Blog Posts by: David Zenlea  

The new Acura NSX concept is perhaps the most important design ever for a brand that hasn’t always presented a clear, consistent face. We walked around the concept with Acura head designer Jon Ikeda to learn what he likes best about the new concept. Though he cautions that this is ...    Read more

Automobile Magazine design editor Robert Cumberford sat down with Bob Boniface, head of exterior design at Cadillac (but best known for the Chevrolet Volt) for a frank discussion of the luxury brand’s design direction. Needless to say, there was some disagreement, although they’re at least of the same mind when ...    Read more

For the first time since, well, ever, heading up small car development at General Motors commands some respect, both outside and within the company. The Chevrolet Cruze is a certified sales hit, and newer entries like the Sonic and Buick Verano have been well received. And it’s no coincidence that ...    Read more

Cadillac has caught up with luxury competitors in terms of performance, style, and refinement. It’s even taken strides in the critical area of high-performance station wagons. The brand still lags behind the pack, though, when it comes to in-car technology. ...    Read more

Ford will offer lane keeping assist and driver alertness monitoring on the Explorer in 2012, and invited us to Dearborn to test it against some competitors’ systems. The system relies on a camera mounted between the windshield and rearview mirror, which reads the lane markings. When it detects a driver ...    Read more

We’ve just gotten a close up look at Buick’s new compact car, and can share the following earth shattering news: it’s quiet. “Our target was the LaCrosse and Enclave in terms of quietness. It’s about being quiet, smooth, and premium,” says Verano engineer Matt Purdy. Though the intense focus on silence certainly ...    Read more

For all the attention lavished on the 2012 Ford Focus, its 2.0-liter four-cylinder has gone relatively unnoticed. But as we learned today, it's a key achievement for Ford and will play a significant role in the company's lower-priced, mainstream offerings. The new engine is Ford's first application of direct-injection ...    Read more

General Motors shook up its executive ranks yet again last week when it appointed Mary Barra, formerly human resources vice president, to head product development. Naturally, this has set off much speculation about the acuity of new CEO Dan Akerson and the long-term viability of a team that retired vice ...    Read more

Every January, despite the cold and snow, the city of Detroit puts on its glass slippers and forgets its many troubles for a while. Glitzy lights and posters decorate the outside of Cobo Center, conspicuously expensive cars bring life to the broad streets, and hungry, tired showgoers crowd hotels and ...    Read more

The Porsche 918 Spyder concept may indeed be a revolutionary supercar, but it seems to owe a bit of its technological prowess to the third-generation Pontiac Firebird. Don't believe me? Take a look at those wheels! Couple this with David Hasselhoff's enduring starpower in Germany, and I think ...    Read more

There are power rankings for just about every sport and most racing series. Why not have one for the auto industry? What better time to start than now, in the thick of auto-show season, when every carmaker is strutting its stuff? And who better to do the rankings than me? ...    Read more

Ready for a massive understatement? Here it comes...It’s been a bad month for Toyota. The proud Japanese automaker that taught the auto industry the value of “kaizen” now finds itself drowning in safety recalls. It’s violated the trust of its customers and has given the U.S. government, also known as ...    Read more

Better Place, the Silicon Valley startup looking to set up a battery charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, announced this morning it has secured $350 million in new funding.The investment, led by HSBC and Morgan Stanley, will allow the company to complete its pilot networks in Israel and Denmark, and to ...    Read more

Another auto-show season is upon us in Detroit, which means there's another raft of announcements regarding the Chevrolet Volt. We sat down for a few minutes with the head of the Volt team to discuss the car's rollout, pricing, and smart phone-based key fob.Q: We've heard recently that the price ...    Read more

Following a year in which it was the fastest-growing and most aggressive automaker, Hyundai is now looking to become a leader in green technology, as evidenced by the Blue-Will concept. Hyundai calls the Blue-Will a “test bed” for green technologies it’s developing. First and ...    Read more

Some four months after introducing the e-tron at the Frankfurt auto show, Audi is hinting at how it might expand its use of electric technology with a new concept: the e-tron. ...    Read more

The Regal GS is back, and yes, it's got boost. The GS, which Buick introduced today as a concept, carries over much of the package Europeans know as the Opel Insignia OPC, with all-wheel-drive, Brembo brakes, and an aggressive interior and exterior appearance package replete with 20-inch ...    Read more

The Chevrolet Malibu will receive improvements in advance of its next redesign in effort to revive its flagging sales."From the product development side we need to take a good look at...the Ford Fusion," said Jim Federico, who heads up midsize vehicle development at General Motors.The Malibu was last redesigned for ...    Read more

It’s no secret that automakers are desperately trying to find a way to make a profit on environmentally friendly vehicles. Green propulsion technology is extremely expensive and engineering-intensive, and yet it’s most often applied to low-margin compact cars. Success at selling high-end green vehicles such as the Lexus LS600hL and ...    Read more

Following its U.S. debut at the Los Angeles auto show, we got a chance to sample the battery-powered sports car along a scenic stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. The bright red show car is the same prototype our man Georg Kacher sampled in Europe, but has since seen ...    Read more

Earlier this week, we previewed the impressive Opel Insignia-based Buick Regal. But that’s not all we saw. In addition to development prototypes of the Regal we’ll see next year, we also got some seat time in variants of the car that could make their way to the States in the ...    Read more

Regardless of what you may read and hear in the coming days, not one of the countless journalists, analysts, and community leaders who gathered in Auburn Hills to hear Chrysler's new business plan yesterday really knows what the ailing automaker will look like in 2014. Not even group CEO Sergio ...    Read more

That's the message you'll likely hear several times over tonight if you plan to watch your television tonight, as the newly-crafted Ram brand launches a marketing offensive to establish itself."Marketing will be focused on the Ram image," said brand chief Fred Diaz In a presentation littered with odes to Texas ...    Read more

Chrysler began its marathon day of unveiling its five-year business plan by fleshing out the product future of its Dodge brand.For the next few years, the brand will rely on several refreshes of existing models, all presumably biding time until Fiat-based models can be developed for our shores. First up ...    Read more

The new Jaguar XJ is a lot of things – groundbreaking, fresh, and of course, luxurious. But don’t call it beautiful. “All you can hope for in the modern world is handsome,” said Jaguar design director Ian Callum, who was showing the new XJ to a small group of journalists ...    Read more