Category: Cars

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Dolce Vita of Mercedes

Year 1997; mobile phone was a symbol of wealth, except talking it was just offering games to play. You would not able to imagining to watch a movie in your mobile phone. The Brave Heart won the Academy Award. Internet was something very privileged, only a small portion of people were able to use and it was just pictures and text and some animated pictures and that was all. Sure, there was nothing called Internet Explorer, actually there was but nobody was using it. Netscape Navigator was the navigation for internet. There weren’t any organic vegetable section on markets because everything was organic! The world was cooler than today and global warming was just an issue, if you were in Cyprus or Malta during your holiday. People were still trying to find their friends through their home phones which is odd for new generation. And there was a space station in space which is called MIR. And IBM’ Deep Blue super computer was a super computer. Nobody ever heard of Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez was just an actor. And there was the Mercedes CLK!
CLK was a breakeven point for Mercedes, it was the reflection of new era. From the boring face of Mercedes to timeless design. The CLK was the icon of timeless design with its magnificent colours. I still remember the first time I saw the CLK, it was a CLK 320. CLK 320 was powered by an atmospheric engine which was producing 218 horsepower. Today Golf has more power! The eye catching point was its design. From front end to back end it was beautifully design and nothing was annoying your eyes! It was both having lovely curves and aggressiveness. Mercedes was able to combine this at those years. Also the interior was not invaded by plastic or ugly designed buttons! Everything was perfect, fitting extremely well and you understand that you are in a luxury car not a car which was suppose to be expensive! It was the era when Mercedes cars were over engineered and their parts don’t fall or they don’t show any errors. That CLK was the most beautiful CLK model. And you never get bored of seeing it
Now, Mercedes named CLK as E Coupe. Yes, it is a very good looking car but nothing special. It has many new technology, it is able to understand anything if you are planning to pay a price of small island for a 1,8lt car! It could automatically stop, predict accident, offers hundreds of different varieties of gray and black! Including spare wheel, everything is optional and overpriced. If you are not going to buy V6 or V8 engines, you will be using the same 5 speed automatic gearbox which you could find in a 1997 CLK! Unfortunately, you will be finding very “high” quality plastic interior. Mainly interior is invaded by plastic in the name of cost minimization, profit maximization. Even the lever for opening your optional spare wheel is made from very high quality plastic. And also it has a huge screen which could annoy you any time by saying “Please Visit Workshop”. Sure, engines are more efficient, it has diesel, it is more aerodynamic, safer, cleaner, sexier, more expensive. And more things you could find in its catalogue which does not make any sense at all!
I really don’t like old cars but CLK is something totally different, it was the Dolce Vita of Mercedes which will never ever happen again. In next one decade, Mercedes will be racing with Lexus for producing more boring car with some unknown technologies. Despite the technology is moving forward, everything else is going backward. Unfortunately, this happens to many car company and they are offering more and more senseless cars to market. I don’ have any Great Expectation from Mercedes anymore.
Pictures are taken from;
Mercedes Website
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Baby Maserati

Today Maserati announced about its entry level (€55 000) model to be produced. And they are planning to increase their market share with this expansion. It will be very clear that, this new entry level model will be offering the most exquisite design for this segment. There is one thing is clear about Maserati, despite their bad reputation for breaking down, they are the most attractive, most beautiful cars on planet. Aston Martin, Ferrari are making great looking cars but nothing can replace the place of Maserati!
Maserati is the only car which you would not care about its technical feature, Mercedes CL might offer more sophisticated technologies but it cannot offer the same level of beautifulness in a car. There is no ugly car in Maserati and it won’t have in future!

Pictures are taken from;
Maserati Website

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Cars

Sorprendente Fiat Panda

SUV, I think anyone what this stands for! It is more common and more involved in our lives than ABC :) In automotive industry nearly every brand has an SUV model, even the Dacia. It became so popular and cash making even the Aston Martin considered to produce one as Lagonda!
This popularity had adverse impacts on SUVs’ off road ability and really who needs that! Therefore, many SUVs are offered by optional off road package or nothing. People do not wish to take their SUV to mountains, the only obstacle is the pavements! That’s the main advantage of SUV on city jungle, parking on pavements :)
Actually I like SUVs, my favourite is the first generation Mercedes M Class which was looking better than the current model. Also Range Rover is a good option with prehistroic option list. Sorry, it is not very competitive like others. And there is the Fiat Panda 4×4. Yes, Fiat Panda! It is one of the cheapest and very functional SUV on market and capable of doing real off road. How? As the Panda is a very light car unlike Range Rover, it does not suffer much on climbing or crossing rough terrain. Its traction control helps to cope with adverse conditions. I am pretty sure that nobody ever thought of Panda 4×4 as a good option for off road but that’s the fact!

 

Picture is taken from;
Fiat Website

Video is taken from;
Fifth Gear
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Cars

New Geely is very Geely !

