20 posts tagged “marketing”

I know Britain is as youth-obsessed as America sometimes, and an article in The Daily Telegraph, about cop show New Tricks, reminded me of that fact.
   Amanda Redman, the star of the show, and doing better here than in Honest, the remake of the New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune, says in the newspaper, ‘I find it extraordinary, because we are repeated more than any BBC drama ever, and for our repeats alone we get more viewings than the first showings of, for instance, Life on Mars.’
   She may be 48 but the other three principal actors in the series, Dennis Waterman, Alun Armstrong and James Bolan, are between 60 and 73.
   And for some reason, promoting this age group isn’t “cool”.
   The BBC needs to get itself sor’ed.
   With an ageing population in the west, the over-60s is one of the most desirable demographics and it would make a lot of sense to promote shows like New Tricks alongside its other hits such as Doctor Who and Ashes to Ashes.
   It’s why I think the US networks’ opposition to a last Columbo story, on the basis that Peter Falk, in his 80s, is too old to attract advertisers, is bollocks.
   And who is to say that being over 60 isn’t cool? Ask Tom Jones, who still draws in the crowds, including young ’uns, regularly.
   In the US every weeknight, David Letterman, 61, isn’t letting up.
   Interestingly, few seem to think that excluding people based on maturity is politically incorrect—yet we go around advancing the causes of the young.
   Dennis Waterman says in the article, ‘Apparently children are very impressed when their parents point me out and say, “That’s Dennis Waterman”. … They go, “What? Is there a real Dennis Waterman?” So maybe I’ve got a new audience there.’
   The west’s youth obsession hasn’t exactly moved the world on in too many ways: young, inexperienced leaders in politics have not proved visionary in many cases.
   I am not saying we should be like Saudi Arabia where old folks run the show without any idea of advancing human rights.
   But we owe baby boomers and those even older a great debt, and we should be championing their wisdom and experience, just as many great civilized societies have done. Older is cool, but we need to begin having a more accommodating mindset.

Jerry Flint in Forbes is one of the most intelligent motoring industry commentators in the world today. I pretty much agree with his latest column on saving GM. Highlights:

The issue is not whether there can be a rescue at General Motors; the issue is whether the current management can save it. The record is not good. Since 1992, GM’s U.S. market share has fallen steadily—from 34% that year to 19% in May. Many of GM’s leading executives are from the finance side of the business, but the financial failures are numerous. The company wasted $2 billion on an investment in Fiat and many billions more on the Delphi spin-off. Management also wrecked GMAC, its car loan subsidiary, by lending mortgage money to people who could not pay it back.

   And:

Unlike some commentators, I do not think GM’s problem is that it has too many divisions. It is shifting Buick, Pontiac and GMC to common dealerships, which means some divisions are becoming more like individual models rather than full-fledged brands. It causes less public relations damage and legal liabilities to leave Buick with a few models, rather than endure the type of bad publicity it endured a few years ago when it phased out Oldsmobile.
   I think that GM made a big mistake and did a great disservice to itself and to its dealers when it recently announced that it was looking for ways to unload Hummer. Yes, the biggest Hummers are gas pigs, but Hummer is a strong brand to put up against Jeep. It was a mistake, too, to cancel production of the Hummer H4, a smaller vehicle to compete against the iconic Jeep Wrangler. Just because consumers are flocking to vehicles that are more efficient does not mean that they do not want exciting, macho, sport utility vehicles.
   Russia has plenty of oil and enough wealthy people for vehicles such as Cadillac Escalades and Hummers. Why can't GM step up its export business to such markets?

   Jerry Flint also believes that Bob Lutz and many GM folks can lead the company to recovery. This might be worth a post on the main blog.
   Incidentally, I have been told that Condé Nast Portfolio published my letter to the editor about the US auto industry.

