#Mercedes Teases "Luxury In Motion" Autonomous Driving Concept

Mercedes Benz has released it's "Luxury In Motion" autonomous driving concept car and it truly looks like it would be a spectacular vehicle.

Mercedes says:

"The Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion research vehicle makes the future tangible with the revolutionary concept of autonomous driving. A luxury sedan with total connectivity between vehicle, passengers, and the outside world, it's a preview of how the self-driving car of the future could evolve into a platform for communication and interaction."

The shape is predictably futuristic, bringing to mind the 2056-era vehicles of "Minority Report." Clearly, with autonomous driving, the interior is expanded, and the windshield is positively rakish, almost 40 degrees, since the idea is to make the most of the interior space.

A video of the vehicle - which no one is under any illusion will be coming to a showroom anytime soon, or in this configuration - portrays autonomous driving as a peaceful and serene event, with video screens embedded in the doors, and an automatic table expanding from between the seats with the slightest touch of a hand.

Of course it seems to take a minute and a half to expand upwards, reminding one of the futuristic-looking "electronic curtains" that closed in a mere seven minutes with the touch of a remote, portrayed in 1950s films showing how wonderful the future would be.

The four occupants (including, apparently, the "driver") are shown casually speaking with one another as the front row is turned backwards to face the rear occupants. This would seem to be the dawn of a new age of personal interaction in vehicles, until one realizes that the car would definitely be Wi-Fi enabled (since Chevy Impalas in 2015 already are) and the four would be heads-down in their smartphones, or Google Goggles, or whatever is big in 2025.

This kind of fanciful vision is par for the course for such speculative concepts, and we have to bear with them. Still, if the Mercedes of 2025 looks anything like this, we're in for some beautiful vehicles. Not that all but a few would be able to afford such a beast.

The Shocking #Concept Car Roots Of The 1996 Taurus [Auto Styling News]

An editor over at the CarBuzz facebook page asked "What The Hell Were They Thinking: 1996 Ford Taurus?"

One possible explanation for their apparent lapse of judgment? Good intentions gone awry.

Four years earlier, the Ghia Focus concept (1992) was an incredibly influential and thought-provoking design. And one must say, quite a radical one.

Based on "organic life," it was clearly ODD, but it had a point to make. The gill-like structures on the hood and back end, and a swooping, curvy rear with lights in strange places that resembled a strange rash were all animal-like in appearance. A rope-like devise that stretched from the front of the door to the trunk was obviously not ever going to make it to a production vehicle, but was meant to tease the eye and draw it to the rear of this beast. The raw beauty of it - perhaps too raw - was undeniable. It is almost Porsche-like. Certainly Ghia-like.

Whether the concept could have survived in the marketplace in this form is certainly is debatable.

But of course, as with many concepts, by the time this concept's influences began to make it into production in REAL cars - notably the 1996 Taurus -  it was FAR from what the designer had hoped it would be. Blame the bean-counters and the unimaginative executives for this.

And yet, perhaps overall, their interference on this one may be a good thing, This may have been too shocking of a design for 1996. Or even 2006.  But it's also a shame that the production '96 Taurus came off more like a dead fish than a car inspired by nature. It DID dare to be different, but in all the wrong ways, and was widely ridiculed. The concept pointed in a better direction.

The headlights of this concept vehicle could be easily used today on any car. Stripped of its odder elements, the shape would today be seen as a revolutionary and welcome challenge to Porsche, and with a proper engine, could actually make good on that challenge.

The most recent Ford Fusion shows that the company is fully capable of producing a beautiful vehicle that actually sells - and one that doesn't stray far from the original concept.. Perhaps slapping a new grille and proper tail lights on this gorgeous concept would be a market-pleaser as well.

The Problem With the Cute Chevy Trax

To be perfectly honest, I've always liked the Chevy Trax and its cousins (the Groove and the Beat) right from the start, when they were debuted as Korean-designed concepts at the 2007 New York Auto Show.

It has evolved nicely since then (it's been sold worldwide since 2012, coming to America only this year) and though the originally concept's round headlights gave it an adorable face, they've been replaced with respectable, mid-2010s-era lamps that are well proportioned, if a bit anonymous-looking. The front grille and other treatments are well within the Chevy family's current look. Which is either a good thing, or not, depending on your view of that look.

Original Trax concept, upper right.

Reminiscent of the well-put-together looking Sportage, the Trax sports some neatly designed roof rails (functionally, not sure how well put-together they are, but they'd probably hold skis.) The entire vehicle looks like it was a larger GM SUV that was shrunk in the lab, which is both good and bad. Good, because it's stylin'. Bad because it's not a huge SUV, and sometimes pretending to be big and tough isn't the same as achieving it.

The beefy hood bulges, but not too far, since it's micro-tiny, and doesn't need to contain a huge engine. The slow, downward slant of the side creases are attractive, though common to almost all mini-Utes like the Rav-4. In fact, This car is a great competitor, or at least imitator, of that popular Toyota's style.

The narrow rear window is likely to be an issue with visibility, along with the huge C-pillars. The large rear lamps are attractive, and how they merge into a crease that flows to the rear door handle is unique and adds great visual interest.

It must be noted that the Trax shares a platform with the rather popular Buick Encore, which looks nearly identical except for the hood and grille. (Way to badge-engineer, GM!)

A key problem, unrelated to the styling of the thing, is the Trax's price. 

