I did say I’d blog when Autocade hit 4,100 models, which it did yesterday. Proof that the hundredth milestones aren’t planned: the model was the Changan Zhixiang (長安志翔 or 长安志翔, depending on which script system you prefer) of 2008, a.k.a. Changan Z-Shine. A less than stellar car with a disappointingly assembled interior, but it did […]
Category: cars
Cars and the automotive industry.
Autocade turns 12
Autocade turns 12 today, as it’s now March 8 here in New Zealand. From zero models to 4,093 (the Hyundai Avante XD is the latest); and as I write this sentence, it’s netted 18,683,611 page views. Just four years ago this month, it had only managed eight million. Just this week, I added two […]
Could this happen one day at GM?
The MG line-up in New Zealand. Could it be part of a bigger portfolio of brands later this decade? In the context of what has happened with Holden, and Peter Hanenberger’s thoughts on the direction of GM, I wonder how far away we are from seeing these headlines: Cash-strapped GM sells passenger car brands […]
Peter Hanenberger’s unintended post mortem of Holden
The 2009 Chevrolet Caprice SS, sold in the Middle East but made in Australia. I came across a 2017 interview with former Holden chairman Peter Hanenberger, who was in charge when the company had its last number-one sales’ position in Australia. His words are prescient and everything he said then still applies today. […]
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The death of Holden
GM pulled out of Russia and India, so with hindsight, those of us Down Under, with a far smaller total population, shouldn’t have thought we were particularly special. Even where GM remains, such as South Korea, there’s a broken model range, with a big gap where the Cruze used to be. It’s becoming […]
GM’s Holden to abandon C and D car segments, delivering them on a silver platter to competitors
Stuart Cowley for Lucire I haven’t spoken to Holden New Zealand to see if we’re following suit, but as far as Australia’s concerned, 2020 will be the final year for the Astra and Commodore, as Holden transitions to selling only trucks (utes) and SUVs. Here we are, with its most competitive C- and […]
Give me a break
From an Automotive News interview with Yves Bonnefort, CEO of DS. Um, that’s called a station wagon or estate car, mate. You may also like A couple of days before it became official: thoughts on PSA and FCA linking up GM’s Holden to abandon C and D car segments, delivering them on a silver […]
Replacing Po.st with Addtoany, outside of Wordpress
Some of you will have noticed that Po.st went out of business, so all the Po.st sharing links disappeared from our websites. The replacement: addtoany.com offers a similar service without the hassle of header codes. Just customize at their website, grab the code, and insert it where you want it. It’s now on the […]
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Carlos Ghosn redresses the balance
It’s been fascinating to watch Carlos Ghosn’s press conference in Beirut, and subsequent interviews, confirming my own suspicions back in November 2018 (as Tweeted and blogged). Carlos Ghosn's criticism of the Japanese justice system isn’t ‘one-sided’ as they claim. For 14 months, they controlled the narrative and the smear campaign against him. He and others […]
It took a while: Autocade hits 4,000 models
The Chinese-market Buick Enclave became Autocade’s 4,000th model today. It wasn’t planned: in fact, I had readied a photograph of the Hyundai Tiburon (RD), expecting that would be the 4,000th. But, as happens with this site, you spot something, and you want that clarified. I haven’t been methodical about Autocade, ever—it has always been about […]