[Cross-posted] Yves Saint Laurent’s passing is such a shock to the fashion media because he was the world’s greatest couturier.
   When we broke the news on Sunday night at Lucire, it was obvious that we were marking the end of an era.
   The casual observer might say that the end occurred in 2002, when Saint Laurent retired to his house in Marrakech. But while he remained alive, there was always that link to one of fashion’s pure geniuses.
   Saint Laurent, perhaps like Mozart, did not have formal training when he created clothes for his sister and mother. He was talented enough to be accepted into the Chambre Syndicale. When he created the trapèze look at Dior in 1958, he was not following some great marketing-trend projection. Nor were brand advisers present with studies about liberating women when he gave the world le smoking or the safari look.
   It was only with hindsight that we, the media, made the connections for him, hiding the real inspirations that he had in his quest to become France’s greatest couturier.
   The great irony is that as his influence grew, so did the YSL brand, which meant his name became so tied up with marketing, business, financial projections and trend forecasts.
   While that brought Saint Laurent wealth, it was always clear that he was happiest simply being a créateur. It was a sign that it was better to preside over a genuine maison de l’amour than seeing if money bought happiness.
   His passing perhaps marks the demise of a pure couturier who drew from something within, finding the essence not only of his muses, such as Catherine Deneuve, but of himself.
   Today’s couturiers, while incredibly talented, are also more calculated and savvy. Saint Laurent could leave the calculations and savvy to his lover and company president, Pierre Bergé.
   I am not saying one method is better than the other. But I do miss that era where we praised Saint Laurent because he was simply so good at what he did, setting the Zeitgeist for the simple reason that he did not watch the Zeitgeist.
   Today’s designers, such as Gaultier and Ford, and even to an extent Saint Laurent’s contemporary, Lagerfeld, have a more balanced outlook, which obviously have kept them away from the down sides of Saint Laurent’s behaviour: his severe depression and his reclusiveness, especially during the 1980s.
   It is also Yves Saint Laurent the recluse, the victim of school bullying, the man who saw himself as a latter-day Swann, that also makes today’s story all the more compelling. But again, it hides that single-minded desire, one which few of us would dare to do because we know of its personal cost.
   When President Sarkozy made him an Officier of the Legion d’Honneur, the title of ‘hero’ wasn’t inappropriate for Saint Laurent.
   He is a hero for that reason, and he has set the bar so high that it will take an extraordinary person to beat his record.
   The Proust connection—Saint Laurent as Swann, by his own reckoning—does point to how he saw himself, cast out by society. It is invalid, because we are all the poorer now.
   We have lost one of the purest designers; one fewer great figure on whom we can not only report, but bask in his genius.

I was chatting to Nick Tomlinson au blog, and this ad for the 1988–9 Vauxhall Cavalier came to mind. Yes, the car of the future is the Opel Vectra A!

   No mention of a nuclear power cell, which GM actually did promise us in the Futurama shows of the 1950s.

Un pub britannique de 1988 pour l’Opel Vectra A, s’appelle Vauxhall Cavalier en Grande-Bretagne.

[Cross-posted] This has been official for a while (or so I think—not that I ever heard what the Electoral Commission thought, but I did see it on its website). However, I wanted the party to approve the news first before sharing it with you all. The following is the overseas release which was rewritten from the one sent to domestic newsmedia. One that includes a mention of the Bush–Cheney campaign of 2004 was sent to US media.