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but charging $19,500 for the Chevy Trax is a travesty. It's a $16,000 car, at best, closer in price to the Honda Fit, which in truth (and I'm not going out on a limb in saying so) is probably far higher in quality and dependability. One could also mention GM's audacity to charge north of $25,000 for the Buick version of this micro-car, but one need not get one's blood pressure up.

Micro cars need to stop trying to demand macro prices. Other than that quibble, the Trax continues to evolve nicely and COULD be a good seller, if dealers are generous in their discounts.

The #BMW Group's HOT #Mini Superleggera Vision Concept

The BMW Group has released an exciting concept - the MINI Superleggera Vision - an open-top two-seater designed in conjunction with Touring Superleggera, a design and coach building house based in Milan, Italy. The car was unveiled at the 2014 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

Anders Warming,  head of MINI Design, calls the concept an "energetic, minimalistic design" that "embodies the dynamic essence of an automobile. At the same time it creates unique emotional beauty in combining the past and future of the automotive industry, i.e. traditional coachwork craftsmanship and modern design styling."

And he's not wrong. The celebration of circles and curves in the head and fog lamps and even in the oval grille is easy on the eyes, as are the clean, sweeping lines from front to rear on the sides. The rakish windscreen and cute "fin" on the rear make this car a head-turner.

Memo to the BMW Group: Please build this!

(photos: The BMW Group)

Mini Recycles Old Plymouth Concept

Mini is shopping a "pickup truck" concept of the Mini Paceman that had me thinking of a previous concept. See if you notice the similarities.

In 1995, Plymouth shopped around a very similar, but perhaps more feminine, baby pick-up called the Plymouth Backpack based on what would become the Dodge Neon.

As a long-time fan of the Backpack, I must say the Paceman version is more "butch" and does look better.

Mercedes and BMW May Be Planning a Love Child (Let's hope not!)

Mercedes Benz is shopping a concept/design study called the "Concept Coupe SUV." See if it reminds you of another car or two on the road today.

Let's first be positive here: The front end is devastatingly gorgeous, as is the rest of the current line-up from Mercedes.

The head lamps are incredibly detailed and again, match the current line-up and cannot be mistaken for lights on any other vehicle.

The grille is equally beautiful and features wonderful details that are making Mercedes a prime choice in the luxury market (as if they have ever given up that title!)

But... okay, the gloves must come off now: The rear quarter of this concept are horrendous, and extremely derivative. It  looks like the slow-selling and "uniquely" styled BMW X6, a so-called "four-door coupe SUV" (a style that has already run its course, frankly) with the added "bonus" of Lincoln MKZ-style tail lights, which look too small for this vehicle.

Mercedes raided the Lincoln parts bin for the tail lights!

This concept - actually just a "design study" to determine what a full-sized, SUV/Coupe would look like if one is ever made - is actually a bit larger than the BMW X6, a full-sized behemoth. It is being shopped around at the Beijing International Auto Show (April, 2014) but it would certainly make an impact in supermarket parking lots all over America if it was ever built and sold here.

While it's a good start, and a wonderful concept, generally, I have to urge Mercedes-Benz to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Other than having proper tail lights, this X6 too much resembles the Mercedes concept!

The Chrysler 200 Goes Under the Knife - and Comes out Pretty

Chrysler's 200 has, since it's introduction in 2012, had a problem. And that problem was the headlight design. The headlights are ghastly on the current model. Almost literally laughable.

In one of our first posts here, Auto Styling News eviscerated the 200 for this and other sins, but mostly the sin of actively advertising this vehicle as 'distinctive' and having funny little eyebrows, and a grille "that's shaped just like the interior clock," somehow made it so. To have "luxury car" pretensions, and have such a glaring mistake right there on the front of the car seemed unforgivable.

In fact, the car's introductory ad itself was called "Why do the headlights have eyebrows?" Why, indeed. (The video screenshot below doesn't do justice to the silliness that ensues when one of these is seen on the road.)

The sad part about the 2011 re-do of the Sebring is that the rest of the car looked pretty good. The rear was very attractive and the proportions were fine.

Anyway, let's just say all is forgiven. The 2015 model, released at the Detroit Motor Show this week, is a far better looking vehicle on many levels.

The headlights, along with the entire grille, has been refurbished, and now has the class that was sorely lacking on the 2011-14 models. The well proportioned Chrysler "wing" logo is now more prominent as well, and gives the car a proper identity.

Had they stopped there, the company would receive great plaudits from this quarter and many others, I'm sure. But they kept going, and tweaked the entire vehicle (which is now built atop a Fiat chassis.)

The rear end - which they actually got right on the previous 200 - also received a completely facelift, and while the rear spoiler from a certain angle seems to give it a bit of a "duck face" (or duck's a**?) it's tolerable. And while the previous tail lights were just fine, the new ones are certainly appropriate, if not a bit hum-drum.

The side view also looks completely different, and this yields one of the few criticisms, since it looks a lot like most other cars on the road, and it is not at all distinctive.



The rear looks a bit like a Hyundai and one could mistake the profile for a Lexus or even (if you squint) a Jaguar F series. Which isn't a bad mistake for a car seeking to enter "luxury" status (and a $21k luxury car would certainly be welcome.)

With this complete re-think, Chrysler shows that it's serious about reaching into the luxury market - or at least that it knows how to recover when it makes a mistake, and the previous 200 was a big one.

It's too early to say whether the 200 can actually compete with the luxury brands it hopes to take on, or whether it's rather anonymous styling makes it more of a competitor with the Hyundai's and KIA's of the world. But at least it's now a full competitor.