Edmunds Daily
What Women Want in a Car
January 7, 2009
I recently spoke with some friends who are about to have their third child. They're shopping for a new car that can accommodate the seating requirements of a newborn, a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old to prepare for the new arrival and asked me what I'd recommend. I was all ready to start singing my Honda Odyssey/Toyota Sienna/Hyundai Entourage love song, when the wife blurted out, "No minivans." Seems that, as the youngest of seven children, my friend had her fill of boxy peoplemovers as a passenger and a teen driver in the 1980s and had made a solemn vow to herself never again with the minivan. OK, so no minivans. After I stifled my sob and put aside my own minivan-fan feelings (though I don't share her aversion, I can respect it), I suggested the Chevrolet Traverse (pictured above, courtesy of General Motors) or one of its corporate siblings, all excellent and relatively affordable large crossovers. I also recommended the Hyundai Veracruz, a stylish but reasonably priced three-row crossover with a luxury-quality interior.
The jury's still out on what they're going to buy, but if you're considering buying a new car in the short term (and there are lots of great reasons to buy now, if the time is right for you) and you're not sure what vehicles to look at, check out our Buying Guides for a list of recommended models in the segment you're interested in, and then read a great overview of each vehicle on our newly redesigned model reviews page. I won't even mind if you totally ignore the minivan recommendations. Really, I'm fine with it.
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- Bryn MacKinnon January 7, 2009, 12:00 PM
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- Buying, child safety seat, Crossovers, family car, minivan, Shopping
November 12, 2008
"One of the things about good or great innovations is that they tell a compelling story and they become familiar," says Dr. Bill Sharfman, Director of Judging of the Automotive News PACE Awards. In their 15th year, the PACE Awards honor superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance among automotive suppliers.
"Historically the ones that are good change the rules of the game. Over time they become must haves," he said.
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- Holly Reich November 12, 2008, 6:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
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- Automotive News, Chevy Traverse, Ford Edge, Pace Awards
October 6, 2008
"The new
Porsche 911 Targa doesn't have a spare ounce of fat on its body," noted one of the designers at the recent preview in Garda Lake, Italy.
Ahh.... I thought. I want the body of a
Porsche 911 Targa. Lean, fast and well.... you can guess the rest.
Yes, yes and yes. It is all that. Just to mention: a glass roof that slides quietly into the trunk for open air driving; an LED band of lights that flank the rear; polished aluminum trim bars that skim the roofline and side windows that sail to the rear in a crisp angle. Yes, the 2009 Porsche 911 Targa is all about slim. And a slim yet powerful body is usually quick. The 0-60 for the top-performing PDK Porsche 911 Targa is 4.3 seconds.
But with all that lean muscle, there's also room for shopping. The tailgate opens (by key fob) to 8.1 cubic feet of space behind the front seat. Of course, I managed to fill the back with a load of Italian purchases (groceries, jeans and tops). The 911 Targa, true to form, also has a front boot.
Coined an open air sports car when it debuted for 1967, the early 911 Targa featured a removable roof panel. Its name Targa came from from the Sicilian Targa Florio racing event. The Targa even passed the "hair test for ladies of the 60's" because it was a convertible with a protective shield.
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- Holly Reich October 6, 2008, 7:36 AM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Driving, Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
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- Porsche 911 Targa
September 29, 2008
Driving an RV has been--believe it or not -- a long-time dream. I must admit, I was scared to drive one-especially around NYC. Yet when I got the opportunity to drive one in the Canadian Rockies I said YES and didn't look back.
I took my good friend, Adeline along as a co-driver on a 4-day roundtrip journey from Calgary to Banff and Lake Louise. Our home was our truck and we hooked up at campgrounds along the way.
The trip was sponsored by Go RVing Canada along with Banff / Lake Louise tourism so there were lots of adventures along the way. For example we soaked in the Banff Hot Springs, took a helicopter ride into the Rockies and landed on a stream bed and visited the Icefields in Brewster, Canada.
The best part of my trip was spending time with my friend while driving through astoundingly beautiful scenery.
Our Class C Mini Motorhome was 29 feet long and a few cars wide (8.5 feet wide). It slept six with a master bedroom, sleeping loft (cab-over bunk) full-on kitchen, bathroom and dining room. For a girl living in Manhattan it was plenty big. Plus, there was tons of storage spaces and cabinets---even a couple of outside closets for our suitcases and lawn chairs.
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- Holly Reich September 29, 2008, 12:35 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Driving, Fuel Economy, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
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September 26, 2008
"It's all about perception," noted Jim Gill, Head of Product and Technology Marketing for VW. We were at the introduction of the
2009 VW Jetta TDI 'Clean Diesel' in Santa Monica, California last week. Gill was talking about how different age groups perceive diesel.
More specifically, he mentioned that VW is marketing the Jetta TDI to a demographic that's 35 and younger. Why? Because they don't have a memory of "bad diesel", they're environmentally hip, they want a car with go--the TDI has lots of torque-- and they can afford it. The starting price for the Jetta TDI is $21,990.
The story is that clean diesel provides approximately 30% more fuel economy, 25% less greenhouse gas emissions and about 50% more torque. (For example, the 2009 Jetta TDI packs 263 lbs-fit of torque.)
Mention diesel to a jaded baby boomer and they'll probably snort a stream of negatives;
It smells like sulfur. Clean diesel low sulfur fuel has 97% less sulfur than other diesel fuel.
It's dirty. The dirty, smelly, smoke associated with old diesel engines was the result of unburned or partially burned fuel. Advanced emission-capturing technology reduces the amount of C0 2 drastically. What comes out of tailpipes from clean diesels is clean.
It's noisy. Pilot injection quiets down the engine and provides more torque then equivalent gas-based engines.
"We're not starting from scratch," Gill added. VW is celebrating its 32nd anniversary of diesel power. And clean diesel is a brand new game.
To note, the cost of diesel can run up to .58 cent more than gas. However, the pay back comes in fuel economy. For example, EPA estimates for the new Jetta TDI are 29 city and 40 hwy; the AMCI real world tests came in at 38 city/44 hwy.
In the final analysis, while the 2009 Jetta TDI costs a couple of thousand more than its gas version, you'll get a $1300 tax credit.
Plus, the folks at VW say that the resale value on diesels is more than 80%.
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- Holly Reich September 26, 2008, 5:13 AM
- Categories:
- Car Audio and Electronics, Fuel Economy, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
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- boomer, diesel, gas emissions, low sulfur, VW Jetta
September 16, 2008
Unlike the world of cars, where talk about energy and mileage is very serious, the world of fashion thinks that sustainability is SEXY and being nice to the planet is chic.
During
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC, I attended the
Be EcoChic fashion show at the American Museum of Natural History. The company, Be EcoChic was founded to use the power of the runway to raise environmental awareness. Obviously they get a lot of play.
The fashion show, hosted by super model Angela Lindvall of
Discovery Planet's Alter Eco and
The Sierra Club, featured collections made with sustainable fabrics.
Fashions included clothes crafted from seaweed, recycled crêpe de chine, gowns made from vintage raffia and dresses painted with low impact dyes.
So, you may ask, how does this relate to the world of cars? It just got me thinking about how often we focus on what's not happening. I hear so much complaining about how the major car companies did not prepare for the future, why didn't they see this coming and build more fuel efficient cars and blah blah blah. I say look at what IS happening.
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- Holly Reich September 16, 2008, 5:43 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
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- Be EcoChic, Discovery Planet, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
September 15, 2008
Last week I was offered a ticket to
Project Runway's Final Collection (Season 5) at
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City. Project Runway is a competition reality show for fashion designers.
I was kind of low energy about going until a couple of colleagues heard me mention the show. They were all over me! Where did you get that and HOW? Can you get me one? And so on...
All I can say is that all that attention convinced me. This show was a DO NOT MISS.
And besides all the popularity points, I was also going to attend with two top GM designers; Christopher Webb, Lead Creative Designer/ Color and Trend and David Lyon, Director of North America Interior Design.
All you need to know about the GM connection is that Project Runway is sponsored by Saturn. Chris Webb had his star moment as a guest on this season's Episode 7. His gig was to present the designers with the unlikely task of taking Saturn car parts and "recycling them" into fashion.
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- Holly Reich September 15, 2008, 7:00 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
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- Chevy Volt, Fashion Week, GM, Heidi Klum, Project Runway, Reality Show
September 3, 2008
A study recently released by Johnson Controls says women want cars with interiors that look good, have the latest gadgets and provide ample space for their stuff. Go figure!
The study was done by interviewing women throughout Chicago, Boston, Germany and the Czech Republic (a rather curious sample). While many of the results fall into the "no kidding" category, it's interesting to note that concerns for security and a desire to re-create the feeling of home seem to be emphasized. Here are some key findings:
Connectivity: Women of all ages depend on the most recent technology to feel more connected to their family and friends. "For women, technology is more than gadgetry -- it offers them the safety, security and convenience."
Storage space: The women studied said they create their own storage areas because "their vehicles (across most segments) failed to provide them with adequate space." They also noted a preference for reconfigurable storage compartments.
Style: The study revealed that "women long for greater style in their vehicles and miss the excitement of driving more 'fun, non-mom' vehicles."
Environmentally friendly: Women are looking for ways to be environmentally friendly, provided it's convenient and budget-sensitive.
Also of note, some women said they use their commute "as a way to take a break and relax." Participants also said they keep many personal items in their cars because "it created a feeling of being at home."
I tend to take gender-specific research with a grain of salt. After all, not many people - male or female -- would say they want an ugly or unsafe car. I don't particularly agree with all of these findings, but then again, as an automotive enthusiast, I'm not the typical woman, either.
What do you think? Does this study hit the mark?
Laura Burstein, Automotive Editor
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- Laura Burstein September 3, 2008, 11:30 AM
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July 16, 2008
Ah, sweet sleeping child. If only there were some way to suspend her in this state for the whole trip, but alas...
My husband and I are taking our 2-year-old on a road trip to the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend. It's not an epic trip, but the last time we took her on a car ride that lasted more than an hour was over a year ago, so we're a little nervous about keeping her (and, let's be frank, us) happy and occupied during the 6-hour trip.
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- Bryn MacKinnon July 16, 2008, 12:00 PM
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- Driving, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
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- driving with kids, family road trip, Honda Accord
July 12, 2008
As reported in our earlier Consumer Advice article, the federal government is going to change the way its crash tests are conducted and rated. This will make it tougher for cars to achieve that 5-star safety rating that so many automakers tout when advertising their cars.
Beginning with the 2010 model year, cars will feature an overall safety rating that combines results from frontal, side and rollover tests. The upgraded system also will include new frontal crash tests, and a new side pole test to simulate wrapping a vehicle around a tree. Female crash dummies will be added to the tests, so women and larger children are represented, and new testing for leg injuries will be done.
And here's something really new: Emerging safety technologies will have their own rating be added so consumers will know whether specific crash avoidance technologies (electronic stability control, lane departure warning systems and forward collision warning systems) are optional or standard features on new vehicles.
So what's the bottom line?
For a long time, NHTSA lagged behind in its crash test scoring, and we always felt that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's ratings, while different, were more true-to-life. The new NHTSA tests go a long way toward bringing the 5-star rating system up to snuff, and the addition of the emerging technologies rating is an excellent feature that will encourage automakers to include more of these technologies as either optional or standard. (Under another federal ruling, stability control will be a standard feature of all cars sold in the U.S. by 2012).
For more information on the new changes, click here.
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- Joanne Helperin July 12, 2008, 5:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Buying, Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
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- Car Safety, Crash Tests, IIHS, NHTSA
July 9, 2008
It's all about bashing Detroit these days. Everywhere I look someone is groaning about the automotive industry. The dialogue goes something like this: Why didn't they think of alternative technology sooner? Why did they wait so long? Why were they thinking producing all those big SUVs?
There's a legitimate point to those questions, yet I sometimes find myself defending domestic automakers. Especially because I have seen the other side of the industry... the non-business, philanthropic side.
Last weekend, for example, I attended the Essence Music Festival that takes place around the 4th of July every year in New Orleans, sponsored by Chevrolet. The festival incorporates hip music with inspiring empowerment sessions. Hence the motto, "Party with a purpose." Chevy thinks of itself as "America's brand," and there's nothing more American on the 4th of July than lending a hand where it's needed.
Chevrolet, which has partnered with Essence Magazine on this festival for the last eight years, provided 100 hybrid vehicles for transportation and sponsored an online talent competition, Voice of Tomorrow (which awarded the winning singer a set of keys to a 2009 Chevy Malibu.) But what really stands out at this weekend is Chevy's involvement with the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools Music Therapy programs.
The CDF Freedom Schools serve 8,500 children across the country, spanning 64 cities in 25 states. In the Gulf-area, The Freedom School is helping more than 1,000 students, in line with the "Revolution to Rebuild" theme that Chevy developed last year.
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- Holly Reich July 9, 2008, 2:00 PM
- Categories:
- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
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- Chevrolet, Chevy, Chevy Malibu, Children's Defense Fund, Essence Music Festival
June 25, 2008
Yesterday, J.D. Power and Associates released their U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study, in which they polled 19,000 people across the country.
Some of the interesting highlights: 72% of consumers said they were "definitely/probably" interested in having hybrid technology. After they were told that it would cost them $5000 extra, that figure dropped to 46%...
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- Joanne Helperin June 25, 2008, 1:14 PM
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- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
June 24, 2008
Minivans, a dying breed? (See Minivans Reach the Point of Reckoning). That's what everyone's saying. It's partly because many moms (and dads) hate the soccer mom stereotype, and because the minivan style is considered pretty hideous. It's also because the new mid- and full-size crossovers like the Hyundai Veracruz and the Buick Enclave are darn good competitors.
But the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country were supposed to save the segment, if not those brands.
It hasn't happened. Sales of the Caravan were down 25% in May and 35% year to date. (Not that the rest of Chrysler is doing much better.) Nonetheless, we added a long-term Grand Caravan to our test fleet, so I took it home last night to see if it would fall under the category of "something I could consider buying."
Starting from the outside, I think its styling is a more interesting, or even racy, than minivans of yore. Putting it next to my 2002 Ody at home made my own car look positively dowdy. So that's good a start.
Climbing inside, though, I was immediately disgusted (if that's not too strong a word) by all the flat surfaces, sharp angles and hard surfaces that comprise the dash. In a word: ugly. Perhaps they were trying to make it look modern, but it didn't work for me.
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- Joanne Helperin June 24, 2008, 2:32 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
June 20, 2008
The
DuPont Global Color Popularity Report, published yearly, tracks vehicle colors globally. To note—the influence of this report reaches beyond the automotive to industries including home furnishings, consumer electronics and fashion.
This year Dupont took a poll mid year and came up with some interesting information. It showed that while black, silver and white still lead the pack, blue is making a show.
Asia Pacific -- Emily Hung, DuPont color designer for the Asia Pacific region, says dark blue metallic is popular. Candy whites and tri-coat pearl finishes also are extremely popular, confirming the 2007 DuPont Global survey finding that white had overtaken silver as the most popular color in Asia and North America. Luxury car buyers in Asia-Pacific countries continue to favor black and mid-tone metallic grays while champagne is favored over light silver in medium-size cars...
