The Tofaş Doğan, the 1,000th model entered into Autocade in 2009. A very quick look at how long it took us to get each 1,000 models on Autocade. 0: March 8, 2008 1,000: December 21, 2009 (1 year, 9 months for first 1,000—Tofaş Doğan was the 1,000th) 2,000: December 30, 2012 (3 years […]
Read More… from Getting to each 1,000th model on Autocade—so far
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 […]
Companies in FCA’s and PSA’s histories did once produce the Plymouth Horizon, so historically there is some precedent to a trans-Atlantic arrangement—not to mention the type 220 and 179 minivans and the commercial vehicles currently in PSA’s and Fiat’s ranges. This is a few days old, but it’s nice to know that these hurriedly written […]
Read More… from A couple of days before it became official: thoughts on PSA and FCA linking up
On this Pope Gregory Arbitrary Calendar Start Day, I wrote to a contact of mine at Renault New Zealand. In mid-2018, I joked that, since Renault had no dealers in Wellington (never mind what’s listed on their website—the only people who can see a dealer there are psychic mediums), I could sell them out […]
Read More… from Capturing a buyer: some advice to Renault New Zealand
There’s a rumour circulating that Fiat (specifically, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA) will kill the Chrysler marque today. The range currently consists of two models: the ageing 300 and the relatively fresh Pacifica. It seems to be another step in the mismanagement of car marques, especially US ones, something I wrote about many […]
Above: The Mitsubishi eK Wagon, one of the cars at the centre of the company’s latest scandal. One thing about creating and running Autocade is that you gain an appreciation for corporate history. Recently, I blogged about Fiat, and the troubles the company is in; it wasn’t that long ago that Fiat was the designers’ […]
Above: The current Fiat 500. A year shy of its 10th anniversary, is it still cool in 2016? The Detroit News reports that Fiat has been having trouble Stateside, with dealers now permitted to sell the cars alongside Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram instead of at stand-alone showrooms. It’s been worrying seeing Fiat’s plans […]
Fiat has announced that it’s going to bring back the Dodge Dart nameplate on a compact sedan based on a stretched Alfa Romeo Giulietta platform for the 2013 model year. This was actually mentioned when Chrysler was going cap-in-hand to the US Government, so it’s not a total surprise. The nameplate, however, is. […]
Read More… from Dodge revives the Dart, while UK Delta owners revive Lancia
Robin Capper referred this to me, found on Autocar’s blog and penned by Hilton Holloway. I’ve only taken excerpts: [A senior MG Rover insider] claims MG Rover bosses were offered a life raft shortly after they bought MG Rover for a tenner. Realising that Rover’s L-series diesel engine was hopelessly outclassed, they approached Fiat about […]
Read More… from Another MG Rover gaffe: turning down the Fiat Stilo platform
I read a blog post tonight on my friend Jen’s Tumblr, about a memory that goes back to when she was about three or so. But she wondered if it was accurate. I believe it was, because for me, by age three I had over two years’ worth of memories. I have met two […]