Automotive News - September 22, 2008 - (Page 22B)

22B • SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 “DOWN-SIZING” OR “RIGHT-SIZING”? ACCORDING TO NEW STUDY, CAR BUYERS SAY “BOTH.” Acxiom’s Automotive Consumer Dynamics study helps marketers pinpoint target buyers. For a complimentary subscription, visit www.acxiom.com today. INSIGHT Where Andrea Pininfarina saw design headed Larry Edsall autonews@crain.com Andrea Pininfarina probably understood vehicle design as well as anyone on the planet, and he certainly understood that it was at a crossroads. “Innovative car design must come from the inside out,” said the man who followed his grandfather, Battista, and father, Sergio, as head of the Italian design and manufacturing company that bears the family’s name. Andrea Pininfarina spoke just a few days before his death last month at age 51 in a collision between his motor scooter and a car. Pininfarina answered a series of Andrea Pininfarina: The Sintesi concept car represented “a new range of freedom for the packaging of the car.” questions, including those concerning the quest to make cars smaller and more fuel efficient. see DESIGNER, Page 22E The Premier Automotive Technology Event Creating small cars that are well-proportioned can be a tall order. In the 1990s, Suzuki’s X-90 drew flak from the start, in part because of its design. SMALL Downsized doesn’t have to mean cheap continued from Page 22A United States. “Therefore, size was equated to value — the more you paid, the more metal you got. To me, things have changed so dramatically.” Small, not cheap But Horbury said the idea that small can mean exclusive is catching on in the United States, especially among youth. “Now they’re used to paying a premium for a smaller version of something — iPods and telephones and cameras,” he said. “The smaller version has an attraction. “The Mini was the prime (automotive) mover. That’s made it easier for us to design a small car where money isn’t being saved at every turn. A small car doesn’t have to be the poor man’s version.” It will be difficult to find ways to put grace into a smaller package, says Franz von Holzhausen, who recently moved from director of design at Mazda North American Operations to lead design for Tesla Motors, the electric-vehicle maker. But plenty of automakers are designing small cars fairly well,” he says. “There are challenges in making a small car look good, but there’s almost more freedom because they can be more playful, more unique. And from a price-point perspective that smaller is cheaper, you can get away with more character. “Designers are always solving problems. We’re always being tossed these things that seem impossible — from 5-mile-per-hour bumpers to pedestrian head impact regulations to reducing weight to aerodynamics. We have to figure out how to make it all transparent and aesthetically pleasing.” c Edward Lapham contributed to this report do a shrunken version of a big car. It just doesn’t work.” At the same time, Welburn says, “People don’t get smaller as the car gets smaller.” Break the mold Geoff Wardle, director of advanced mobility research at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., says designers must shed preconceived ideas about how vehicles should look. Instead, Wardle says, they must focus on a product overview with the right priorities and functional objectives. “Car designers who are used to working on large vehicles have to leave all of that behind,” Wardle says. The result, he says, can be aesthetically pleasing smaller and more efficient vehicles. Take, for example, the original BMC Mini, the Alec Issigonis masterpiece that debuted in 1959 and remained in production until 2000. Despite working in Britain, where postwar cars were tending toward an American design direction, Wardle says, Issigonis “decided to start with a clean piece of paper and came up with something quite radically different,” something that became “etched into people’s psyche.” Or take BMW’s new Mini, which Wardle calls “the first relatively little car that caught people’s attention” in recent times. “They wanted to buy it because it was extremely appealing and happened to be small.” Said the British-born Horbury, “Smaller always meant cheap,” in the For more information on exhibiting, sponsoring or advertising, contact SAE Customer Sales and Support at: Phone: 1-888-875-3976 or 1-724-772-4086 (outside U.S./Canada) E-mail: CustomerSales@sae.org www.sae.org/congress P81359 Host Company: Tier 1 Strategic Partner: http://www.acxiom.com http://www.autonews.com http://www.sae.org/congress http://www.sae.org/congress

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - September 22, 2008

Credit-crunched BMW to cut volume and jobs in U.S. Did dealer pitch have a catch? Henderson will keynote World Congress Suppliers: Chrysler jury a worry Learn how going green can be good for business Hyundai hesitates on i10 Ram launches with incentive Dodge RamBox cost: $1,895 Toyota seeks bids to build A-BAT Volt: A pricey short hauler? A horse of a different, uh, color Delphi work moves to N.Y. from plant in Mexico GM store count down 226 so far this year Bill Heard shuts Arizona dealership Would Mazda2 hurt Mazda3? Chrysler dealers may see Volt fighter GM gets more bucks for its 4-bangers GM's '09 list prices rise 2.7% Suppliers seek piece of loan package Don't attach too many strings to federal loans Cars run on money and credit, not gas The workplace is a democracy? Free Choice Act must be defeated Extreme makeover Logo no go A 4-cylinder Cadillac? Get real A double standard on idle workers? Free Choice Act means no choice Saccucci: Let's hear it for free enterprise Dealers signal support for 35% estate tax rate Dealers Designing for MPG Slippery styling What happened to Volt's racy design? Aerodynamics Belletech will supply Honda in Indiana Practicality will top panache at Paris show Chrysler seeks to build loyalty with service Band buddies Personnel Auction group's new boss sees dip in volumes Wholesale prices of big used trucks rise 8.6% in August Big-truck sales off 22.6% in Aug. August sales in Europe worse than in U.S. Honda will let supplier assemble on-site at Ohio plant Farley: Retool image for era of the small car O'Donnell: No stranger to U.S. Honda to debut camera, airbag American Axle lands contract Ex-Ford dealer prevails in court Dodge plans Web blitz for Ram Federal-Mogul will idle 4,000 Sparks will fly over GM, Toyota plug-ins Negotiations fail; chaos (allegedly) ensues Bo plays defense, helps GM avoid weather woes Critics say the new Volt was jolt Lithium, schmithium-- Will the ladies like it? Small and beautiful-- mutually exclusive? Where Andrea Pininfarina saw design headed Designers think small to make it big Designers can't ignore history Pretty and petite Toyota goes its own way with green designs The elements of style It's difficult to design fuel efficiency into big pickups Specialty-car maker has bright design ideas Form follows fashion Vehicle designers aim to please Chinese Suppliers to the 2009 Dodge Ram Eaton will equip '09 VW Golf IAV to move into new tech center BorgWarner makes Tesla deal Mann plans 4th China plant NovaCast buys into Korean firm Valeo shifts rear-light work Supplier personnel

Automotive News - September 22, 2008

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