Recently Geely announced its face lifted luxury car. The previous model was looking very similar to Rolls Royce Phantom, a very interesting incident! I guess this car did not have a very good impact on automotive market and Geely decided to introduced a face lifted model. Autocar mentioned this as Rolls Royce look alike but they were wrong!
This new model is totally new has essence from different brands. The front grill is looking very familiar with Maserati Quattroporte’s front grill. The real end, especially lights are very similar to Mercedes S Class and very similar boot lid. This new model is not look similar to one car, it looks similar to many cars. Honestly, one rear seat option is very creative. Some people might wish to have only one seat in the rear! Contemporary way of king transportation :)
Pictures are from;
Worldcarfans, Maserati, Mercedes Website
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Cars

The art of Aston Martin

There is a long debate about marketing; whether it is science or art. I cannot definitely say marketing is art of science. In some cases, it is reflecting the characteristics of science and in some cases it is reflecting the edges of creativity.
As you know that, couple of months ago Aston Martin announced its pocket sized model Cygnet. It is based on Toyota iQ (with working throttle pedal). Aston Martin just changed its interior and exterior and offered as a new Aston Martin. Engine, transmission and other things did not change, they are the same with normal Toyota iQ. It can be defined as packaging!
Why Aston Martin did this? Last year, every car company realized and felt the reality of global economy and how it can ruin their business. Especially luxury market is serious affected from the crisis and they have to make money to sustain their business. They know the end of story, if they cannot manage their brand properly. So Aston Martin have to produce something relatively cheap and create demand.
It was not easy for Aston Martin as they don’t have any experience on small cars. Also how to sell this car? This is serious marketing issue; if they offer a cheap Aston Martin, everyone will buy one and their next competitor will be Hyundai for next year. Aston Martin will no longer be a James Bond cars. What they have done is something very clever to save the business for future. If you have already have an Aston Martin, you are eligible to buy Cygnet. By this way, the Cygnet which we will on street means that, this person has a decent Aston Martin and this is for daily driving.
This strategy is very clever way to increase sales and protect the brand reputation. They will be many complaints for its performance, handling and other issues but in terms of marketing, this is very a clever method. Except with one drawback; they will sell to people who already to have Aston Martin but how they know that, those people may sell this car for higher price in grey market! Especially emerging markets will be their main environment.
Next year, we will be able to buy a Cygnet in Turkey without having a decent Aston Martin. Aston Martin’s brand image will change in those markets. Many people will not know Cygnet for only Aston Martin owners, they will think “that’s a cheap Aston Martin”!
These kinds of risky marketing strategies have always weakness and Aston Martin knew this. In order to increase sales figures significantly in luxury segment, you have to take risky decisions. What Aston Martin did for Cygnet can be considered as an art of marketing. Ordinary rules for marketing may not help Aston Martin to achieve high sales with Cygnet and protect brand reputation.
Pictures are taken from;
Aston Martin and Toyota Website
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Cars

The Glamour of Porsche Cayenne

Porsche Cayenne was a disastrous looking SUV when it was first revealed. It was sharing too much common with VW Touareg, lack of Porsche character and was not looking very nice either. And interestingly Porsche was offering rear and centre differential lock and low range gear box for an SUV which was supposed to design for high speed driving. Of course it was not Porsche’s decision, it was the decision by VW and they were technically the same SUV.
Despite these adverse points of Cayenne, it did not suffer any problem in sales figures. It was one of the most profitable cars of Porsche and that made it clear that many people don’t understand what 911 is! Now Cayenne has a new model, and it is the best looking SUV on market. Both in inside and outside! This new model wiped out the adverse parts of previous model and definitely offering a real Porsche SUV. Interior is sharing same bits from Panamera and that’s normal and I would rather prefer this than sharing with Touareg. The evolution did not end up here; Cayenne is no longer offering low range gearbox which was only adding more weight. But its off road ability did not vanquish, actually they
did something really clever.
New Cayenne is offering eight speed automatic gearbox, and the first gear was designed as low range gear for off road driving. This is very clever, nobody is driving in fourth or fifth gear on mountains and if they want to do this, they should buy something else. I know that this new technology might lower its ability to tow but please do not tow any stupid thing with Porsche. Just go and buy some other SUV.
This new Cayenne is the most charming, most sexy, most beautiful SUV on market. Forget the Range Rover, BMW X5 or Mercedes M Class. This is new Cayenne is offering you what you really want to have in a car.
 
Pictures are taken from;
Porsche Website
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Cars

The thin line between rich and poor


For many times, I looked for Nespresso Machine in many stores and the result was the same. Ridiculously over priced coffee machine! I really could not understand why they were charging more than the ordinary espresso machine. They both basically do the same thing, espresso! But Nespresso was nearly twice the price of an espresso machine. As I noticed Nespresso does not offer any an extreme sophisticated technology. It was just making coffee!