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- Holly Reich June 20, 2008, 1:06 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
I am not a techie person. I’m no luddite, but I’m definitely not a first-adopter. Case in point: Last week, in preparation for
complying with California’s hands-free law, I decided to find out if my cell phone (which I’ve had for about 2 years -- insert blushing smiley face here) has Bluetooth. After some searching (and some help from Edmunds.com’s tech-guru Brian Moody, more blushing smileys), I’ve discovered that it does!..
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- Bryn MacKinnon June 20, 2008, 6:00 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
June 18, 2008
Summer is high book-reading season. If you're tired of the Oprah list, or want something other than fiction, here are some reads you might enjoy.
First is Car Advice for Women (and Smart Men), by the husband and wife team of Alexander Law and Susan Winlaw. Unlike Lauren Fix's book, this one has no illustrations, just a couple of charts and lots of information, all broken down into easily digestible bits...
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- Joanne Helperin June 18, 2008, 11:35 AM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
June 16, 2008
Even though Toyota's Camry has been the best-selling car in America for the last nine out of 10 years, the African-American population isn’t buying it.
"Here's this nameplate that's ubiquitous," says Monica Warden, account director for Burrell, Toyota's agency for African-American advertising.
"But for an African-American woman, it's not even in her consideration set. Our preliminary testing found they think of it as suburban, not urban; as solid but boring...
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- Holly Reich June 16, 2008, 9:37 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
June 10, 2008
And more on the
J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.
The
Chevy Malibu, winner of the North American Car of 2008, was also named a J.D. Power midsize car segment winner...
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- Holly Reich June 10, 2008, 8:42 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
June 9, 2008
In a gloomy economy, one can’t help but think that manufacturers are taking shortcuts to create new vehicles. But that’s not true according to
J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.
The study is an industry standard for new-vehicle quality measured at 90 days of ownership...
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- Holly Reich June 9, 2008, 4:49 AM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Maintenance, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
June 3, 2008
I'm so impressed with Audi.
At a time when a lot of automakers are talking about how important the women's market is, Audi is actually putting its money where it's mouth is. The company recently hosted what I believe to be the first all-women, manufacturer-sponsored weekend. There, Audi A4's female designers and (male) product manager presented slideshows discussing what went into the A4s design -- from the earliest hints of creative inspiration to the final design. 
We also had the opportunity to drive the German-spec, 2009 Audi A4 around the Infineon Raceway and the surround streets in Sonoma, California, in an approximation of the Audi Driving Experience...
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- Joanne Helperin June 3, 2008, 12:58 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 30, 2008
Yesterday, Mark LaNeve, North American VP of vehicle sales and marketing for General Motors, visited our offices. During his hour-plus-long conversation with a roomful of staffers from various departments, the subject of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro came up. I found it interesting and surprising (and our enthusiast-focused sister publication, Inside Line’s editor-in-chief Scott Oldham found it alarming) when Mr. LaNeve said that they won't be pushing it as a musclecar and are only expecting about one third of sales to be of the big, smoky burnout variation that most of us associate with the name “Camaro.” But according to GM, the other two thirds of their expected buyers will be people who want a sporty, fun-to-drive compact car alternative, and they expect a large percentage of that buyer to be female...
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- Bryn MacKinnon May 30, 2008, 10:35 AM
- Categories:
- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
May 29, 2008
Love those lights: The interior of the 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid.
Yesterday I wrote about changing my new car focus from a six+-seater to a sedan. Here's the continuation of that story, on how I chose my new ride, the 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid.
I started looking at regular five-seater vehicles. I spent Sunday testing a ton of cars at Galpin Motors, because 1) they responded to my Edmunds quote request, and 2) they have Volvo, Ford, Saturn, Mazda, and Honda -- as well as five other brands -- all under one roof. My salesman from the Internet department, James K., was a mensch, letting me test drive everything I had my eye on without any pressure. (And no, he didn't know I was from Edmunds until later in the process.) I tried out everything from the small Mazda 3 (because the editors always loved that car, and after driving it, I could see why) to the Mazda CX-7, to the Ford Escape Hybrid, to the Volvo S40. All cars I had liked for one reason or another. The smaller cars on that list I ruled out because the back seat wasn't comfortable for three people.
So why not get the Mazda CX-7? I love the way Mazdas drive (the "zoom-zoom" ads are actually true). But SUVs are generally more expensive than sedans of the same size and get poorer fuel economy. In California, gas prices are already well over $4 / gallon. And prices are only going to go up. While it's true that hybrids don't yet make financial sense for most people (because the price premium for the hybrid usually outweighs the money saved on gas), that changes as gas prices rise. And besides, I'm even "greener" now than I used to be, and my husband and I really like the idea of less pollution / great fuel economy.
I started thinking: "family" sedan (for the rear seat) + great gas mileage + driving dynamics + style. Right there, that limited my list. I probably should have tested the Honda Accord -- but I was in overwhelm mode, and the Internet manager at the dealership needed his salesman back.
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- Joanne Helperin May 29, 2008, 4:26 PM
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- Dealing with Car Dealers, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
May 28, 2008
A few weeks ago, I asked for feedback on my next new car. Well, so much has changed since then, and I finally (finally!) made a decision over the Memorial Day Weekend: A 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid.
What happened?..
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- Joanne Helperin May 28, 2008, 2:08 PM
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- Dealing with Car Dealers, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 23, 2008
Would you want to drive a Smart Fortwo from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back (a 270-miles trip)? Yeah, neither would I. But recently some of our fearless staffers did just that. It was part of a fuel economy test called the Gas-Sipper Smackdown that pitted the Fortwo, a diesel VW Jetta, a Ford Focus (all three from our long-term test fleet) and a Toyota Prius against each other in a fuel-economy cage match to the death...
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- Bryn MacKinnon May 23, 2008, 9:01 AM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
May 22, 2008
After an exhilerating day of driving the
2009 Maserati GranTurismo S in Modena, Italy (home of Pavarotti, Parmigiano and Balsamic vinegar), I was approached by one of the key technicians for the vehicle. Besides being handsome and Italian, he was very interested in a woman's POV. I told him what I liked about this beautiful machine.
1. It looks like Demi Moore in her best 'dressed to kill' moments--sleek, sexy, wealthy. No bling--just pure elegance. The lines of the car tell the whole story.
2. It swallows the road. The 4.7 V8 engine whips up 433 hp with a 0-62 of 4.9 seconds. The
Maserati GranTurismo S is the fastest production model ever produced.
3. It is steady and well-balanced to drive. With the engine placed further back, the weight distribution is more even. 20 inch wheels (with seven spokes) keep you flat on corners.
4. Plus, a bit of woman's history went into my admiration for the Maserati. In 1958, Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first woman to compete in a Formula One world championship race. She finished tenth in the Belgian Grand Prix in a Maserati 250 F.
5. This vehicle is discreet. (As in if you're going to buy a dress, make sure no one else will be wearing it.)
The 2009 model is the only year the Maserati GranTurismo S will be produced with an anticipated 300 models sold in North America.
6. The exhaust sounds like pure honey, in sport mode the S sounds like it's spitting fire.
He also wanted to know what I didn't like.
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- Holly Reich May 22, 2008, 12:14 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 19, 2008
I recently took a trip to Carmel, California in our long-term 2008 Hyundai Veracruz AWD. There are so many little reasons to like this car. In fact, it's the first time I've ever considered buying a Korean vehicle as my personal car.
Sure, I had a couple of gripes, which you can read on the Straightline blog: The "Cool Box" in the console doesn't cool that well, it's got too much wind and road noise for my taste, it could handle the bumps with more grace, and the horn wouldn't work. But overall, this is a car I really enjoyed and would recommend. Here's why:
First: It's good-looking. I like the styling and didn't feel like I was driving a boxy-looking SUV or egg-shaped minivan. I know it's a matter of personal taste, but I really like its lines, particularly the sporty-looking back end.
Second: It's spacious. We lowered the third row and filled the cargo area with the following: a large cooler, a large plastic container filled with non-perishable food, a large rolling duffel bag, an carry-on rolling bag (airline size), four backpacks, a guitar, a mandolin (don't ask!), a men's suit bag, a couple of shopping bags, a bunch of heavy jackets and sweater. Yeah, we overpack, don't we?!
We were still able to see out the rear view. In fact, the rear view on this car is one of its very best features. The only thing that really hinders it, though, is the DVD screen. Not much you can do about that.
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- Joanne Helperin May 19, 2008, 4:55 PM
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- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 16, 2008
Pedestrians walk and bike in ItalyThe last few days I have been in Modena, Italy on a business trip. Like most European cities, I see people of all ages walking and biking instead of driving around town to do their errands.
I realize that not all of you reading this blog live in a city and drive to do your errands but I think we can all take another look at WALKING. It’s free, doesn’t leave a carbon footprint and is better for your health.
Walking is free, doesn’t leave a carbon footprint and is good for your health...
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- Holly Reich May 16, 2008, 10:08 AM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
May 15, 2008
My 2-year-old daughter and I have spent a good deal of time with the Recaro Como convertible car seat now, and I’m pleased to report that we both are very happy with its performance in most areas. We’ve tested it in a large percentage of our long-term test vehicles, including the 2008 Honda Accord, 2007 Saturn Aura, 2008 Buick Enclave, 2008 Cadillac CTS, 2008 Hyundai Veracruz, 2007 Honda Fit, 2008 Pontiac G8, and 2005 Volkswagen Jetta. I thought it was time for a little update on how it's been working out.
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- Bryn MacKinnon May 15, 2008, 4:28 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
May 9, 2008
With in-car navigation systems becoming more and more common, the dusty, old stereotype of men being unwilling to stop to ask for directions may also extend to women, too. With a good (and easy to use) nav system, now you don’t have to rely on the kindness (and accuracy) of strangers to help you find where you need to go. But not all factory-installed navigation systems are equal and many of them don’t include one of my favorite features: real-time traffic. If a factory navigation system is high on your new car must-have list, you’ll want to check out
this article on the best in-car nav systems that feature real-time traffic...
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- Bryn MacKinnon May 9, 2008, 6:24 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
May 5, 2008
Drive a
smart fortwo in NYC and you can instantly achieve rock star status. Sounds like an advertisement? But it's true. Everywhere I went people gave me the thumbs up for 'driving green', let me pass if I wanted (unheard of in the city), asked me for a ride or asked me where to get one...
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- Holly Reich May 5, 2008, 2:03 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 2, 2008
Each year the
Automotive News Pace Awards reward innovation in the automotive supply chain.
This year, three of the 12 awards focused on parking and backing up.
While I have used a lot of the new technology for parking, I have yet to see anything this comprehensive. But, I admit, I feel a bit worried about the future of my teenagers. With all this hi-tech stuff will they be able to park in a pinch, I asked Dr. Bill Sharfman, Director of Judging for the Pace Awards.
“There is no substitute for learning how to operate your car properly,” he stressed.
However, he explained that these innovations will lead to a safer, less anxiety provoking and more confident driving experience.
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- Holly Reich May 2, 2008, 12:14 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 29, 2008
A few weeks ago, racing and sport seat specialist, Recaro, sent us two of its latest child safety seats to try. While Bryn's toddler has been spending time in the Como Convertible toddler seat, my 45-pound, seven-year-old daughter is the perfect size to road-test Recaro's Vivo high-back booster.
The Vivo, designed for children 3-12 years, 30-100 lbs, retails for $99.99, and provides ultra-thick side bolstering and head protection wings, as well as a height-adjustable back and washable micro-fiber and velveteen cover.
We plan to try the Recaro Vivo in a variety of test cars and monitor its ease of installation, along with comfort commentary from the Peanut Gallery...
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- Kelly Toepke April 29, 2008, 2:37 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 21, 2008
"I believe that automotive recycling is one of the greenest industries in the world," noted Sandy Blalock, president of the
Automotive Recyclers Association tomorrow, at a recent
IMPA (International Motor Press Association) meeting in Manhattan.
"Every minute 26 vehicles are recycled in the US," she said.
Actually, I never thought about recycling autos. Jeans, paper, trash-sure...but my big understanding of recycling cars was the junk yards that I've seen in multitudes of scary movies...
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- Holly Reich April 21, 2008, 6:10 AM
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April 18, 2008
Earth Day is approaching fast (it’s next Tuesday, in case you didn’t already know), and if you’re in the market for a new vehicle, it’s the perfect time to consider buying a car that gets the best fuel economy in its class. (Truthfully, every day is a great time to do this, but I needed a hook, didn’t I?)
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- Bryn MacKinnon April 18, 2008, 6:00 AM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 17, 2008
India's
Tata Nano is not even for sale yet, but the $2,500 car is already changing the rules on how to develop low-cost vehicles.
When the Tata Nano hit the Geneva auto show this year, the buzz was skeptical. People were predicting that it would be nothing more than a shell on wheels. Not so...
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- Holly Reich April 17, 2008, 7:34 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 15, 2008
My job keeps me so concerned with the practical aspects of buying and owning a car that sometimes I forget how much fun it is to fantasize about cars I wish I could have. But we've got a couple of new road tests that have reactviated my salivary glands. First and foremost, the 2008 BMW X6...
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- Joanne Helperin April 15, 2008, 4:02 PM
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One of my friends told me that I always describe cars as "feminine". Well, I am correcting that. The
2008 Cadillac CTS that I test drove last weekend is not feminine, it is not masculine, it actually doesn't call either sex to mind!
But, is it sexy? Well, yes...and that's why I chose it to drive my son upstate to check out colleges...
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- Holly Reich April 15, 2008, 1:10 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
April 11, 2008
The Spanish-owned Ibiza, part of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, was the chosen setting to preview the
2009 Audi A4 Avant, their fourth-generation wagon.
I think it only fitting that I give you a short understanding of Ibiza before I launch into a description of the Audi A4 Avant.
The Audi A4 Avant is all about lovely lines and superior technology. Ibiza is all about the senses.
Founded by Phoenician’s in 654 BC, the early settlers believed Ibiza to be a magic isle blessed by the Gods because of its fertile red soil that supposedly wards off all manner of harmful reptiles, animals, insects or plants.
Mellow is the mood here. Ibiza was a huge hippie hang-out in the 60’s and since has given birth to a renowned club scene. But, people are drawn to this fertile island for its sandy beaches and laid-back Mediterranean life. Staggering cliffs with feverish views of seas, pine forests, olive groves and small centuries-old towns are just some of the perks.
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- Holly Reich April 11, 2008, 3:15 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
I’ve been suffering from public radio-based Clinton/Obama Fatigue these days, so I recently rediscovered the ‘80s stations on satellite radio. And maybe it’s all the “Listen to Your Heart,” “Funky Cold Medina” and “Janie’s Got a Gun,” but my mind’s been drifting to my first car a lot lately. My first car, a 1989 Ford Tempo GL sedan in Wild Strawberry with gray cloth interior. I actually really liked that car. I’ll wait until you stop laughing and can read again before I continue.
