Fluidic Sculpture design language. Tucson, Accent, Elantra, Sonata and Azera now all have a modern, sleek, sophisticated style, creating the illusion of constant motion. This flagship Fluidic Sculpture sedan also features a more powerful Lambda II 3.3-liter GDI engine, six-speed transmission, best-in-class combined fuel economy of 23 miles per gallon and a wide range of advanced safety equipment.

Azera is the seventh vehicle in Hyundai’s 24/7 version 2.0 product initiative (seven new models in 24 months), on the heels of the all-new Tucson, Sonata, Equus, Elantra, Accent and Veloster. The 2012 Azera represents a modern approach to the traditional large sedan segment by using an advanced powertrain, emotional design and luxury features offered with Hyundai’s strong value proposition. This approach has been successful for the other Fluidic Sculpture vehicles. Read the rest of this entry »

Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) will unveil the all-new 2013 CX-5 at the upcoming Los Angeles International Auto Show.  The compact SUV will be Mazda’s first vehicle to fully encompass SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY, the brand’s ground-breaking engineering and leading-edge technology toward improving all-around vehicle efficiency.

A suite of technologies, SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY includes completely redesigned, highly efficient internal combustion gasoline and diesel engines, manual and automatic transmissions, and an advanced body and chassis.  Together, these components will improve upon every aspect of the driving experience, including the vehicle’s performance, handling, fuel economy and safety.

Based on the MINAGI Concept, which made its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show last March, CX-5 enters a highly competitive compact SUV segment but with the unique advantage of all-new SKYACTIV technologies, such as the SKYACTIV-G 2.0-liter gasoline engine, SKYACTIV-MT six-speed manual transmission, SKYACTIV-Drive six-speed automatic transmission, SKYACTIV-Body and SKYACTIV-Chassis. Read the rest of this entry »

Design Studios from the U.S., Germany and Japan Participate in the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge: Make a Car the Star

For decades, automobiles have played important roles in some of Hollywood’s most popular films. The big screen has seen a steady parade of iconic autos that not only entertained as the emblematic rides of their famous drivers, but also actually stole the show and took leading roles themselves. Thanks to vehicles such as the 1968 Mustang GT that Steve McQueen raced through the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt, to the DeLorean featured in Back To The Future, automobiles are now firmly part of film lore.

In the quest to find the next A-list automobile, this year’s LA Auto Show Design Challenge will focus on designing Hollywood’s hottest new movie car. For the second year in a row, participating design studios from not only the U.S., but also Germany and Japan, will compete against one another to showcase their talents. Design studios from General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz Germany (Smart), Mercedes-Benz Japan (Maybach), and Mercedes-Benz U.S., will explore new ideas in automotive design as they contend for this top annual design honor. Read the rest of this entry »

Following the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, leading online automotive resource Edmunds.com reported the all-new 2011 Kia Optima received the highest increase in online car shopper consideration of any other vehicle or brand at the show.

The Optima, which arrived in showrooms in late November, saw a boost in consumer interest and consideration from 3.2 percent prior to the show to as high as 15 percent following Kia Motors America’s (KMA) press conference on November 17.  The numbers represent the percentage of shoppers considering cars in the midsize category who researched a vehicle’s information on Edmunds.com.

“The all-new 2011 Optima has been highly anticipated since its debut earlier this year – its design distances it from the rest of the midsize sedan category and its impressive list of standard features and powerful and fuel efficient powertrain choices continue one of the most aggressive new vehicle introduction cycles in the industry,” said Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of KMA and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia. “Our new generation of vehicles are really resonating with consumers, and Optima’s dramatic increase in shopper consideration following the Los Angeles Auto Show is further evidence of the impact our design-led transformation is having in terms of increased awareness and consideration for the Kia brand.” Read the rest of this entry »

Volkswagen’s Popular Golf Goes Electric; Zero-Emission Golf blue-e-motion available in 2013

Next week during the Los Angeles Auto Show, Volkswagen of America, Inc. will offer U.S. media their first chance to get behind the wheel of the Golf blue-e-motion zero-emissions electric vehicle. Drivers will experience the pure electrically powered version of the most successful European car ever built, the Golf. For Volkswagen, 2013 is the key year of electric mobility. First the brand starts into the age of pure electric driving by introducing the all-electric Up! and shortly afterwards the Golf blue-e-motion.

The five-door and five-seat Golf blue-e-motion is silently driven by an electric motor that delivers a high maximum torque (199 lbs.-ft.) from a stop, resulting in a true zero-emissions Volkswagen driving experience. The electricity for powering the electric motor is stored in a lithium-ion battery with an energy capacity of 26.5 kilowatt-hours. The Golf blue-e-motion joins Volkswagen’s many other responsible mobility options, including TDI Clean Diesels, hybrids and bio-fuel powered vehicles. Read the rest of this entry »