JY&A Consulting revamps logo for New Zealand’s Alliance Party

Wellington, May 9 (JY&A Media) New Zealand political party, the Alliance, is looking more modern and relevant, thanks to its new logo by JY&A Consulting (http://jya.net/consulting).
   Devised by JY&A Consulting’s Jack Yan, the new logo signifies a new beginning for the democratic socialist political party.
   Mr Yan says that he has been a keen observer of general elections in the UK, US and New Zealand since the 1980s and that played a part in his team’s design.
   He says the Conservatives in 1983, Labour in the UK in 1997 and 2002 and Labour in New Zealand in 1999 and 2003 had certain commonalties in their campaigns, centring around typography.
   He also said that in those years, the party’s name was important, not the symbol—hence the traditional Labour rose was not present on that party’s election materials in 1997 and 2002.
   By abandoning the old A symbol of the Alliance and concentrating on the word, Mr Yan says that the party looks more professional and ready.
   The Alliance has contested every General Election in New Zealand since 1993. However, due to party changes it is trying to rebuild itself for the country’s General Election later this year.
   ‘We have two major parties in New Zealand that vote pretty much the same on all issues,’ says Mr Yan, ‘and minor parties that get ignored because of a lack of visibility. I wanted to change that. Why should minor parties be laboured with second-rate brands?’
   The logo is based around the Frutiger typeface and its lettering is predominantly in red, with a red dot over the i in Alliance to signify its environmental awareness.
   He says the letter i also shows the humanizing aspect of the party.
   ‘As a piece of design I think it looks more cohesive than the committee-led logos of National and Labour,’ he says, criticizing the major two parties in New Zealand.
   ‘I was given a lot of freedom, which is a good sign of how the party leadership handles matters. It clearly believes in trusting the right people.’
   As well as heading JY&A Consulting’s parent, Jack Yan & Associates, Mr Yan co-wrote Beyond Branding in 2003 and is a director of the Medinge Group, a branding think-tank based in Sweden.
   In October 2007 he was a keynote speaker for the Alliance Party at its annual conference.

Way too tired today. Got up early to take Dad to hospital for a check-up, and it’s amazing what missing half an hour of sleep can do to you. And the check-up was surprisingly quick: here I was, armed with laptop and about six hours’ worth of work packed—only to return by 10 a.m. and needing sleep—and refusing to take it.
   So, tonight, instead of more intelligent blogging (did that already on the other blog), I decided to carry on from my discussion with Nick in the comments to the last entry and hunt for a few more cheesy old movie trailers. As threatened, Hanoi Jane in Barbarella is next: note that the scenes are all from the opening striptease and not the Excessive Machine. That French husband of hers was a bit of a perve. OK, he was a total perve. Then, his first name was Roger.

   I should note that I am not really a Barbarella fan, though I do love the cheesiness today. I guess it was the whole Vietnam thing and selling out US troops that spoiled Hanoi Jane for me. I know the lady has apologized, but if I was that upset as a civilian, what do the vets think?
   Next, a film I am a fan of, big time. Probably another of my top five:

Now, this is well edited and as a trailer it does stand up well, apart from the narrator’s VO. I’d imagine these days he’d have an American accent. There’s so much to say about this film that maybe I shouldn’t in this post.
   Here’s one which young people might know as I Am Legend. But when it wasn’t named after the original book, it was The Omega Man, with our old friend, Charlton Heston.    All we need is for Hollywood to ruin this next one and some aspects are dangerously worrying for life in 2008. The “future”, 2022, is not that far off. Remember this film talks about environmental disaster as well as the widening gap between rich and poor. Back to a serious narrator here and Herb Lubalin’s Avant Garde typeface:  The scene where Chuck watches Edward G. Robinson dies is poignant. Apparently, Heston was one of the few that knew Robinson was terminally ill and legend has it those are real tears. What we need is a remake with Will Smith in it. Or maybe not.
   I always thought a good name for a cross-country race transporting Soylent Green to various cities could be called The Cannibal Run.
   Finally, something to liven up proceedings after a couple of downers. Welcome back, cheesy narrator, and the word sexcapade (oooh):

She makes movies, she sings, she’s easy on the eyes—and she ain’t J. Lo. Not that much new under the sun.

Les publicités des années 50 et 60 pour les films hollywoodiens classiques.

The trailer to one of my favourite films—but it’s very 1960s. A modern audience won’t exactly get excited over this. That’s ironic though: if you see the film, there are plenty of scenes which could be edited in a modern fashion to create a very impactful trailer. But since it was the 1960s, this was perfectly acceptable and there’s just enough of Sophia Loren in a state of undress to get her fans along. And plenty of Christian Dior dresses and shoes (oh, the shoes—they were in Loren’s contract and written in to the script as a fetish of Alan Badel’s character). Gregory Peck, meanwhile, is still one of the top stars of the time—doing a role originally written for Archie Leach (Cary Grant to the rest of us). Note the prominence of Henry Mancini’s name, too. 
   As a movie it holds up remarkably well, far better than the trailer.