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- Bryn MacKinnon April 11, 2008, 2:55 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 10, 2008
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety just released its crash tests of 2008 midsize sedans. Hopefully you can read the graphic above.
The bottom line: All the cars were significantly improved over the IIHS test done in 2004...
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- Joanne Helperin April 10, 2008, 4:00 PM
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April 9, 2008
The under approach.....so to continue the discussion from
yesterday on how to hold a steering wheel, in my google search I came up with the
JD Power article titled Steering for Optimal Control.
The JD Power piece supports the low riders. As quoted; ”The current recommendation for hand placement (if you imagine your steering wheel is a clock) is anywhere between 7 o'clock and 9 o'clock for your left hand and between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock for your right hand. Although it may feel strange to have your hands so low on the steering wheel, this actually provides better control than the "10 and 2" method.
I asked Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing at Edmunds Inc. (no relation to Edmunds), for his opinion. He pointed to a line in the article that states, "A lower hand position (8 and 4 or 7 and 5) makes it less likely that you will overcorrect during an emergency maneuver, which is what often causes spins, slides, and rollovers."
His take? "This line of reasoning is an outgrowth of the popularity of SUVs. Since high CG [center of gravity] vehicles like these don't handle well in emergency maneuvers and are the source of most of the rollovers they allude to, this improper hand position is being advocated to compensate. You can't input very much when holding the wheel in this way--so you can't roll the thing over--or so goes the reasoning. They're trying to dull someone's natural reactions."
Furthermore, Edmunds says this theory is not taking into account the fact that stability control systems are becoming standard on SUVs (to pass the government rollover test) and will be required on all vehicles in a couple of years.
"Overcorrecting isn't an issue with stability control-equipped vehicles, so this advice seems directed at older SUVs," he said. "I agree that 12 or 6 is bad, bad, bad, but 7 and 5 is nearly the same as 6. I can't follow the logic on this one."
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- Holly Reich April 9, 2008, 7:35 AM
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April 8, 2008
The views are staggering in Ibiza, Spain
We were test driving the
2009 Audi A4 Avant 2.0 turbocharged in Ibiza, Spain. This is just possibly the most beautiful place on earth with the kind of roads that enthusiasts dream about. My partner, 'Eric'. who writes for those kinds of magazines, was in the driver’s seat...
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- Holly Reich April 8, 2008, 12:09 PM
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April 4, 2008
Recaro, the company that has been designing racing and sport seats for race teams and carmakers around the world for decades, added five new models to its child safety seat lineup this year (here), and we were able to secure one of the new seats to put through our battery of real-world test scenarios (read: I’m using it as my primary car seat in Edmunds long-term vehicles to shuttle my toddler around for a while).
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- Bryn MacKinnon April 4, 2008, 5:03 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 1, 2008
Since y'all were so helpful in Michelle's quest for a new car, which resulted in her happy purchase of a 2008 Scion xD, I thought I'd ask for your input for my next purchase. The lease on my 2005 Toyota Highlander is up in July. Once I crunch the numbers, it may turn out that buying out the lease is a good idea, but in the meantime, I want to consider other contenders.
My most important criteria: seating for 6 or more (for carpool when necessary), safety (good crash test scores, side curtain airbags, stability control), and a low price...
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- Joanne Helperin April 1, 2008, 4:36 PM
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- Car Safety, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
March 28, 2008
Hold on ladies…it’s coming. In fact,
Inside Line is test driving it right now. But if you want a Nissan 2009 GT-R ,you’re going to have to line up. Nissan has pre-sold 50% of the first years production allocation in the US.
(Globally, the Japanese plant is producing 1,000 a month.)
Why do you want it?..
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- Holly Reich March 28, 2008, 11:41 AM
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- Custom Cars and Classic Cars, What Women Want in a Car
March 27, 2008
I have had my 2008 Scion xD for just over a month and it is already time for a new car. Not for me this time, for my husband.
We are being hit a little hard by the current state of the economy. We will be able to ride it out on most of our real estate investments, but some financial tuning is in order. We already traded in my 2006 Volvo XC90 to save on fuel costs...
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- Michelle Magoffin March 27, 2008, 10:38 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
March 26, 2008
We were going from New York to Washington, DC for the weekend and I decided to test drive a sedan instead of a large van or SUV. My teens are used to three rows and a home entertainment system. That wasn’t going to happen this trip. I was keen to try out the
2008 Audi A6 Sedan. They weren't pleased.
"What’'s up with this Mom?” they inquired, eyeing the Audi. “Have you lost your mind… where are we going to fit?”
"Just put your stuff in the trunk and let’s get on with it,”I quipped, expecting to have to do a major squish job with our luggage. Not so!
The trunk was deep and cavernous with room to spare after we loaded our various bags and equipment in. Even my kids were impressed. I can't remember loading so much into the trunk of a sedan--—families take note!
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- Holly Reich March 26, 2008, 6:48 AM
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March 25, 2008
Old San Juan is a perfect location for electric cars
I was intrigued when I got a press release from the
Sheraton Old San Juan in Puerto Rico announcing the addition of electric cars to a package deal. This demonstrates how alternative transportation is spreading beyond the usual suspects--US, Europe and Asia. The Caribbean has been wise to the green mentality with eco-conscious notes in the rooms about towel usage, but this is the first I’ve heard about electric cars—besides golf carts.
First, a little history...
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- Holly Reich March 25, 2008, 12:14 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
March 24, 2008
Ever wish you could tell other consumers the good, the bad, and the ugly about your car? (Disappointed in the gas mileage? Love the way it handles?) You can, by submitting a Consumer Review. It's super easy and it makes a difference...
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- Joanne Helperin March 24, 2008, 3:44 PM
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March 21, 2008
Shorter than the XC70 and lower than the XC90, the slimmed-down
2009 Volvo XC60 is entering the expanding ”small premium utility” market. According to Volvo, in the next few years buyers will have at least ten crossover models to choose from and by 2009, the segment is expected to expand by 75 percent to 443,000 cars. So, what will the XC60 offer that other crossovers can’t?
Well, it’s a Volvo so safety is key. City Safety, a system that enables the car to brake itself in the case of low-speed impacts, comes standard in the XC60...
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- Holly Reich March 21, 2008, 1:20 PM
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Listen up, ethanol skeptics. Saleen, the 25-year-old company that has made a name for itself in the specialty market has created a roaring concept that can run on ethanol E85. Yup, that’s right! The company that has been involved with wild cars like the Viper, Prowler and Fort GT, introduced the
S5S Raptor at the
NYIAS. “The Raptor is designed to digest cellulosic ethanol...
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- Holly Reich March 21, 2008, 10:45 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
The
2009 Nissan Maxima seemed to create a lot of buzz at the
New York Auto Show. I had to go back a couple of times to form my own opinion.
Yes, it’s worth talking about. The 2009 Nissan Maxima has upped the sensuality with an exterior design pegged “liquid motion” because it takes cues from the kind of waves that surfers love...
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- Holly Reich March 21, 2008, 8:59 AM
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March 20, 2008
The
2009 Honda Fit debuted its redo at the
NY Auto Show. The Fit has provided that there’s a need for subcompacts—production was doubled last year to provide worldwide demand.
This year there’s more room inside plus some king-sized features like; available Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™; one-motion dive-down rear seats; a sportier drive due to improved suspension, steering and body rigidity and a load of standard safety equipment.
The seats offer multiple seating and cargo-carrying configurations (tall object mode, long object mode and utility mode) in addition to the standard five-passenger mode...
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- Holly Reich March 20, 2008, 6:16 PM
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March 19, 2008
NYC --first day of the International Auto Show
Sheryl Crow performs for Mercedes and Hyundai launches the 2010 Genesis coupe with an indoor track and a drifting performance by women race car drivers. As far as exhibitions go, the first day of the New York Auto Show was very quiet—no strobe lights, trapeze artists, cars hanging from the walls or dance troupes. The Big Apple is toned down this year. For the first time I can remember Jeep does not have an outdoor driving course—it’s a static display.
In the scheme of things, that’s OK by me...
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- Holly Reich March 19, 2008, 2:49 PM
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March 17, 2008
The 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL 550 is one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. Compare it to ice-cream and it would be that perfect gelato after a long day in the Caribbean sun.
If you take that up a notch, the 2009 SL AMG roadsters in 2 flavors V8 or V12 are that perfect gelato followed by a dip in a cool pool and a full-body massage.
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- Holly Reich March 17, 2008, 11:22 AM
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March 14, 2008
When I left freezing NYC for sunny Santa Monica, California this week my family was already jealous. But they didn’t know the half of it. I was in sunny So Cal to drive the 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL series on routes that make you feel like singing arias, my family was not happy. They were deeply jealous and I can’t blame them. The experience of driving both the
SL 550 and the
SL 65 AMG was none other than spiritual.
Let me start with the SL 550, the roadster with a seven-speed V8 engine putting out 382 hp and 391 lb.ft of torque with a 0-60 of 5.3 seconds. There is something about the way that the horsepower and the torque match up, the car is so superbly engineered that driving the SL550 feels something akin to yoga. It is perfectly balanced. For me, that means that I could see having this as my every day car. It didn’t roar and spit fire when I put my foot on the gas, it never made me feel uncomfortable like it might buck me, the SL let me take charge but took good care of me. Do you understand that feeling?
Some top features:
Exquisite Sound System: My SL 550 came equipped with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound with 10 speakers (510 watt output), a slot for music memory cards and Bluetooth interface. That all translates to the fact that one can hear music with the top down while travelling at fast speeds, you can download up to 4 GB of music to a memory card and slide it into the sound system and cell phone use is hands free.
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- Holly Reich March 14, 2008, 9:52 AM
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March 13, 2008
NHTSA's tests a vehicle's roof strength with a special crush test.
I came across this excellent article about a new IIHS crash test report on SUVs in USA Today. Here's an excerpt:
"Now comes a sobering conclusion in a report to be released Wednesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that suggests safety advocates and plaintiff's lawyers have been correct all along...
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- Joanne Helperin March 13, 2008, 1:26 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
March 10, 2008
Which is the best car out there for a family? Crossover? Minivan? Or SUV?..
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- Caroline Pardilla March 10, 2008, 2:39 PM
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March 7, 2008
I have had my new 2008 Scion xD for a few weeks now and I am happy to report that I have consistently been averaging 32.5 m.p.g. under mixed driving conditions. My last tank of gas and the one I am on now have had something closer to 31.4 m.p.g. because I have been having some issues with punctuality and regulating my aggressive acceleration tendencies...
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- Michelle Magoffin March 7, 2008, 12:38 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
March 6, 2008
Fact #1
Baby boomers are a large part of the automotive buying audience.
Fact #2 Baby boomers are getting older.
But,
Nissan is doing their research. Nissan’s engineers in Japan are using a suit that simulates the physical effects of aging as a way to refine their vehicles...
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- Holly Reich March 6, 2008, 4:03 PM
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March 4, 2008
Sir Richard Branson In front of a Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicleSir Richard Branson, President of Virgin Atlantic Airways was in New York City yesterday to announce a partnership between Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Virgin Atlantic and Rolls Royce. Seems like an unlikely combo?
Not if you’re talking about Sir Branson. Last week Virgin Atlantic “became the first airline in the world to successfully fly a plane using biofuel.” The Boeing 747-400 flew between London Heathrow and Amsterdam on a mix of babassu nuts from the Amazon rainforest and coconuts from the Philippines. Sounds like a good combo for a facial to me...
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- Holly Reich March 4, 2008, 2:34 PM
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February 29, 2008
I’ve been sitting here staring at my monitor in stunned silence for a while now. The more I delve into the stories behind the bill that President Bush signed into law yesterday, the more overwhelmed I become. They’re stories of anguished parents who’ve had to cope with the death of their son or daughter when the child was backed over after he or she happened to walk into the colossal blind zones modern vehicles often have. Hearing how often a small child is injured (48 times a week) or killed (2 times a week) in this way in the U.S...
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- Bryn MacKinnon February 29, 2008, 6:25 PM
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February 28, 2008
Nissan Murano trumps the tests!
This week the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released new crash test results for nine 2008 and 2009 model SUVs.
The best overall performer is the
2009 Nissan Murano earning Top Safety Pick designation on good ratings for front, side and rear crash protection as well as standard stability control. The
Kia Sorento earned the lowest rating of poor for side impact protection, even with standard side airbags. The
Jeep Liberty and
Jeep Wrangler were rated marginal in the side test. And the biggest surpise? The Hummer H3 didn’t get a good rating for frontal or side crash protection and it’s rated poor for rear crash protection.
The good news? SUV safety is improving...
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- Holly Reich February 28, 2008, 3:08 PM
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February 26, 2008
The
2009 Dodge Journey is not an SUV, not a van, not a truck and not really a crossover. Size wise it falls between the Dodge Caliber and Grand Caravan. The Journey is a blend of function and form that is called a mid-size crossover; a meeting of sedan and SUV packaged into a vehicle with sex appeal. The Dodge Journey also has a lot of Mom appeal.
Upfront the Journey is all Dodge with the recognizable chrome grille, quad halogen headlamps and chiseled lines. And then there’s the chrome tipped dual exhausts (on the 3.5-liter V6), available 19-inch chrome clad wheels (yum!) and the sculpted wheel arches. Yet, the Journey has a soft side ---even with all the Dodge bravado it has a lean, lengthy profile.
What drives the Dodge Journey is a choice of two engines. The standard 2.4 World Engine coupled with a four-speed automatic with 173 hp and 166-lb.ft of torque puts out 19 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway.
The available 3.5 liter V6 with a six-speed automatic (235 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque) puts out a lower 16 mpg in the city and 23 hwy with the FWD; 15 city/22 hwy on AWD.
I tested the 3.5 liter V6 in Las Vegas traffic and in the canyons outside of the city and found it to be compliant, sure on the pedal, comfortable quiet and exceptionally steady with just the right amount of stiffness. I always look for a vehicle that among other things will move when I put my foot on the pedal, shift quietly, stop quickly without jerking and be ease to parallel park. The Dodge Journey was all that.
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- Holly Reich February 26, 2008, 6:27 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
February 25, 2008
I’m Kate McLeod. I’m a new blogger for The Driving Woman, though I’ve written some Advice articles for Edmunds in the past.
I live on New York City’s Upper West Side. Although my main mode of transport is the subway, I , along with my husband, outspoken automotive journalist Jerry Flint, drive a different car every week––sometimes two...
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- February 25, 2008, 11:42 AM
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February 22, 2008
"I don't want to offend you but you might want to put it into 6th gear, you're going 80 mph in fourth. I know that the engine is so quiet that you can't hear the transmission," remarked my buddy Ashley. We were testing out the
2008 BMW M3 Coupe in Northern California. Ashley is a skilled fast driver...
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- Holly Reich February 22, 2008, 2:25 AM
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February 15, 2008
One thing that irritates me, as a lover of driving, beyond belief is when I see someone in a sports car driving it like it is a sub-compact econobox. On my daily commute along the Pacific Coast Highway, I usually see this with older gentlemen in Porsche Carreras. Last night, it was a gray-haired lady in a convertible Chevrolet Corvette. I realized that those are the two primary "retirement cars" I see. What is it about old people and Corvettes and Carreras?