Eventually it was not very hard to understand why they charge more! That’s a luxury product, George Cloney was the brand ambassador in advertisements. Nespresso was mentioned in luxury magazines. Coffee machine was evolved from daily usage to reflection of welfare. It was the invisible line between poor and rich. In its website, it was defined as timeless design, high level functionality, user friendly and you know the rest. They should have written the reflection of your money to society! It is just starting from nearly €150, I am trying to approach optimistic and it was just rising like a boomed stock exchange. In addition, you have to buy your coffee capsules from Nestle, because it does not work with other coffee. In summary, Nespresso is something which you would buy when you win the lotto! And never use it again!
This just reminded me BMW. Of course, when you buy a BMW you would drive all the time. However, it is like Nespresso machine! Especially the 1 Series. It is as big as Ford Focus or VW Golf and offering pretty much the same. You cannot have the sophisticated technologies from 5 Series, but a bit more than Focus or Golf. Unfortunately, for that unnoticeable difference, you suppose to pay very noticeable price! Hopefully, 1 Series does not work with BMW petrol, you can fill it up in anywhere on earth. Like Nespresso machine, 1 Series is a small hatchback. It is just a symbol of wealth. I have more money than you and I did not buy a Golf or Focus. Audi A3 is expensive also it looks really fine. However, 1 Series is expensive and also ugly. So ugly that, I could not find a angle to see it beautiful.
So if you wish to show your wealth, just buy Nespresso machine with BMW 1 Series.

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Cars

The king ? Audi

Mercedes and BMW are like Coca Cola and Pepsi, when you talk about competition in automotive business, nobody ignores the Mercedes and BMW competition for long years. Nearly their whole model range is a substitute for other brand. And Mercedes was always the winner for selling more cars than BMW, thanks to Mercedes S Class and E Class, sales are always ahead.
Fifteen years ago another German brand became serious competitor, Audi! Audi’s model range is also very similar to Mercedes and BMW but it never had the clear brand image on society. Mercedes is luxury and comfort, BMW is luxury and sport. What about Audi? Luxury and be different ?! Probably, because it cannot offer the same sportive character of BMW and also it cannot offer the same sophisticated comfort features like Mercedes. It was stuck in the middle but that was not a good position. People who got bored of Mercedes and BMW had the chance to taste something different, Audi!
As the years passed, Audi increased it quality and became a more serious competitor. Also its price was relatively cheaper than its competitors. It was not a bad decision to buy one and also it was offering Quattro, four wheel drive technology. This stability on Audi was reflected on sales figure also. And for the first quarter of 2010, Audi sold more cars than Mercedes! Yes, more cars than the definition of luxury car on earth. This is a serious success for Audi and a big question mark for Mercedes. It is very clear that Mercedes is not alone, unless they don’t do anything Audi might be the new king.
Mercedes sold, 248 500 cars and Audi sold, 264 100 cars. Not a very big difference but an important signal!
Pictures are taken from;
BMW, Mercedes, Pepsi and Coca Cola Websites
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Cars

Let’s ski with Audi

Finally I achieved my 200th post : )
Audi A6 is one of my old favourite car. Nearly twelve years ago when four wheel drive was offered only Audi Quattro, it was the best option. However, as the time passed BMW and Mercedes started to offer four wheel drive in their sedans model but nothing can take place the Quattro.
Audi also know the power of Quattro brand and made a very unique advertisement. An Audi A6 Quattro was climbing to ski jump in Kaipola, Finland. People who are interested on winter sports know this place very well. Very steep hill for ski jumpers to gain speed and fly to achieve further distances to land. Sorry for bad explanation. The interesting point for this advertisement, the A6 was climbing that enormous steep hill without any problem.
Thanks to Quattro and traction control, it manage to climb that hill despite its 1700 kg of weight and 225 sized tyres. These figures are not very good for climbing a hill with that high angle. However, there were some tricks! In first shootings they tried to climb with normal sized winter tyres and A6 could not managed to reach, and that’s the normal. After that, they have replaced the tyres with rally spec narrow, spiky winter tyres and its achieved.
So, only changing the tyres size even helped to achieve to climb an impossible hill despite huge weight. Here are the videos.

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Cars

Touch me! Jaguar

Fabric experts are able to understand the quality of fabric just by touching them. To understand the quality of a fabric, you have to touch! You don’t have many alternatives. And that’s something very usual. However, Jaguar XF something common with that. I know that XF is not a brand new car but many people do not know its interesting feature of touching everything.
This car’s interior is an engineering show. Engine start button flashes like pulse, gear knob raises from the dash, air vent are opened when air condition is on. The interesting bits are the touching parts :) Yes, you have to touch some place to open or activate them. The navigation screen is touch screen and that’s very common. However, touch sensing glove box is something totally unexpected. Unlike other cars, in Jaguar XF you just need to touch or drag your finger like in iPhone! And glove box opens. It is the same with interior lights, there is not button to press. You just touch the light and it is on! Sounds like Star Trek technology. I didn’t have chance to experience these things while driving but I don’t think that anyone is annoyed with touch focused interior.
Like understand the quality of fabric, to understand the technology of a car sometimes we have to touch!