Un pub pour le film Arabesque, de Stanley Donen, avec Gregory Peck et Sophia Loren.

Warning: this may be the most boring Autocade-related post you will ever read on Vox. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Toyota Corolla. I am not responsible for narcolepsy.
   I wrote these ones out of interest, tracking the rise and fall of one of Japan’s greatest exports. I say ‘fall’ despite the fact Toyota has sold 30 million of this nameplate, as it does seem that in an age of market segmentation, it is branching the Corolla line into other nameplates such as the Auris, Blade and Matrix models. So Toyota will still sell huge numbers of these cars-as-domestic-appliances, and it will even instil desirability into them through marketing, and it will likely remain the world’s number-one automaker. But the age of the Corolla may be in decline, with fewer body styles and engine options, as you go down the list—following the same pattern that we can observe with any car line. We are probably 75 per cent through the lifetime of the Corolla. (Note to our US readers: the years quoted are not American model years.)

Toyota Corolla (E10). 1966–70 (prod. 1,170,000 approx.). 2- and 4-door sedan, 2-door coupé, 3-door wagon. F/R, 1077, 1166 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV). The car that kicked it off. Toyota spotted room for a small car as the Japanese middle class grew. Very conventional, drum brakes initially, front discs later. Perhaps established the idea for the Corolla line that basic motoring sells—it need not be the latest technology—but how that appealed to a global market. Aimed at export, toward a ‘general user’. Some creature comforts such as cigarette lighter, reclining seats, two-speed wipers. Four-door and wagon added May 1967. Coupé, from April 1968, sold as Sprinter in some markets—Sprinter line had not split from Corolla line at this point. Larger engine from 1970.

Toyota Corolla (E20). 1970–8 (prod. 3,210,000 approx.). 2- and 4-door sedan, 2-door coupé, 3- and 5-door van and wagon. F/R, 1166, 1407, 1588 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV), 1588 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Launched May 1970, Coke-bottled shape follow-up to original Corolla, proving a bigger hit. Bigger all round, with sporty looking coupé and attractive (for the time) sedan. Conventional engineering but fairly good equipment levels. Addition of five-door station wagon for first time. Sprinter line split from Corolla with this series: cars were called Toyota Corolla for dealers bearing that name, and Toyota Sprinter for Toyota Auto dealers in Japan. Five-speed transmission for 1971. Corolla Levin (and Sprinter Trueno) from March 1972. Daihatsu Charmant spun off from Corolla E20 platform in November 1974, after this model was mostly superseded by Corolla 30. Vans and wagons continued in Japan to 1978 alongside Corolla 30 counterparts. 

Toyota Corolla/Corolla 30 (E30, E50). 1974–81 (prod. 4,420,000 approx.). 2- and 4-door sedan, 2-door hardtop coupé, 3-door liftback coupé, 3- and 5-door wagon. F/R, 1166, 1290, 1588 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV), 1588 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Japanese econobox and the world’s top selling car from 1974 to 1977—the first generation of Corolla to win this acclaim. Not the most rust-proof and not particularly safe when compared with its contemporaries, but inoffensive though dull. Less roomy than Volkswagen Golf; cruder than contemporary Nissans, but proof that conventional engineering was what the customer wanted in the 1970s. Many variations on the theme: two sedans, two coupés, two wagons. Toyota Sprinter a more powerful version; related to Daihatsu Charmant. Longer life than most Corollas, probably due to 1970s’ recession. Japanese and American models had raised grille, lacking from many other markets. More formal grille for 1977. Production in Japan stopped in 1979; Australia produced the model at Port Melbourne till 1981, with later models featuring a 1290 cm³ four.
 