Let's say you saved your pennies, or socked them into your 401(k), or won the lottery, and were in a really good financial position when you retired...
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- Michelle Magoffin February 15, 2008, 3:25 PM
- Categories:
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It’s important to note that GM is quite involved in causes beyond building cars. Read on…
According to The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among children ages 3 to 14. In 2003, 1,591 children ages 14 and under died and 220,000 were injured in crashes.
The sad fact is, half of the children that die in crashes are completely unrestrained...
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- Holly Reich February 15, 2008, 5:13 AM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
February 13, 2008
California recently became the third state in the union to prohibit smoking in vehicles when at least one passenger is a minor (Arkansas and Louisiana have similar bans, as does Puerto Rico). The city of Bangor, Maine also prohibits lighting up in a car when children are present, and at least 10 other states are talking about doing the same thing. The new California law, which went into effect on January 1 of this year, got a lot of press around that time, at least on the public radio station I listen to on my commute.
As a non-smoking California resident, I’m not really affected by this new law, but it was definitely on my mind when I read this report from the floor of the North American International Auto Show in mid-January...
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- Bryn MacKinnon February 13, 2008, 7:04 PM
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Monterey, California
I am out here to drive a trio of BMW's starting with the
MINI Cooper Clubman S. The others are the
BMW 1 series couple/convertible and the
M3 coupe/sedan. And there's a new reveal from Rolls-Royce. However, the embargo on that is Sunday!
On Tuesday I spent the day with the MINI Cooper Clubman S. Before I even get into the car, I must tell you that MINI has come up with a new word-ZUG.
Some ZUG quotes to follow...
"ZUG likes it when weird happens."
"ZUG is about moving confidently in our own direction, with no apologies. And Zug is about going that way in style."
"The MINI CLUBMAN IS ZUG."
"It looks odd. It runs on irregular. It is the brown sheep of the family. It may not be right for you. Then again, you may not be right for it."
OK, I won't repeat the entire book but you get the drift...right? ZUG incorporates the BE HERE NOW philosophy. It is everything I keep trying to be and why I read spiritual books like Your Best Life Now on a daily basis. But, enough about me.
Is the MINI Clubman all that?
Well, it passed the test for me. It would certainly do just fine for a family, empty nesters, a surfer or a commuter.
First of all, it's bigger than the MINI.The door on the right hand-side opens backwards for wider access to the back seats; the rear doors split for a more practical opening to the cargo area. Also, the luggage compartment floor is flat and the rear seat bench can fold for more room.
Secondly, the mileage is phenomenal- MINI Cooper S Clubman does 34 MPG Highway/ 26 MPG City. The MINI Cooper Clubman does 37 MPG Highway / 28 MPG City.
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- Holly Reich February 13, 2008, 6:55 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
February 12, 2008
In image-conscious Los Angeles, more than most other places, the car you drive is seen as a statement. That's part of why the Hollywood celebs upgrade every year or two to the latest/greatest vehicle -- whether they need it or not. It's why real estate brokers here all seem to drive Mercedes (they project "successful"), why middle-aged men with second wives buy sports cars ("youthful"), why rappers buy Bentleys and Escalades ("I've got plenty o' cash"), why soccer moms buy Tahoes and Suburbans when, in truth, minivans would suit them better. Even the Prius, while it does indeed save gas, is associated with folks who want their car to scream, "I"m green!"
Other people's opinions are a main ingredient in our "vehicle satisfaction" recipe, yet it's not something that's measured by the customer satisfaction polls.
Buying a new car is like having a child: You want people to cast admiring looks and ask questions about your new baby. If they don't, you begin to wonder if your new bundle of joy has a case of the uglies...
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- Joanne Helperin February 12, 2008, 5:30 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
February 11, 2008
My name is Bryn MacKinnon, and I’m the new senior editor at Edmunds.com. In addition to contributing to The Driving Woman, I’ll be writing and editing new vehicle content for the site, editing feature stories, contributing to a blog or two, and handling anything else that gets thrown my direction.
A little bit more about me: I’m a wife, a mom (to a 2-year-old daughter) and a Southern California native in my mid-30s. My first real job was answering phones and reader mail at an automotive magazine publisher, and even though I started with little automotive knowledge, I learned quickly and worked my way up to writing my own stories and editing everyone else’s at an compact/import enthusiast magazine...
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- Bryn MacKinnon February 11, 2008, 10:10 AM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
February 6, 2008
At the 2008 Chicago Auto Show, February 12 is Women’s Day: Women get half-price admission all day, and there are a lot of special female-focused activities:
- Manufacturers will be doing special presentations on car buying, leasing and maintenance geared towards women buyers.
- Mitsubishi and Kids Safety First, a national not-for-profit organization, are conducting booster seat installation demonstrations from 11 a.m. till 3 p.m. that day...
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- Joanne Helperin February 6, 2008, 12:17 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
February 1, 2008
I tried to get the scoop on Audi's
Super Bowl ad, their first in nearly 20 years but they weren't talking.
All they would do is tell me that it runs for 60-seconds, was inspired by the Oscar-winning film "The Godfather" and features the
Audi R8, the brand's first mid-engine sports car. The ad was shot at the fabulous Fleur de Lys house in Los Angeles.
For me, watching the ads is part of the fun of seeing the game...
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- Holly Reich February 1, 2008, 11:31 AM
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January 24, 2008
Buick Riviera ConceptThere was a generous amount of environmental concepts at the Detroit Auto Show, like the trio from Saturn, the offerings from Chevy, the plug-ins from Ford. All well and good. But, it’s always the wacky ones that I’m drawn to. The colors, shapes, and the images they drum up for me...
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- Holly Reich January 24, 2008, 5:00 PM
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January 21, 2008
The big news in little cars for 2008 was the
smartfortwo imported from across the pond. Now GM is realizing the power of small. They had three pint-sized concepts at the Detroit Auto Show.
The
Chevrolet BEAT, TRAX and GROOVE concepts were designed at GM’s Design Studio in Inchon, South Korea, experts in small-car design...
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- Holly Reich January 21, 2008, 7:00 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
January 18, 2008
Plug in Volvo concept
Eco-alternative materials and fuels were a big presence at the Detroit Auto Show. Following, some of the ones I was drawn to.
I saw the
Volvo ReCharge Concept (C30) in Frankfurt last fall. Seeing it in Motor City made me feel that it’s not such a far-off thought...
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- Holly Reich January 18, 2008, 1:28 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
January 17, 2008
When I saw the
Ford Verve concept at the Frankfurt Auto show this past fall, it was a stunning bright raspberry color with pink rimmed wheels and a cabin decorated with orange lights, raspberry, pink, purple, maroon and gray trim and red seatbelts. The Verve was described as a car that was aimed at women.
When it previewed at the Detroit show, the message was different. Apparently, the Verve concept is Ford’s attempt at changing the way that their North American customers view small cars...
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- Holly Reich January 17, 2008, 4:01 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
After I left the Detroit Auto Show I realized that the
Nissan FORUM was a concept vehicle. Duh. I kept looking for a design forum. My editor kept talking about a popcorn popper in a vehicle, I kept asking the folks at Chrysler about it...
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- Holly Reich January 17, 2008, 11:28 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
January 16, 2008
During the Detroit Auto Show I made several laps back to view the
2009 Ford Flex. I guess you could say that I had a thing for it.
This new 7-passenger SUV crossover from Ford is worth a second glance. It has a retro look-- kind of like Ozzie & Harriet’s station wagon gone modern...
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- Holly Reich January 16, 2008, 5:49 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
The truth. The
Ford Explorer America Concept at the Detroit Auto Show was not as exciting as the name. I imagined all kinds of cool additions like pop corn poppers, lazy boy seats, maybe an in-car vacuum cleaner. But, this large and rather boxy SUV was nothing to groove about...
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- Holly Reich January 16, 2008, 4:45 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
The
Honda Pilot was due for an update and it's here...well, almost. At the Detroit Auto Show, the 2009 Honda Pilot Prototype took the stand. The three-row, 8-person unibody has gotten bigger and buffer looking. It looks like it had some serious sessions with a personal trainer...
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- Holly Reich January 16, 2008, 12:29 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
The
Suzuki X-HEAD was one of my favorite concepts at the Tokyo Auto Show. Maybe because it reminded me of my son's Tonka truck or because it looked like such a fun vehicle. I had the same reaction when I saw the new MINI for the first time.
When I saw the Suzuki X-HEAD again at the Detroit Auto Show, knew that I had picked a winner (even if it is a concept)...
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- Holly Reich January 16, 2008, 10:22 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
The
Kia brand has not exactly been a household word. Not like, well you know who I’m talking about. But then again, this Korean company does not have a big marketing presence. And that’s the bigger half of name recognition...
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- Holly Reich January 16, 2008, 9:48 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
January 15, 2008
Chevy Malibu and Bob Lutz
If you've read any of my blogs about the
2008 Chevy Malibu I've been stuck on it ever since I heard that women designed and engineered this car. And then I drove it and glowed about it even more. I wasn't off base on this positive reporting.
At the
Detroit Auto Show this week the Chevy Malibu was named North American Car of the Year at the North American Car and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) awards...
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- Holly Reich January 15, 2008, 5:36 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
I heard everything from,' it looks like a BMW' to, 'I think it’s more like a Mercedes'. The fact is, the 2009 VW Passatt was being talked about at the NAIAS world reveal. Obviously, the comparisons were quite impressive. This upscale midsize sedan has all the positives of a Passat with some extras added in...
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- Holly Reich January 15, 2008, 3:13 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
Gerry McGovern and Joanna Keatley
I didn’t expect the person in the form fitting black dress and zebra heels to be the interior designer for the Land Rover LRX concept. I’'m used to seeing a more corporate look at Land Rover. It was a nice surprise to see a departure from the expected dress code. Perhaps, I thought to myself, Land Rover is getting a little wackier...
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- Holly Reich January 15, 2008, 1:58 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
The best part of the Lexus booth was their spa loft. Sure, I loved the look of the
LF-A Roadster concept, the one with a V10 engine capable of 500 plus horsepower and a top speed of over 200 mph. All very nice.
But, after checking out their vehicles and hybrid technology, I couldn’t stop myself from floating up a cascade of white steps to an aromatherapy infused loft based in soothing music and scents of aromatherapy...
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- Holly Reich January 15, 2008, 12:55 PM
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- Dealing with Car Dealers, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
They looked like a better version Charlie’s Angels… more sophisticated, brainier and more down to earth. It turns out that they were the three interior designers for the
Lincoln MKT concept, “the ultimate touring vehicle.” I sat down with the “interior angels” at the Detroit Auto Show to talk about their design. They were visibly excited to talk about the concept; a nice perk for me.
First, let me give a short run down on the concept.
EcoBoost, Ford’s engine technology that has improved mpg and greenhouse gas emission, powers the MKT...
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- Holly Reich January 15, 2008, 11:44 AM
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January 14, 2008
For 12 years now, Road and Travel Magazine, which seeks to find the "emotional connection between car and consumer," has held its Annual International Car of the Year (ICOTY) Awards. The magazine has just announced the 2008 winners at the Detroit Auto Show. (Edmunds' own Editorial Director, Kevin Smith, co-hosted the awards ceremony and was one of the judges.) Below is the list of winners... how do you feel about them?
International Car of the Year: Honda Accord Sedan
International Truck of the Year: Chrysler Town & Country
Pick Up Truck of the Year: "Most Athletic" GMC Sierra Denali
Sports Car of the Year: "Most Sex Appeal" Audi R8
Sedan of the Year: "Most Dependable" Honda Accord Sedan
Luxury Car of the Year: "Most Respected" Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG
Minivan of the Year: "Most Compatible" Chrysler Town & Country
Entry Level Car of the Year: "Most Spirited" Volvo C30
Crossover of the Year: "Most Versatile" Buick Enclave
SUV of the Year: "Most Resourceful" Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
The Accord is a lot nicer looking this year, but I'm more partial to the Enclave...
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- Joanne Helperin January 14, 2008, 5:33 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
January 9, 2008
Over at the Green Car Advisor, Mac Demere has given us a pros-and-cons look at biodiesel that's worth reading. He makes using biodiesel sound a bit daunting, and advises against using used restaurant oil as a fuel generally. But I know another Edmunds contributor, Dave Chameides, happily runs his VW -- for free -- on waste vegetable oil...
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- Joanne Helperin January 9, 2008, 4:27 PM
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- Car Maintenance, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
January 7, 2008
Whether you're an auto show aficionado or not, you'll be interested in some of the new vehicles making their appearance next week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the largest of its kind in the world.
Making their debut are the 2009 Honda Pilot -- a sexier version of the popular family hauler, 2009 Toyota Venza -- described by Toyota as a "crossover sedan", and 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line Two-Mode Hybrid -- a true hybrid that should finally give the Vue both excellent power and fuel economy. I'm really looking forward to learning more about these three vehicles, among the many others (such as the new BMW diesels, and the Ford Explorer America Concept pictured here), as I contemplate what to get when the lease on my Toyota Highlander is up this July...
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- Joanne Helperin January 7, 2008, 3:51 PM
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January 4, 2008
Hey folks.
You've probably seen Edmunds'
CarSpace -- where consumers can discuss any automotive-related topic from shopping for cars to the specifics of makes and models. Now, the people in charge of CarSpace (the Community team) has just launched a new service to answer all your questions. Appropriately called
Edmunds' Answers, i
t's a social question and answer system where any member can ask an automotive question. Members of the community, including Edmunds employees, can answer these questions...Continue reading...
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- Joanne Helperin January 4, 2008, 5:09 PM
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- Car Maintenance, Car Safety, Dealing with Car Dealers, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
January 3, 2008
Approximately 30,000 high-speed chases happen on American roads each year, killing some 300 people and injuring scores more. Now G.M.'s OnStar, which helps to locate and recover stolen vehicles, is hoping to lower those numbers by incorporating a new feature, called Stolen Vehicle Slowdown (SVS).
What does it do?..
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- Joanne Helperin January 3, 2008, 2:24 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
December 27, 2007
A group from the office took our 2008 Mazda CX-9 for a spin the other day, and we were pleasantly surprised by the rear-view camera. Instead of seeing a rear-view image on the navigation screen, as is typical, the image appeared on the rear-view mirror. Immediately, this made sense to us...
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- Joanne Helperin December 27, 2007, 12:55 PM
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December 21, 2007
Honda Odyssey Ranked Best in Bumper TestsBottom line. It costs a lot to repair a bumper on a minivan. We’re talking a range of $5,000 to $8,000. And that’s for driving at low speeds...
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- Holly Reich December 21, 2007, 2:13 PM
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- Car Maintenance, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
December 14, 2007
I posted last month about my need for a fuel-efficient commuter car that also nicely fits a rear-facing infant seat in the back seat. My two main requirements are that the vehicle get a minimum of 30 m.p.g. on the highway and be able to seat a front seat passenger comfortably with the car seat in the back. Bonus requirement: It would be nice it the car was fun to drive...
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- Michelle Magoffin December 14, 2007, 3:02 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
The
2008 Chevrolet Malibu is garnering praise from buff books to lifestyle papers for performance and styling. Designed for a demographic that is 60% female and 40% male, this midsize family sedan has appeal across the board. But what many consumers don’t know is that the new Malibu had women in lead desig positions.
“We were strong advocates for the female POV,” notes Cathy Turzewski, Program Engineering Manager for the Chevrolet Malibu, who worked with another woman, Alex Cattelau, Performance Integration lead (engine, stability, suspension and tuning). Turzewski, who has been with GM since 1983, says that sharing a top leadership position with another female is a first; she’s always had a male counterpart.
“The key to this program is that we had very good teamwork,” she says. The 2008 Malibu, three years in the making, also featured Crystal Wyndham as Interior Design Manager and Esther Martinez as Exterior Design Manager.
“When we launch a car we have early production vehicles for the internals,” explains Turzewski, “This is probably the only program where engineers from other projects were calling to ask if they could test it out!”
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- Holly Reich December 14, 2007, 11:06 AM
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December 13, 2007
Forget Oprah's list for now. You want to know one of my "favorite things" for this year? Try Pandora, an amazing free site that lets you create music stations that play only music you like and listen to stations created by other people as well...
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- Joanne Helperin December 13, 2007, 5:22 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
December 12, 2007
In a recent radio report I did on
MIT’'s City Car, a fold-up electric vehicle designed to help increase the idea of green city mobility, one old-timer car guy was very skeptical. He didn’'t see how cities would change their ways to accommodate smaller cars. “"The cabs and trucks will crush em,”" he quipped.
I neglected to tell him that cabs and trucks would probably be taxed to enter cities in the future…he wouldn't want to hear that...
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- Holly Reich December 12, 2007, 10:19 AM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
December 10, 2007
OK, enough of what the editors think -- for now. What do you, the consumer, think about the 2008 Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Chevy Malibu? Edmunds wanted to know, so we held a Comsumer Comparison Test of the three vehicles. Six individuals -- including two women -- were selected and presented with the three vehicles to test drive, play in, and fill up with their junk -- including a cooler, a car seat, and luggage...
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- Joanne Helperin December 10, 2007, 5:19 PM
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December 7, 2007
White Chocolate was a very popular color for the 2007 Lincoln lineup
According to
DuPont ‘s 2007 Global Automotive Color Popularity Report, white is in. DuPont, a company that has been reporting on color trends for 55 years, notes that silver, a leader for seven years, has taken a back seat in three major automotive markets. Polls show that White/ white pearl has become a leading color choice in North America, Japan and Mexico.
“"We are not surprised to see a proliferation of white/white pearl in Dupont’s report this year,”" said
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and author of Color: Messages and Meanings...
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- Holly Reich December 7, 2007, 6:28 AM
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December 5, 2007
photo by Franco Vairani / MIT Smart Cities group
Imagine a world where cars could be folded in half and stacked up on a rack instead of parking. When you needed to use one, you’d simply swipe a credit card and remove it from the rack. After unfolding it, you’d take it to your destination refold it, and attach it to a rack. Think of those Smart Carts in the airport + Zipcar convenience and you’ve got the concept...
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- Holly Reich December 5, 2007, 8:43 AM
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December 3, 2007
I get spoiled by test cars with factory navigation systems neatly integrated into their control interface. Several of the cars in our long-term fleet even have nav systems that run off an onboard hard drive (instead of a DVD), so they're fast to calculate and provide storage space for MP3s. Trouble is, the nav options on these cars typically cost about $2,000 and I'd think twice about spending it on my own car.
Instead, I'd think about buying a good road atlas or a portable navigation system...
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- Erin Riches December 3, 2007, 6:15 PM
- Categories:
- What Women Want in a Car
November 29, 2007
On the Wall Street Journal’s 50 Women To Watch In 2007 only one of the players was an exec in the auto industry.
Deborah Wahl-Meyer, Chrysler’s chief marketing officer, left Lexus last summer to join the company. The 44-year-old who ranked 39 on the list is cited as one of the “string of executives to join Chrysler as it struggles to make a comeback.”
The Wall Street Journal also noted that the number of women in top executive jobs has “barely budged” in recent years. Women hold just about 16.4 percent of Fortune 500 corporate-officer jobs -- positions of vice president or higher require board approval.
Ladies, I consider this a challenge!..
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- Holly Reich November 29, 2007, 4:36 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 28, 2007
It's not often you hear the words "celebrities" and "minivan" in the same story, but the event I attended last night at Fox Studios in L.A. had both. Nissan Live Sets, together with Yahoo, put together an intimate Matchbox 20 concert to help show off their 2009 Nissn GT-R midsize coupe and Forum Concept minivan. Paris Hilton, David Spade and others showed up to hear Rob Thomas sing the bands' hits...
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- Joanne Helperin November 28, 2007, 3:20 PM
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November 27, 2007
Porsche has been running driving classes at Alabama's Barber Motorsports Park for years -- the idea being to give new Boxster, Cayman and 911 owners some much needed instruction in proper car control. These classes have always been co-ed, but Porsche instructors noticed that women in the classes were uncomfortable, sometimes even intimidated, around the male drivers, even when those men were boyfriends or spouses.
In response, the company created new one- and two-day courses just for women -- the Women's Performance Course. One of our contributing editors, Jackie Liu, recently went to the school...
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- Erin Riches November 27, 2007, 5:40 PM
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- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
November 21, 2007
Just about every car company has a collection of coffee cups and racing jackets, so if you’re looking for a gift for car buff it’s worth your time to look on their sites. But, if you want a gift that is as refined as a Bentley, you just can’t beat their collection, which uses hand-stitched leathers, the lightest cashmeres, the finest silks and the softest teddy bears.
For children: The Team Bentley Play Suit is a replica of the suit worn by Bentley’s Le Mans-winning pit crew, complete with Team Bentley logos. The line includes super-soft fleeces, with Bentley zips and logos, polo shirts of pique cotton and a T-shirt with the classic green ‘Bentley Blower’ logo across the back...
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- Holly Reich November 21, 2007, 1:20 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 19, 2007
There's excellent coverage of the L.A. Auto Show here on StraightLine
, where you'll get detailed impressions on all the model debuts, complete with specs and trim levels. But when yours truly walks through the show, though, I always ask, "Would I be interested in buying this car?", "What makes this car appealing to women or families?", and the all-important, "How much of my stuff can it store?"
So here are some interesting cars -- or their interesting features -- that stood out to me. Bear in mind that these are first looks; I haven't driven them yet...
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- Joanne Helperin November 19, 2007, 5:10 PM
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November 16, 2007
What is it about expensive things that catch my eye? I spotted the 2008
Audi S8 quattro AT6 sneaking along my Brooklyn street, blocks away, before I even realized it was mine — a $107,615 piece of eye candy. And by the time I opened the door and sunk down into the espresso brown and black leather seats, I was smitten.
There is no rationale for owning a car that chugs fuel to the tune of 11 mpg and a woeful 17 mpg on the highway. It's kind of like rationalizing the purchase of a $2000
Fendi bag - no excuses. With that disclaimer in place, I climbed in and soaked up decadent driving...
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- November 16, 2007, 7:00 AM
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November 14, 2007
I am going to need a new car next summer. Currently, I am driving a 2006 Volvo XC90 and my husband is driving a 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230. Both of our leases are up next year. We will be buying the Volvo and turning in the Mercedes...
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- Michelle Magoffin November 14, 2007, 3:05 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
Back in the day, Your First Car meant some beater or the most basic entry-level car with manual everything. You'd be lucky to even get an A/C in it. And could only dream about having a CD player. Fortunately, nowadays, that's not the case...
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- Caroline Pardilla November 14, 2007, 10:49 AM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 13, 2007
The Volkswagen Jetta was introduced in 1980 as a sedan version of VW's Golf/Rabbit hatchback. The Jetta body style was developed in part for the North American market that gravitated more towards sedans. They were right on target. The Jetta became a best-selling European car in the United States and Canada...
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- Holly Reich November 13, 2007, 11:25 AM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
November 9, 2007
The automotive business is one place where a woman's skill set (compassion, communication, creativity, organizational skills and multitasking) is appreciated. Got your interest? Read on...
Last year, a free event hosted by the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association
(GNYADA) was dubbed "Chocolate, Cars and Careers" to entice more women to attend...
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- Holly Reich November 9, 2007, 5:30 AM
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- Dealing with Car Dealers, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 6, 2007
Yesterday I took a drive in the new 2008 Audi TT, on roads in upstate New York just as the leaves were coming into full fall color. Lucky me.
With its round silhouette, bold use of aluminum and slanted headlights, the new Audi TT has lots of appeal. Large tailpipes buff up the rearview along with an electrically powered spoiler that rises up out of the boot lid when the speed reaches 75 mph...
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- Holly Reich November 6, 2007, 1:22 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
November 2, 2007
Since the first time I watched the
Smart Fortwo ease into a tight parking place in Paris, I’ve wanted one. It made sense for Europe with its series of small towns connected by rural roads. But, I wondered how it would do in the US.
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- Holly Reich November 2, 2007, 4:42 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
Ready to get into the holiday spirit? XM Radio has already begun its holiday music programming, and will be offering six dedicated channels for the upcoming joyous season.
The 2007 XM holiday line-up includes:
Holly (XM 103), contemporary holiday hits
Holiday Traditions (XM 104), traditional recordings from the 1940s through the 60s
Music City Holiday (XM 105), contemporary country holiday hits
A Classical Christmas (XM 106), traditional holiday carols performed by classical musicians
Special X-Mas (XM 107), holiday novelty songs and parodies
Radio Hanukkah (XM 108), celebration of Hanukkah music
Holly is already streaming, while the remaining five channels will roll out November 19 - December 4.
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- Kelly Toepke November 2, 2007, 10:10 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
October 29, 2007
Mazda Premacy 2007 Tokyo Motor ShowMazda, the company known for its Zoom Zoom appeal, is making inroads in their efforts to improve the planet. Their latest invention, Mazda Biotechmaterial, is a low C02 emission product derived from plants can resist heat, shock and wear, as well as weather and fire damage. That makes it perfect for everything from interior parts to seat covers and who knows what else.
Another technology already in use is Mazda's hydrogen rotary engine (Hydrogen RE) that burns hydrogen to generate motive power and emits zero CO2...
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- Holly Reich October 29, 2007, 10:59 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
the Honda CR-ZThe most talked about car at the
2007 Tokyo Motor Show was the
Nissan GT-R, a V6 twin-turbo 4WD coupe ---Nissan’s challenge to the beloved Porsche 911 Turbo. Yes, fast is sexy but green is getting…well, funkier, more fun, hipper. There was an impressive range of environmentally conscious concepts and production cars shown in Tokyo.
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- Holly Reich October 29, 2007, 5:45 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
October 26, 2007
More from the Tokyo Motor Show...
Toyota’'s RiN is designed to make the driving experience one of serenity. FYI, ‘rin’, a Chinese character, refers to upright posture, a big feature in this small vehicle.
This is how it works...
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- Holly Reich October 26, 2007, 6:48 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
October 25, 2007
Perhaps you saw our Tokyo auto show blog entry on the Volkswagen space up! concept on Straightline. It's a cute idea for a subcompact car aimed at the Japanese market where consumers like small, cute, fuel-efficient cars but expect them to be incredibly space-efficient on the inside -- as a result, there are a lot of extremely box-shaped minivans, microvans and nanovans motoring along the freeways here...
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- Erin Riches October 25, 2007, 6:13 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
It’s my first time to Japan. After two days of attending the
Tokyo Motor Show and going out for lovely dinners with lots of sake, I am finally ‘getting it’.
The Japanese, despite their seemingly methodical way of doing things, are extremely sensual. In small but very acute ways...
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- Holly Reich October 25, 2007, 12:17 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
October 23, 2007
Daydreaming about driving a little drop top but don't think you can afford to make it a reality? Our new list of the Top 10 Most Affordable Convertibles for 2007 is worth perusing. Sure, summer is technically over but it is still awfully warm out there for most of the country. What made No...
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- Caroline Pardilla October 23, 2007, 5:52 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
October 22, 2007
A new LeaseTrader.com survey asked 1,000 women what features they want in their car. The answer? Functionality + technology.
More than half of all women polled -- 62% -- listed fold-down back seats as their number one choice...
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- Joanne Helperin October 22, 2007, 5:35 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
October 19, 2007
I'm always looking for good investment opportunities and it seems that India keeps cropping up in my searches. I started reading up on supermarkets, tourism, the airplane industry and more recently, vehicles.
According to the India’s Department of Commerce, the plan is to double India’s share of global trade in the next five years. Besides handicrafts, gems, jewelry and agriculture, it looks like cars are getting into the equation.
A recent article in the New York Times noted that by 2013 India’s automotive market will expand an average of 14.5% a year, compared with 8% for China...
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- Holly Reich October 19, 2007, 12:09 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
October 18, 2007
If you live in the NY, DC, or LA areas, you're eligible to qualify for the first significant market test of a fuel-cell vehicle (FCV): The Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Vehicle. Chevy is running a 3-year test in these markets,dubbed Project Driveway, to get feedback on the cars and to spread the word about hydrogen fuel cells. Several hundred participants will get to drive the cars for roughly three months apiece, all expenses paid (vehicle, fuel, insurance).
Sure, some vehicles will go to policy makers and celebrities, but Chevy is specifically looking for "real folks" too. And I'll give you a hint: They're not just looking for hardcore greenies, they want folks who are interested in trying something new and who will be articulate and active participants in the Chevy online community.
I learned about all this on Tuesday at Chevy's "Electric Drive University," an off-site program where journalists got an education on everything fuel cell: from safety and refueling to necessary infrastructure and more. So, here are some basics you should know about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles:
- They are as safe, and quite possibly safer, than gasoline cars. Really. They put these babies through fire (literally) and ice to test them -- tests that no gasoline car could ever pass.
- They are extremely easy to refuel, without the mess or smell that gasoline has, but it takes a little longer to fill up a tank.
- There is no transmission on the Equinox. The power delivery is completely smooth, so there's no waiting for the revs to increase and no 'shift shock.'
- Though some modifications were made to the gas-powered Chevy Equinox to enable it for hydrogen power, a driver woudn't notice much different except that 1) the tachometer has been replaced by an energy meter, and 2) there are four seats instead of five, a sacrifice that likely won't have to be made on future generations of Chevy's FCVs. (The hydrogen system in the Equinox is 4th generation. The Chevy Volt is already running on 5th generation technology, which is smaller.)
- The only tailpipe emission is water vapor, which come out of the newly designed vents (four across) in the back (see picture below).