Toyota Corolla (E70). 1979–87 (prod. 3,500,000 approx. in Japan). 2- and 4-door sedan, 3-door van, 5-door station wagon, 2-door coupé, 3-door fastback coupé, 3-door hatchback coupé. F/R, 1290, 1495, 1770 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV), 1490, 1587 cm³ (4 cyl. SOHC), 1587 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Boxy Toyota for the 1980s looks modern but hides pretty much the same as before: front-engined, rear-wheel drive. Available in a variety of models and tidily styled, but a demonstration of the car as a domestic appliance in most cases. Behind the times once archrival Nissan released its front-drive Sunny for 1981. Van and station wagon built into E80 era with slanted grille; facelifted rear-drive sedans even built in Australia into 1987.

Toyota Corolla (E80). 1983–7 (prod. 3,300,000 approx.). 4-door sedan, 5-door liftback sedan, 3- and 5-door hatchback sedan, 3- and 5-door van and station wagon, 2- and 3-door coupé. F/F, F/R, F/A, 1295, 1587 cm³ (4 cyl. SOHC), 1587 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 1839 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. OHC). Toyota may have been late compared with Nissan, Ford, Mazda and Honda in joining the front-wheel-drive bandwagon, but when the E80 Corolla was launched, it blew a lot of the competition away. Highly competent range dynamically and models even had character; relative to the competition, probably the best Corolla ever. Comprehensive range but station wagon and vans carried over from E70 and Levin (AE86) coupé and liftback still on old rear-wheel-drive platform. Sixteen-valve engines for AE86s, developing 92 kW; AE86s developed a legendary status in Japan, considered a classic to this day. Pop-up headlamps for some coupés. Styling completely contemporary with exception of van and wagon, which had an E80-style nose grafted on. Handsome liftback, named Corolla Seca in Australia, where E80 production commenced 1985. Kammback three- and five-door models part of Corolla range in most countries though considered separately in Japan, US and Canada as Corolla FX, Corolla Compact in Europe. New Zealand FXes had regular Corolla nose; other markets tended to have Japanese one. First Toyota Corolla to top New Zealand sales’ charts, thanks to marketing blitz with That’s Incredible’s John Davison. 

Toyota Corolla (E90). 1987–91 (prod. 4,500,000 approx.). 4-door sedan, 5-door liftback sedan, 2- and 3-door coupé, 5-door wagon, 5-door 4WD wagon, 3- and 5-door hatchback sedan. F/F, F/A, 1295 cm³ petrol, 1839 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. SOHC), 1498, 1587 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Bigger, plusher second-generation front-wheel-drive Corolla built on the last’s success, though seemingly less inspiring. Aim was to produce a classless car, and in Japan, it succeeded; in Europe, with other compacts growing, the Corolla never really transcended its position. Same wheelbase, but 2 cm wider. More sophisticated with four-wheel-drive models; Corolla Cielo (Seca in Australia) a contemporary-looking five-door liftback. Rear-wheel-drive models phased out as Toyota introduced a proper E90 station wagon, though commercial models retained leaf springs at rear. Four-wheel-drive wagon replaced Tercel Carib in most markets, different body to standard wagon. Station wagon shared with Sprinter line. Kammbacks still separate line in Japan, called Corolla FX.

 

Toyota Corolla (E100). 1991–9 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan, 5-door liftback sedan, 4-door hardtop, 3- and 5-door hatchback sedan, 5-door wagon, 5-door high-roof van, 2-door coupé. F/F, F/A, 1331, 1497, 1498, 1587, 1762 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 1296 cm³ petrol, 1974 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. SOHC). Dr Akihiko Saito, in charge of the Corolla programme, wanted to create the most refined Corolla possible, with Lexus-style comfort. To some degree, the team succeeded, but the car’s price went up in Japan during a recession. Roomy, but heavy, and less competitive alongside other small cars, including Koreans. Sales were initially slow. Longer wheelbase. Short-tail hatchbacks still Corolla FX in Japan. Four-door hardtop coupé from 1992 called Corolla Ceres. Last Corolla built in Australia.