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- Joanne Helperin October 18, 2007, 4:14 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
October 17, 2007
Rogue, by definition: “Somebody who is mischievous and playful, especially a naughty kid.”
The
Nissan Rogue, by definition: “A small crossover, fun to drive, with rascal looks and plenty of energy."
It appears that this new kid on the block, targeted towards drivers in their early 30’s and young families, is going to give the
Toyota Rav4 and the
Honda CRV some competition.
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- Holly Reich October 17, 2007, 12:20 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
October 12, 2007
Renée Zellweger, ambassador for Key To The Cure
Again, I say YAY to car companies that are helping out a cause that is so important to women all over the world.
Over the past five years,
MBUSA has supported Saks Fifth Avenue’s KEY TO THE CURE by raising over $5 million for women’s cancer research. This year MBUSA designed a special edition version of the 2008 C350 Sport Sedan to raise funds for the KEY TO THE CURE, the women’s cancer initiative developed in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund.
MBUSA expects to contribute $1 million through the sale of 1,000 exclusive C-Class vehicles arriving at Mercedes-Benz dealerships this month. Sales of this sedan will benefit charitable programs dedicated to finding new detection methods, treatments and a cure for women’s cancers nationwide.
And about that car... First of all, it's not pink!..
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- Holly Reich October 12, 2007, 5:16 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Custom Cars and Classic Cars, What Women Want in a Car
October 11, 2007
The
IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) just released their newest stats on front and side crash tests for six midsize SUVs. The midsize SUV’s tested were: Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, Nissan XTerra, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chevrolet Trailblazer.
One conclusion: some of these SUVs performed worse than many cars. While SUVs are safer now than they were just a few years ago (especially with the addition of electronic stability control) not one of the six SUVs earned the Institute’s
TOP SAFETY PICK due to low ratings for protection in side and/or rear impacts.
Following, my boiled down version of the report. I have no comments on this as yet – all I can say is that just when I was feeling secure about driving in SUV’s…
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- Holly Reich October 11, 2007, 1:43 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
FRONTAL OFFSET TEST: 2008 NISSAN PATHFINDER — GOOD
The
IIHS (insurance Institute for Highway Safety) just released their newest stats on front and side crash tests for six midsize SUVs. The midsize SUV’s tested were: Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, Nissan XTerra, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Chevrolet Trailblazer.
One conclusion: some of these SUVs performed worse than many cars. While SUVs are safer now than they were just a few years ago (especially with the addition of electronic stability control) not one of the six SUVs earned the Institute’s TOP SAFETY PICK due to low ratings for protection in side and/or rear impacts.
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- Holly Reich October 11, 2007, 12:20 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
October 9, 2007
I recently received a pamphlet from
Chevy printed on recycled paper (with soy ink) titled Gas-friendly to Gas-free.
I get so confused by all the “green” jargon passed around these days; I thought their brochure was quite informative. Take what you want from it. Best, H
Five Ways That Chevy Is Helping the Environment
1...
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- Holly Reich October 9, 2007, 8:58 AM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
October 8, 2007
I hadn’t driven a
Saab in quite a while and I got so excited about the 9-3 Aero Sport Sedan that I hunted out an enthusiast’s website to post my comments. Of course, my test wheels were laser red with a creamy interior topped off with brown piping.
On the outside, 2008 9-3 range has added a larger grille, smaller side grilles; new front fenders; new headlamps, fog lamps and tail lamps.
The Aero’s front and rear bumpers have a matte chrome fog lamp surround, color-matched rocker panels and 17-inch five spoke alloy wheels with a standard tire pressure monitoring system...
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- Holly Reich October 8, 2007, 10:56 AM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
October 5, 2007
The 2008 Chevy Malibu: Both Interior and Exterior Designed By WomenTen years ago, Esther Martinez, a single mother of two girls, lost her job when the hospital she worked for went bankrupt.” I had no education and two toddlers,” she said, speaking at a dinner hosted by in her honor hosted by GM. And today, this first-generation Mexican-American is being introduced at the
Essence Summit on Women Who Are Shaping the World. The story of how Esther went from bankrupt to Studio Design Engineer at GM is a good one. After losing her job she stumbled upon a Michigan-based program called Focus: Hope, which helped her return to school, land an internship at GM and receive a degree in Vehicle Design. Her title now reads, Studio Designing Engineer...
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- Holly Reich October 5, 2007, 11:13 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
October 4, 2007
Warriors In Pink MustangOctober, as you may know, is a month dedicated to the breast cancer cause.
My heartfelt applause goes out to
Ford Motor Company. They have been actively supporting Susan G. Komen for the Cure for 13 years...
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- Holly Reich October 4, 2007, 10:42 AM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
October 3, 2007
Whitefish, Montana, October 2007
They had me right from the beginning. When the marketing director said that the Volvo XC70's target audience was 55% women I was stunned. I really don't think I've ever heard a car company say that before.
It even gets better. The 2008 Volvo XC70 3.2 AWD is in its third generation. It was launched ten years ago as a crossover, a new industry term at the time. Basically, this means it can go off-road with skill, hold a family (and then some) and has a plush on-road feel. In other words, it's not your traditional SUV.
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- Holly Reich October 3, 2007, 11:20 AM
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October 2, 2007
(yumm...the Corvette has an interior "to die for"!Bear Mountain, New York
“Design is everywhere…just look around at stores like Ikea and Target, “ said Dave Lyons, Director of Interior Design For GM, talking at a
GM Collection preview today.
“The exterior of the car will get people into the showrooms, but the feelings of the brand have to do with the experience inside.”
Hmmmm… I’m thinking. This is sounding like something a woman might say. (When I caught up with him later, he agreed, that yes, this is what women are asking for.)
Lyons noted that GM doesn’t have time for a steep learning curve...
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- Holly Reich October 2, 2007, 3:36 PM
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September 29, 2007
“I figured you out some five minutes in,” noted my Land Rover instructor, Jim Swett, “As long as you’re focused on the road, you’re fine. It’s when you look
elsewhere,” he said, pointing to the radio, mirror, glove compartment,” that things go wrong.”
We were in a convoy of Land Rovers LR 3's navigating a narrowing dirt road on the Paso Abra del Acay, the highest pass in South America negotiable by car at over 16,000 feet.
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- Holly Reich September 29, 2007, 8:37 AM
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- Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
September 26, 2007
One woman I know wears brighter colors on days when she feels down. It works for her. My living room, kitchen and bedroom walls are painted in hues that remind me of the Caribbean. That works for me. And naturally, when purchasing cars, color figures big in customers buying decisions.
Ford Motor Company agrees. According to their research, 39 percent of consumers say they will walk out of a dealership if it doesn’t have a vehicle they want in their color of choice. By 2009, 45 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles will feature new paint colors, marking the biggest color changeover in Ford’s history.
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- Holly Reich September 26, 2007, 4:42 PM
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While everyone was talking price, engine and the role of the new
Jaguar XF sedan in
Jaguar’s lineup during the Frankfurt Motor show, I was interested in
the unexpected elements of design. I sat down with Ian Callum, Jaguar’s
Director of Design and Wayne Burgess, Senior Manager of the Design
Studio to talk about their newest product.
“It’s those small intuitive touches that many people many not notice but we feel make a Jaguar a Jaguar,” said Callum.
And what, I asked, is that?
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- Holly Reich September 26, 2007, 2:18 AM
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September 25, 2007
I used to like driving small cars. They are agile in and out of traffic, easy to park, and often peppy for their size. But then I had kids, and in came the minivan and the SUV...
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- Joanne Helperin September 25, 2007, 3:18 PM
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- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
September 24, 2007
A Sept. 20, 2007, article in BusinessWeek ("The Luxury Cars Women Want") has a bunch of interesting results from the most recent JD Power survey. Volvo is the top-selling luxury brand among female buyers and the compact Volvo S40 sedan has the greatest appeal, with 53% of sales going to women. Lexus is the number two luxury brand...
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- Erin Riches September 24, 2007, 6:56 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
September 20, 2007
Sure, I've got a job and two kids. But to misquote a line from "Risky Business," sometimes you've just got to say, what the hell. So I did: I took a day off on Tuesday...
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- Joanne Helperin September 20, 2007, 4:56 PM
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- Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
September 17, 2007
Can a Ferrari beat a minivan? Um, yeah. How about if it's a 23-year-old Ferrari 308 against a 2007 Kia Sedona? OK, it might be a ridiculous question to pose but for those who wondered what would happen if you put these two vehicles against each other on the test track, see today's comparison test for the entertaining results...
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- Caroline Pardilla September 17, 2007, 10:02 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
September 12, 2007
It's the battle of the Japanese cute utes: 2008 Nissan Rogue, 2007 Toyota RAV4, 2007 Honda CR-V and the 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander. Will longtime winner RAV4 finally be knocked from its throne? Or could it be the latecomer Rogue, the best-seller CR-V or darkhorse Outlander?
Check out the results in this comprehensive comparo.
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- Caroline Pardilla September 12, 2007, 3:29 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
The message at the
Frankfurt Motor Show was everything you ever wanted to hear about green technology. The buzz was all about bio-fuel, diesel fuel, hybrids, fuel economy, “green cars” and a growing fleet of
Mercedes-Benz BLUETEC vehicles. Ok, so what’s new…the green theme is ongoing in the US.
Flowerpower Biodiesel
But, what we all want to hear is that awareness is growing worldwide...
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- Holly Reich September 12, 2007, 1:44 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
FordVerve concept is bright raspberry pink, it's small and it's aimed at females.
So, you say, bright pink? How cliché? Nope, doesn't bother me one bit...
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- Holly Reich September 12, 2007, 6:05 AM
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The Tangiers Orange colored
Land Rover G4 doing gymnastics in front of a screen displaying extreme outdoor sports was the centerpiece of Land Rover’s exhibit at the
Frankfurt Motor Show. The big news is that the Land Rover G4 Challenge 2008/09 has formed an association with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. This partnership will create an adventure competition that will leave a positive imprint by using the Challenge to generate funds and support humanitarian projects around the world.
Known for adventures that combine off-road antics with physical feats, the
Land Rover G4 Challenge was inaugurated in 2003 with a Belgian Fighter pilot winning a cliff-hanging contest in the Moab Desert...
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- Holly Reich September 12, 2007, 5:20 AM
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September 7, 2007
It’s fashion week in New York City. And I have been gathering notes from the runways, the cosmetic companies and the September
Vogue—a HUGE issue that is worth the purchase.
So, here is what I am noticing; dresses and tops for spring are flirty, feminine, sheer, colorful and subtle. Holiday makeup from MAC is picking up on the gilded look with antique cases embellished with gold and silver...
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- Holly Reich September 7, 2007, 1:01 PM
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September 4, 2007
We recently added a 2007 Scion xB to Edmunds' long-term test fleet. It's painted a most unusual color -- Hypnotic Teal Mica. It has a flat clearcoat-type finish as opposed to being metallic (sort of like the Dolphin Grey paint Saab formerly offered on the 9-3). Some of our editors love it...
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- Erin Riches September 4, 2007, 4:45 PM
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August 30, 2007
Say good-bye to our long-termer 2006 Kia Sedona EX minivan. We'll miss it. In the year that it served in our fleet, it helped us move furniture, sandboxes, Girl Scout cookies and relatives as well as transported us in comfort on long road trips. What are we going to do now?..
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- Caroline Pardilla August 30, 2007, 2:57 PM
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August 29, 2007
Girl in the Cadillac . I pulled this blog title from a 1995 movie with the same name. I haven't seen the movie, but it is catchy and telling.
Cadillac had enough cache to pull through the rougher times with sophistication and romance intact, based on the brand's glamorous Hollywood history as the '50 and '60s movie star car of choice...
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- August 29, 2007, 1:51 PM
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August 28, 2007
Just because you have a '98 Toyota Corolla and not a 2008 Audi Q7 with a handy-dandy navigation system, doesn't mean you have to resign yourself to a life of map-folding and stopping off at gas stations to ask for directions. There are about 100 portable nav systems out there, some really elaborate and some really simple. But which to get? What sort of features should you look for in a system that'll fit your needs?..
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- Caroline Pardilla August 28, 2007, 2:47 PM
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August 22, 2007
Before Antisplash Tires...................................and after!
While the technology for sapping latex from trees is still a hands-on affair, the technology of tires has evolved considerably from 1895 when Andre Michelin first introduced pneumatic tires on a car.
A little over a decade later, in 1908, Frank Seiberling invented grooved tires for improved road traction. (Those grooves have evolved into sipes and treads that provide a multitude of functions.) And tires were white (like latex) until 1910 when B.F. Goodrich Company invented longer life tires by adding carbon to the rubber, invented the first synthetic rubber tires in 1937 made of a patented substance called Chemigum...
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- Holly Reich August 22, 2007, 7:58 AM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
August 16, 2007
Up until now, folks who needed the towing capacity of a full-size SUV or a 5-8-passenger people-hauler that couild go off road couldn't make "green" part of their vocabulary. But General Motors new 2-mode hybrid systems is going to change all that with the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid.
I drove a development model of the Tahoe Hybrid yesterday and got the low-down on its stats from Mary Sipes, Vehicle Line Director for Full-Size SUVs:
- 332-hp Vortec V8
- 0-60 in less than 8.6 seconds
- 40% improvement in city fuel economy over a gas-powered Tahoe (meaning 20mpg)
- Total of 25% improvement in fuel economy overall
- Significantly Improved aerodynamics and low rolling-resistance tires
The 2008 Tahoe Hybrid will on on sale in the 4th quarter of '07 and you should see models start to trickle into showrooms in November. Pricing hasn't been announced, but I was told that the hybrids will "not be the most expensive model we have," meaning, it's right up there with the LT, but not as expensive as the most expensive LT, which retails for $38.950. The hybrid is much the same as an LT in terms of amenities, and it includes a nav screen and rear camera as standard equipment.
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- Joanne Helperin August 16, 2007, 3:11 PM
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The LR3 HSE looks like it could take a Princess to lunch or spend a day tracking wild animals in the jungle. Boasting strong lines, huge signage and a stunning grille; the LR3 is a standout even in Manhattan. Or in the wilds.
I have driven or should I say rock climbed with a Land Rover using the Terrain Response system in Utah and it was astonishingly easy to use...
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- Holly Reich August 16, 2007, 1:42 AM
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August 15, 2007
The last time I was in a Land Rover LR3 I was making tracks down a slippery ravine at Land Rover Experience Driving School in Asheville, North Carolina. Hill descent was engaged (that automatically limits forward speed to 2.2 mph in low range and 3.7 mph in high range) and the Terrain Response™ system was set to mud/ ruts. You can’t get much more secure than that.
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- Holly Reich August 15, 2007, 11:54 AM
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August 14, 2007
Several years ago I took my kids to
Camp Jeep in Virginia, an annual gathering of Jeep lovers that takes place across the country, and in fact, around the world.
It was a total blast—fireworks, off-roading, paint-balling, craft classes, barbeques, outdoor rock concerts, X-treme sports contests with big stars, scuba diving lessons, ATV’s—you name it. It was a memorable family event. My kids especially like recalling how I scared them on an off-road course complete with long hills, logs, big rocks and streams...
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- Holly Reich August 14, 2007, 11:36 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
August 13, 2007
You might remember that Edmunds had a 2006 Mercedes-Benz R500 wagon in the long-term fleet for a year. As optioned (and mind you, it wasn't even fully optioned), it was a $62K vehicle. Not surprisingly, Mercedes is having difficulty selling this six-passenger wagon that drives like a minivan (because of its long, wide and tall body) and returns the fuel mileage of an SUV (because of its V8 engine). An article by Diana Kurylko in this week's Automotive News reports that Mercedes is taking action for 2008...
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- Erin Riches August 13, 2007, 5:41 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
August 9, 2007
8/8/07 McCall, Idaho
The first modern Mercedes-Benz SUV (not counting the '70s-era Gelaendewagen), the M-Class, was born in 1997. In fact, I remember the weekend I test drove it on Long Island. I wore a leather jacket, jeans and a lace blouse. I thought it was the right outfit for those wheels...
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- Holly Reich August 9, 2007, 2:23 PM
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a sketch by Mercedes designer, Volker HellwigWhitetail Resort, McCall, Idaho
It was a serious occasion. We were summoned to the garage of the
Whitetail Resort, met with glasses of dry champagne and told to hand over our cell phones. “Ten of you can go in at a time,” the man holding a baton (scanner) noted. We queued up...
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- Holly Reich August 9, 2007, 8:27 AM
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- Custom Cars and Classic Cars, What Women Want in a Car
August 3, 2007
I grew up in the minivan generation. When Chrysler introduced the Minivan in 1983, I was 7 years old. I was toted to my baton twirling lessons, softball practices and days at the beach in a Dodge Caravan, with those big heavy sleavy doors that were so hard to pull open. But now that I'm old enough for front seat privileges, the 2008 Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country has taken the bar up a notch with features my mother could have only dreamed of for a new generation of women, men, parents and kids on the go.
Okay, so I'm not a minivan mom. I'm single with no children, but I still appreciate the third row table and the Swivel 'n Go second-row bucket seats. For now, Chrysler has reclaimed its status from the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna in the shrinking minivan market with these thoughtful additions, particularly Cartoon Network. This is a custom-kid car, but I'm convinced that this is a car for the over 21 crowd, too. Roomy seats, convenient nooks and the optional entertainment package with DVD and satellite TV make this a perfect car for a roadtrip with friends or family.
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- August 3, 2007, 6:52 PM
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August 1, 2007
Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters, Inc. (GFMI) was “tricking out cars” long before it became mainstream. In fact, they’ve been building concept cars for auto manufacturers for over 28 years. For Jeep alone, they’ve created concepts including; Jeep Icon, Jeepster, Commander, Varsity, Hurricane, Gladiator and Trailhawk.
The company also outfits cars for movies like Jurassic Park, stages cars for commercials and buffs up vehicles for stars. Yes, they’re the company that stretched Shaquille O’Neal’s Lamborghini Gallardo 12 inches and outfitted Aerosmith’s tour car.
“We make everything from hand,” said Chris Anderson, GM of Metalcrafters and Camera Ready Cars, who I reached by phone at his Southern California offices. Anderson told me that when they build concept cars each vehicle is kept locked away in its own bay.
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- Holly Reich August 1, 2007, 11:27 AM
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- Custom Cars and Classic Cars, What Women Want in a Car
July 31, 2007
I ran across an interesting story in industry publication Automotive News this week: At a time when consumers' appetite for crossover SUVs with three rows of seating couldn't be higher, Cadillac is having difficulty selling its SRX. Less than 12,000 were sold in the first half of 2007 and plans for a redesign have been delayed. This could be a self-fulfilling prophecy, of course, given that the SRX, introduced for the '04 model year, is now one of the older midsize luxury SUVs out there.
Still, it's puzzling to me that Cadillac hasn't been able to make the SRX work...
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- Erin Riches July 31, 2007, 4:16 PM
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July 25, 2007
Whether it’s pet food, tires, shrimp, toys or tilapia, Chinese imports are getting a bad rap lately. So, I’m thinking, what about cars from China—the next biggest WAVE to hit the auto industry (following Japan and Korea)? Are we talking tsunami or a mild surf?
According to
CHAMCO AUTO (China American Cooperative Automotive, Inc.) the WAVE is here...
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- Holly Reich July 25, 2007, 2:00 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
July 23, 2007
Rubber trees with buckets attached to catch the latex
Back off all of you skeptics…the ones who told me that there was no hope for the rain forests.
In recent years I have learned that Michelin is much more than tires and tourist guide books.
Last summer I attended Michelin's Challenge Bibendum , a competition started in 1998 to revolutionize “clean vehicles” worldwide. This summer I visited Michelin's rubber plantation to learn about their environmental initiatives for the area. The plantation spans 9,000 hectares*, of which 50 are planted with hevea (rubber trees). The Atlantic forest where the plantation is situated ranks second behind the Amazon Forest in biodiversity and is one of the world’s most endangered forests.
Michelin’s commitment is to preserve this forest (or what’s left of it) since 500 years of forest operations have eliminated 95% of the original forests.
Our passionate guide, Dr. Peter Flescher, Michelin’s chief Researcher for the CIRAD (Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development) led us up muddy trails past waterfalls and through slippery streams to show us his world. Yes, it was the real thing --luckily no pythons included!
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- Holly Reich July 23, 2007, 4:28 AM
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July 19, 2007
Here's one for the road. Motorola just launched
Motorola Road Trips, an interactive Web site that can show the 115 million consumers who will hit the road between now and Labor Day how to make the most of features on their mobile phones and Bluetooth™ accessories.
Calling all teens and bored children! This is sure to be a hit with the family on the road toting a crew of kids sick of videos. And parents might find the features equally helpful...
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- Holly Reich July 19, 2007, 3:34 PM
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July 18, 2007
Until I got into the car biz, I thought about tires as a necessary accessory that needed to be changed, rotated or put out to pasture. A decade later I'm thinking differently. Last week I went to the jungles of Bahia, Brazil to see how
Michelin's rubber trees are
individually scraped for their sap and visited the plant where rubber is condensed into blocks to be shipped to Michelin’s plants in South Carolina. What truly astounded me was that it takes ONE YEAR for a rubber tree to create 5 kilos of the white sap, which equals enough rubber for a tire of a small car! Tires have taken on a whole new meaning for me.
In the course of a conversation with Lynn Mann, the spokesperson for Michelin, North America, she told me about the
Tweel, the airless tire that is less than a couple of years from market for front loaders like Caterpillars and ten years away for passenger cars...
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- Holly Reich July 18, 2007, 6:54 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Maintenance, Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
July 16, 2007
While the White House continues to be skeptical on global warming, some states--even the most Republican ones-are taking action.
Last week Florida's Republican Governor Charlie Crist, hosted the state's first two-day Summit on Global Climate Change. With speakers including Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Florida is joining other active states like New York and California.
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- Holly Reich July 16, 2007, 8:44 AM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
July 12, 2007
There's a stereotype that persists about people who drive large sedans... that they're all middle-aged businessmen or senior citizens. But after driving the 2007 Hyundai Azera in our long-term fleet, I began to wish that owning one wouldn't involve a public image battle...
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- Joanne Helperin July 12, 2007, 3:27 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
July 11, 2007
Recently, Edmunds' own Auto Observer blog published an in-depth piece by Peter Nunn on Mazda's decision not to sell its subcompact Mazda 2 hatchback in the U.S. Normally, such news wouldn't even be news: There are plenty of subcompacts and microcars that auto manufacturers choose not to sell here, largely because of the smaller profit margins (MSRPs are lower here than in Europe) and the perception that most Americans don't want to drive scrawny cars. And a small brand like Mazda can hardly afford to sell cars that not many people want at slim margins.
However, it seems that the we-don't-like-small-cars issue may be starting to abate...
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- Erin Riches July 11, 2007, 3:08 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
July 10, 2007
The Volkswagen Jetta has long been a popular car with women (and men, too) -- and with good reason, as most generations have been nicely packaged, good to drive and pleasing to behold in the parking lot. One thing to keep in mind is that in recent years, a significant portion of the Jettas sold in the U.S. have been diesels -- roughly 30% annually, according to an article by Dave Guilford in this week's Automotive News. And remember, that 30% doesn't include California, New York, Maine, Massachusetts or Vermont, where VW hasn't been able to sell Jetta TDIs for some time due to more stringent emissions standards...
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- Erin Riches July 10, 2007, 10:55 PM
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July 9, 2007
I've been able to spend some time in a wide variety of cars lately. Though you can read their road tests on Edmunds.com, I'd like to offer you a personal (read: biased) opinion on three very different vehicles, from a practical mother of two.
First up, the 2006 Toyota RAV4 Sport...
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- Joanne Helperin July 9, 2007, 3:48 PM
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July 5, 2007
Last week I got a chance to drive 30-year-old Saabs. Big deal, you might think. Slow acceleration, mushy handling and ratty interiors are what you get with a car that old, right? Yet, quite the opposite was true. In fact, I could see myself driving one of these cars on an everyday basis -- not as barebones transportation, rather because I'd want to.
I'm speaking of the Saab 99 hatchback, the predecessor to the Saab 900, which is of course the predecessor to today's Saab 9-3 sedan, convertible and SportCombi wagon. The 1969 Saab 99 above is on display at Saab's museum in Trollhättan, Sweden. It made just 87 horsepower, but the later examples of the 99 I got to drive were more potent. One of them was this 1978 Saab 99 Turbo.
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- Erin Riches July 5, 2007, 10:05 AM
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July 3, 2007
The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) is out. In it, it details what women say they value most in a car. The survey asks women 100+ questions about the performance, features and styling of their new vehicles...
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- Joanne Helperin July 3, 2007, 10:43 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
June 30, 2007
On Friday I had fun driving
Ford products at the Ford Forum, held at the Development Center in
Dearborn, Michigan — the company's heartland. A group of about 100 media gathered to hear the latest on the Ford story. While the rest of the country pays periodic attention to Ford's internal issues, this company is front-page news in Detroit, so stakes were high at this event that attracted many key automotive journalists.
First we heard from top executives
Mark Fields,
Cisco Codina and
Derrick Kuzak, who presented the 2008-model lineup for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury.The talk was heavy on tech, with emphasis on
Sync, the Microsoft enable interior technology, and rear back up cameras that will be available on 12 products this year. I recently spent time in a
Ford Expedition, and was pleasantly surprised by the savvy of the voice navigation...
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- June 30, 2007, 2:32 PM
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June 25, 2007
The last time Congress passed a federal auto fuel economy standard was in 1975 and the current requirement for cars of 27.5 mpg has not changed since 1989.
But that's about to change. Or is it?
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- Holly Reich June 25, 2007, 11:39 AM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
June 15, 2007
My mother-in-law profiles in front of the CLK63
My editor, Joanne, said that my last few car blogs gushed a bit too much; they weren't discriminating enough. Yes, I agree — my recent blogs were on the Audi A5, the BMW 5-series and the BMW X5 — all very top-end vehicles. And yes, I did tend to gush.
So, I asked my life coach, Shelley, to comment on this. Her therapeutic counsel was, “What do you think?”
I told her that I appreciate the finer things in life,that I think like a woman (with my senses) and when I am driving fine cars sometimes what differentiates them is their personalities. For instance, BMW’s are sexy, Audi’s have a feminine side and Mercedes are strong and sturdy. Shelley said that sounded like I was describing men. Hmmmm…
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- Holly Reich June 15, 2007, 3:14 AM
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- Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
June 12, 2007
It's always amusing to see a list of the cars women supposedly drool over -- whether it's because they want to own them or merely to ride in them as arm-candy for rich guys. Forbes.com has just published, Wheels Women Melt Over, a list of vehicles supposed to act like automotive catnip, luring the female irrestistably into the shotgun seat -- and presumably, into bed later on.
Excerpt: "They meet all the criteria for most hypothetical women: six-figure price tag; strictly limited production and a long waiting list; race-track-inspired performance and features; and to-die-for Italian styling."
I'm not sure I buy it...
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- Joanne Helperin June 12, 2007, 3:33 PM
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June 11, 2007
In case you hadn't heard, we have an amazing recent addition to our staff: Michelle Krebs, veteran automotive-industry authority. She's been writing her AutoObserver blog for a few months now, and there is always interesting information. Even if you're not really into the "industry" side of things, you'll learn a lot about the way things work...
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- Joanne Helperin June 11, 2007, 3:54 PM
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June 7, 2007
This is the easiest system I’ve ever used,” my husband commented as he buzzed around the nav screen using the iDrive control in our 2007 BMW X5 4.8i.
“What?” I asked incredulously. “I’ve never heard even the most technical car geek say that. I have to write this up in my piece.”
Yes, the engineers at BMW have improved the iDrive so that regular humanoids can use it...
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- Holly Reich June 7, 2007, 6:15 AM
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May 31, 2007
There is no practical reason to own a 2007 Saturn Sky. But if you're looking for a good time, call your local Saturn dealer. I spent Memorial Day zipping around the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in the Saturn...
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- May 31, 2007, 9:42 AM
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May 28, 2007
I couldn’t sleep the week before the BMW 5 series rally from Las Vegas, Nevada to Monterey, California. I wasn’t as excited as I was nervous. My inner gremlins were whispering things like, “Yikes, I am competing in fast cars against all of these gear guys… I am going to make a fool of myself. I am no contest when it comes to cones and corners and all that rally stuff. Help, I’m going to big a big loser!”
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- Holly Reich May 28, 2007, 12:25 PM
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- Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 25, 2007
Hold on to your seatbelts, the Audi A5, a two-door sports car made for comfort and born to run, is coming this fall. But the A5 is so much more than a fast ride. It’s like expensive couture clothing. It just fits. Let me explain.
My trademark piece of jewelry (and my good luck charm) is a gold chain decorated with a handful of exquisitely cut diamonds spaced to fall in front of my neck. The piece is weighted so well that it never moves -- the clasp never rotates around my neck to hang in front. The chain lays just perfectly. And that was how it felt in the cockpit of the A5: perfect.
Audi agrees: “The Audi A5 is the most beautiful car I have ever designed,” claims Walter de’Silva, Head of Design for Audi.
That’s quite a powerful statement. But the Audi A5 has all the right ingredients for a sport coupe. It’s wide and low with a short front overhang and a long flow from the C pillar to the perky rear. The A5 rests on 18” aluminum wheels, the S5 on 19 inches.
Slim angled headlights, large air intakes, a strong grille and distinct taillights spell ‘sport’. The vehicle’s cleverly drawn angles catch the light so picturesquely that it would be hard for the most amateur photographer to take a bad shot.
The cockpit of the Audi A5 is designed for the driver: elegant shapes and materials like aluminum optic air vents dominate its surfaces and resources include a fantastic Bang & Olufsen sound system. A new key that communicates with the vehicle’s electrical system can also store important information including mileage and warning messages from the driver information system.