Toyota Corolla (E110). 1995–2000 (prod. unknown). 3-door hatchback sedan, 4-door sedan, 5-door liftback sedan, 5-door wagon, 2-door coupé, 5-door minivan. F/F, F/A, 1331, 1498, 1587, 1794 cm³ petrol (4 cyl. DOHC), 1974, 2184 cm³ diesel (4 cyl.). Economic recession forced Toyota to use carryover platform from E100 and split Corolla into Asian–North American and Australasian–European–South American editions. More formal styling was apparent for the former; the latter had distinctive grilles. Wheelbase remained unchanged, and doors carried over as well. Kammback five-door deleted as five-door models merged into one body style. Sprinter Carib-style shell used for European station wagon (E100 carried over in Japan). Corolla more outclassed in this generation, especially with cost-cutting—though Takayasu Honda, the chief engineer on the project, tried to do so without losing quality. Mini-MPV called Corolla Spacio (Corolla Verso in Europe) introduced. European trim levels sounded more emotive, with Linea Terra and Linea Rossa introduced in this generation. Built on every continent at one point, a true world car. Japanese mid-term facelift April 1997; European facelift to four-headlamp grille 1998.

Toyota Corolla/Toyota Huaguan/Toyota Limo (E120). 2000–8 (prod. unknown). 3-, 4- and 5-door sedan, 5-door wagon, 5-door minivan. F/F, 1364 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. SOHC), 1398, 1598, 1796 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 1995 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC). Corolla grows to its biggest size up to that point but limited by Japanese taxation requirements (setting the maximum width to 1,700 mm before it goes into a higher tax bracket). Shortened Toyota Vista platform, 2,600 mm wheelbase. Torsion beam axle at rear, replacing independent rear suspension. Sedans sold as Corolla Altis in some Asian markets. Wagons named Corolla Fielder, with hatchbacks taking Corolla Runx and Allex names (the latter replacing Sprinter). Corolla Spacio denoted a minivan model, sold as Corolla Spacio in Europe. Toyota Matrix, a different small van or tall hatchback, sold in US, renamed Corolla Matrix in 2005. Platform shared with Pontiac Vibe (or Toyota Voltz). Competent small car, hatchbacks in fact quite stylish, though interior design dull. Mid-life facelift 2004 in Japan. Japanese production ended 2006; some other countries 2008.

Toyota Corolla (E140). 2006 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon, 5-door minivan. F/F, F/A, 1497, 1797 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Corolla grew to a size where the 1,700 mm width was too narrow for export, so Toyota broke up the ranges into related cars: sub-1,700 mm for domestic, over 1,700 mm for export. E140 sedan known as Corolla Axio in Japan. Wagon (Corolla Fielder) sold Japan and New Zealand only. Wheelbase unchanged from E120. Corolla Rumion a boxy minivan related to Scion xB and Daihatsu Materia.
  

Toyota Corolla (E150). 2006 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 1497, 1797, 2362 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Continuing car-as-domestic-appliance approach with bland styling, if reasonable refinement. Hatchback for Australia and New Zealand really a rebadged Toyota Auris. Interiors better than E120. Different to 1,700 mm-wide model sold in Japan as Toyota divides Corolla into domestic and export models. Sedan badged Corolla Altis in many Asian markets. Wagon part of E140 range, rather than wider E150. Five-door for US market sold as Toyota Matrix.    

 
I am going to be doing some banners to promote Autocade soon. It’s still very much in beta with only a few dozen cars on it, but I have been thinking about the reasons I started it.

• There are a few, but not many, car sites out there with geographically unbiased information. I believe that German cars, for example, should be written with the point of view that the German market is the domestic one and others are export ones. Wikipedia is not one of them. It tends to take the American view on a lot of topics, but 80 per cent of the internet audience is not Stateside. Some of the better car wikis out there also have this bias, though they do not claim to be international—Wikipedia does.
• The Wikipedia layout is boring.
• I want basic information, not long stories, and I should be able to trace the global lineages of car models relatively simply. I’m fine with the long stuff appearing at specialist sites, but there should be one place where I can get the basics, including info on model changes and even a little opinion on the vehicle.
• I am more passionate about cars than many other things in life.

   When I began researching some of the Autocade entries, I was surprised to note how much incorrect information exists on Wikipedia about various models—and that I was absolutely right to have doubts about it. (I realized that I could go and edit Wikipedia myself, but why bother, if the actual editorial approach differs?) I also noticed how many references I have that take the brief format—Michael Sedgwick’s work, the first issues of Your Classic with buyers’ guides, and The Complete Car Guide five-week supplement in Autocar & Motor in 1988. This worked with readers like me then, and I can’t see why it wouldn’t work now in 2008.
   The way Wikipedia and some other sites is organized isn’t to my liking. For example, one of the Autocade entries is on the Holden Belmont. There is no such entry at Wikipedia: searching for the car name takes you to a forwarded page on the Holden Kingswood.
   But if I wanted information on the Holden Kingswood, I would type in Holden Kingswood. Specifically, I wanted information on the Belmont, to cross-check the information I had. There is a lineage there, and the way the engine options differed between series is interesting to car nuts.
   I took Sedgwick’s approach and recorded the Belmont separately of the Kingswood, just as he did in the same circumstances.
   And I have been using non-digital sources to confirm a lot of the info.
   Most of the work is still mine, but I’d welcome extra pairs of hands once the marketing gets under way, provided that senior editors take the approach that I have above.
   My work isn’t perfect and I am sure I have made my share of mistakes, but I hope I have made fewer, relative to the number of pages on Autocade, than many generous writers of Wikipedia have. Then again, there is less to go wrong at Autocade. It looks like too many cooks spoiling the broth at Wikipedia (i.e. you can’t bank on the Wales)—something we need to be careful with as Autocade goes out of beta later this year. 

I saw a Peugeot 407 next to a 1980s BMW 5-series today and noted how much bigger, in every dimension, the 407 is. The 407 is regarded as small down the back—which makes you think about the size of, say, the Ford Mondeo CD345, which is about the same size as the outgoing Ford Falcon.
   Here’s a wild prediction: in years to come, the equivalents or descendants of the Ford Focus, Mondeo and Falcon will all be the same size and differ only in body styles and engine sizes.
   At Toyota, Corolla and Camry are approaching similar sizes, and Toyota Australia’s full-size model, the Aurion, is actually the same size as the Camry, right down to wheelbase. In fact, in some markets, the car that Australians call the Aurion is actually called the Camry.
   Roads can only be so wide unless even Toyota gets in to the Hummer H1 game and in future, we wind up with a mega-wide Previa.
   This may sound daft but if you consider that the Peugeot 307 and 407 and Ford Focus and Mondeo have similar engineering roots, then the likely integration in future will happen.
   As niche vehicles develop, the mainstream models will become fewer. For example, Nissan in Europe pretty much retails only specialty cars now. Aside from the supermini, the Micra, every Nissan sold in Europe is either an SUV, minivan or sports car. That’s a far cry from the manufacturer of the Sentra, Altima and Maxima in North America.
   What may likely happen is that mainstream nameplates will wind up on some niche vehicles, or niche vehicles may be marketed as the successor to everyday models—one of the few ways to get sufficient economies of scale.
   We’re unlikely to see a TGV approach to cars: the same width, but differing lengths based on your requirements—though models like the Renault Kangoo and Espace, with their lengthier counterparts, make me wonder.
   We’re also bound to see more manufacture in cheaper countries: Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic for the European market; Russia, Uzbekistan and Ukraine for their regions; and, of course, Red China.
   Whatever the case, at this present rate, the motor industry will have a very different shape in the next decade, assuming we haven’t given up on the internal combustion engine or seen some catastrophe.