We put the Audi A5 and S5 to test on some thrilling roads that had me squealing. These winders had hairpins so tight that you had a choice: either go into the other lane or hedge up against some gravel and bushes to navigate them. I chose option C: to go slow.
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- Holly Reich May 25, 2007, 10:22 AM
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May 24, 2007
I call myself an automotive journalist. And I'm a woman. As a minority in this field, color choice is a topic I try to avoid. Call it cliche, but no sense in reinforcing the notion that all that matters to us ladies in our cars is the color. At the risk of sounding like a girly girl, I address the notion of car color for an audience made up largely of women...
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- May 24, 2007, 11:13 AM
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May 23, 2007
Sun beams. Pollen wafts through the air. The palpable odor of exhaust as it hits the pavement. The season has arrived -- it's time to open up the hood and let your hair blow in the breeze. It doesn't take scientific market research to deduct the notion that women like their convertibles (though there's plenty), particularly with the array of choices on the market this year...
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- May 23, 2007, 9:07 AM
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May 22, 2007
“It looks like a Lexus,” noted one journalist, when he rested his eyes on Hyundai’s 2007 Veracruz Limited, a mid-size crossover with seven-passenger seating. And indeed, the folks at Hyundai did mention the pricier 2008 Lexus RX350 several times. Subliminal suggestion?
Ok, the Veracruz will never be a Lexus, but then again, you can purchase the 2007 Veracruz Limited FWD for $32,995; the 2008 Lexus RX350 comes in at $38, 115 or $7,715 more. OK, and that could equal; a summer vacation, a full-set of braces for your teen, a down payment on a party, a year of nursery school (or a half year in New York City). But, you ask, does the Hyundai Veracruz have a flying chance?
Ok, let’s take a look at the facts...
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- Holly Reich May 22, 2007, 12:24 PM
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May 18, 2007
Our captain of Straightline, Bob Holland, posted an interesting entry on the Honda CR-V the other day -- according to a May 11 article on Bloomberg, Honda's compact crossover is now the best-selling SUV in the U.S. Many people will look at this development and say it's proof that car-based, crossover SUVs have rendered traditional, body-on-frame SUVs obsolete (with the possible exception of very specialized models like the FJ Cruiser).
But having driven the CR-V, I'd say this development is significant in another way: It's hard evidence that meticulous attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed by buyers. In the case of the CR-V, Honda focused on every possible detail that might be of relevance to new parents...
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- Erin Riches May 18, 2007, 2:29 PM
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May 16, 2007
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has just awarded its Top Safety Picks for 2007. These cars were picked for providing superior overall crash protection among the vehicles in their class. To qualify, vehicles must earn the highest rating of good in all three Institute tests
— front, side, and rear...
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- Joanne Helperin May 16, 2007, 12:45 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
May 11, 2007
The Audi TT is rightfully characterized as the car that made people take another look at the company. In fact, the charismatic TT was the vehicle that catapulted Audi into the running with manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz -- certainly in terms of style.
Introduced as a concept car in 1995 and as a production car in 1998, the TT’s styling was new for the 90’s and now Audi has released a second generation. The new TT won in the design category for World Car of the Year at the 2007 New York Auto Show.
I recently tested the TT Coupe and Roadster in the wine country of California—top down, gorgeous blue skies…. something close to bliss.Outside: The Audi TT with its round silhouette, bold use of aluminum and slanted headlights has plenty of personality. Large tailpipes buff up the rearview along with an electrically powered spoiler that rises up out of the boot lid when the speed reaches 75 mph. (You can also raise the spoiler with a button if you like the look.)
For 2008 the TT Roadster has grown in size. Length is now 164.5 inches (+ 5.4 in), width 72.5 in. (+ 3.1) and height 53.5 in. (+ 0.3 in). Despite the extra size, however, the drag coefficient of the 2.0 TFSI is just 0.32 with the soft top up.
The lightweight cloth hood with its large glass rear window takes up only a small amount of space when folded down. A mesh wind deflector that extends and retracts electrically can be ordered as an option to quiet the interior air stream. It certainly worked its magic when I was driving with the top down. I felt calmly enclosed.
The TT Roadster 3.2 quattro comes standard with an electrohydraulically powered soft top, which is available for the 2.0 TFSI as an option. The soft top opens in just 12 seconds and can be operated on the move at speeds of up to 30 mph. I guess that’s good news if you get caught in
a rainstorm.
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- Holly Reich May 11, 2007, 10:39 AM
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May 7, 2007
San Francisco recently bit the nugget and became the first city in the US to ban plastic bags to help promote recycling. The city says the ban will save 450,000 gallons of oil a year and remove the need to send 1400 tons of debris to landfills.
Taking a tip from San Francisco,
Ford is carrying that initiative even further by integrating eco-friendly cloth fabrics into their 2008 Ford Escape and Ford Escape Hybrid.
Supplied by InterfaceFABRIC, the seat cloth is made from 100 percent post-industrial waste—plastics and polyesters fibers that would have otherwise ended up in landfills...
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- Holly Reich May 7, 2007, 7:37 AM
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May 3, 2007
It has taken about 5 years, but other manufacturers are finally starting to understand what makes Mini and Scion so successful. Aside from the generally affordable price tags on their vehicles, these brands have abandoned the idea of a small car as a obligation: Forget buying a subcompact or small compact because you have to -- buy one because you want to. And who wouldn't want to buy a Mini Cooper S with lightning graphics?
Industry publication Automotive News published an interesting article by Amy Wilson this week on Ford Design Chief J Mays' efforts to reach out to this audience. Ford already sells subcompacts (the Fiesta and the Ka) profitably in Europe, but it wants to sell its next-gen Fiesta (about the size of a Mini or Scion xA/xD) worldwide, including in the U.S...
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- Erin Riches May 3, 2007, 11:26 AM
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April 17, 2007
I wanted to love the 2007 Volvo C70 hardtop convertible; I really did. I had been eyeing this car long before its introduction. Besides being a cute convertible, it's got this fabulous hard top and all the safety bells and whistles that Volvo is known for...
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- Joanne Helperin April 17, 2007, 5:04 PM
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March 27, 2007
GM realizes that cars should be more like women and have that "sixth sense." In fact, this is what they are tagging their newest techowizardry, Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication (V2V). This technology helps vehicles detect the position and movement of other vehicles up to a quarter of a mile away and instantly warns the drivers with chimes, visual icons and seat vibrations. If the driver doesn't respond to the sensory alerts, the car can bring itself to a safe stop, avoiding a collision...
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- Joanne Helperin March 27, 2007, 1:39 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
March 21, 2007
To promote the
2007 Nissan Altima, the company is focusing on Altima's push-button ignition system and using a rather unique marketing campaign.
Through March 30, 2007, 20,000 key rings will be “lost” in bars, concert halls, sports arenas and other public places in seven cities. Each ring will carry three keys and two tags. The biggest key resembles a car key; the other two look like home or office keys...
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- Joanne Helperin March 21, 2007, 1:56 PM
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March 15, 2007
You may not have heard of the Renault Twingo, but it's a diminutive four-seat hatchback sold in Europe. It's one of the so-called "superminis" and it's 4 inches shorter than a Mini Cooper. At the 2007 Geneva Auto Show, Renault showed the production version of the second-generation Twingo, and we reported on it on IL's Straightline blog. There's nothing particularly remarkable about the Twingo's styling or its mechanicals -- it's just point-A-to-B transportation and its most powerful engine option makes all of 100 horsepower...
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- Erin Riches March 15, 2007, 5:42 PM
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March 6, 2007
If you're into fashion, you know the name Dana Buchman. Love those suits. (Can't afford 'em, but love 'em!) Now, in honor of New York Fashion Week, she's designed a special edition Cadillac SRX just for women...
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- Joanne Helperin March 6, 2007, 3:27 PM
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February 28, 2007
You may have seen our article on the 2008 Volvo V70, set to be unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show on March 6. Of course, the new wagon is stylish and should be quicker and smoother-riding than the current-gen V70. But if you're a parent, the more important changes are in the backseat.
Not only will the V70 be available with Volvo's famed built-in booster cushions, those cushions will be height-adjustable. The lower setting is for big kids who are 42 to 55 inches in height and weigh between 49 and 79 pounds...
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- Erin Riches February 28, 2007, 5:38 PM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
February 20, 2007
It absolutely was a matter of time. Women have long complained that they couldn't find enough automotive aftermarket accessories that were geared toward them. Many felt rebuffed by the salesmen in auto parts stores when they asked about it.
Now
Fast Chick, whose motto is, "The Faster, the Better,"
is doing something about it...
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- Joanne Helperin February 20, 2007, 5:22 PM
- Categories:
- Custom Cars and Classic Cars, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
February 9, 2007
Saturn, long a brand favored by women because of it's no-haggle pricing and friendly dealership experience, is adding the cherry on top of it's consumer-friendly cake. With the new "Test Drive at Home" program, a Saturn dealer can now bring a new Saturn to your home or office so that you can test drive it from there. As a nice little bonus, the salesperson may even:
* Prepare specific routes to replicate your daily drive cycle
* Allow you to use the test drive to complete routine errands
* Pre-selecting music to match the your preferences
As part of the program, Saturn also offering a 24/7 chat feature with Saturn representatives on
Saturn.com...
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- Joanne Helperin February 9, 2007, 3:13 PM
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- Dealing with Car Dealers, What Women Want in a Car
January 24, 2007
Really? Lavender-scented tires marketed to women? Was there a single woman on this product development team?
Kumho Tire USA says it has developed the world's first scented tire... targeted at female buyers who drive such vehicles as the Chrysler Sebring, Ford Taurus, Honda Accord, Subaru Outback and Toyota Camry, the company said.
The punsters at Kumho say the aromatic tire is the "fruition" of more than a year's worth of research and development to deliver "an alluring aroma tire that replaces the normal 'black rubber' smell with heat-resistant oils in the scent of lavender, and in later versions, neroli [orange] and jasmine."
Would you buy scented tires at $119-$138 each?
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- Michelle Magoffin January 24, 2007, 6:40 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
January 9, 2007
A family of redesigned Mini Coopers motored up to the podium after the Mini press conference at the Detroit Auto Show yesterday. While touring the show floor today, I finally had an opportunity to sit in the '07 Cooper hatchback.
And it felt just right -- just the same seating position as in the previous Mini and just the same funky manual seat controls that I've finally mastered. One thing I noticed: the climate and stereo controls are larger than before and seem like they'll be easier to use...
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- Erin Riches January 9, 2007, 2:48 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
Electric power wasn't the only form of power GM had in mind when it introduced the Volt at the NAIAS this, week. The people behind its vehicles play a noticeable part in the attributes they are showcasing. When the Chevrolet Volt blasted forth, electric power was the talk of the town in Detroit. The Volt is a highly-touted concept car that picks off where the EV-1 electric car left off in 2005 when it went out of production. But electricity wasn't all that GM stressed...
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- January 9, 2007, 1:38 PM
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When you put good teachings to practice, you get results. General Motors has made considerable strides with getting the message out about multiculturalism, starting with the message makers - diversity media.
Auto shows can be overwhelming events, particularly when your beat is not exclusively automotive. In its fifth year at NAIAS, GM has brought in a group of publications, specifically targetting diversity media -- African American, Latino, Asian, GLBT, and women.
Vern Goff, Executive Vice President of Precious Times Magazine and President of Emerald City Communications, has been attending the GM Diversity Media Program at the North American International Auto Show Sourcein Detroit for three years.
"I think GM recognizes that women influence 80 percent of auto decisions, by including women's publications in their diversity media core. They give a much needed nod to our importance to automotive sales," Goff says. "I was very happy to see female executives leading these teams on the design side and the business side. They are so far ahead of their competitors in understanding the value of new America."
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- January 9, 2007, 6:25 AM
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January 2, 2007
My New Year's was spent with our long-term 2007 Honda Fit, which you can of course read more about on our Long Term Road Tests blog. One thing I realized over the weekend is that I feel a little cuter than normal whenever I drive the Fit. I've never felt this way in any other Honda, except maybe the Insight and that was more futuristic than cute. As if to confirm my feelings for the car, a woman in a grocery store parking lot took time to regard the Fit and declared it "so cute." That's never happened to me in a Honda, either...
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- Erin Riches January 2, 2007, 5:36 PM
- Categories:
- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
January 1, 2007
Before our marriage, my husband and I couldn't have been more different when it came to cars.
I was a woman who drove my parents' castoff 1973 Ford Gran Torino until 1996, when the carburetor (and some other stuff) really couldn't be fixed. I still regret not just buying the blasted parts instead of worrying so much that the repairs cost more than the Torino was worth.
Who cares?
This was the car that had gone to the Beaumont, Texas DMV when I got my driver's license at age 16. The front windshield had a "Turista" sticker from a road trip to Mexico that I took as a teenager with my Dad...
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- January 1, 2007, 11:28 PM
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December 24, 2006
While holidays bring families together, they also prompt communication with family member scattered in faroff locales. My aunt and uncle spend their holidays in their remote Virginia second home, but when the phone rings around dinner time, it's a tradition to pass the phone around the room that for an instance erases the miles where my parents live. But this year, my conversation with both of them was both pragmatic as well as full of the usual good tidings. About a week ago, my uncle emailed me about his new car search, and what he is looking for to replace his proud 1992 Pontiac Bonneville SS.
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- December 24, 2006, 9:10 PM
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December 19, 2006
I remember friends in college who owned Saturns (or wanted to own Saturns) talking about going to visit the company's original factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee. This is the plant you used to see in all the commercials during the early '90s. Granted, I could never see the appeal of my friends' underpowered S-Series sedans, but for rabid Saturn fans, the very existence of this plant added to the warm, fuzzy ownership experience. You can still arrange to take a tour on Saturn's Web site...
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- Erin Riches December 19, 2006, 7:07 PM
- Categories:
- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
December 15, 2006
Inside Line published a preview of the Volvo XC60 small crossover SUV this week, and like the cool new C30 three-door hatchback, it has sportier, more dramatic styling than any of the current production Volvos (the S40 looks good, but the newer designs raise the stakes on an aesthetic level). But with a predictable five-passenger seating configuration, a 230-horsepower 3.2-liter six-cylinder engine, and presumably, Volvo-esque handling dynamics that will be sort of sporty but not too sporty, it's hard to tell what advantage a compact Volvo sport-ute would have over the Acura RDX and BMW X3 and its own Land Rover LR2 platform mate.
Except for its unique look. And probably a few unusual, high-tech safety features...
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- Erin Riches December 15, 2006, 6:36 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
December 6, 2006
Imagine watching a Buick Rainier launch into the air, turn on its side, then land with the bone-chilling sound of crushing metal on a concrete floor.
That’s what I witnessed yesterday, as General Motors demonstrated its new $10 million, state-of-the-art rollover crash test facility at their Milford Proving Grounds outside Detroit. The 38,500 square-foot lab is a big step forward in vehicle safety testing, and will help GM develop air bag sensors that will help protect occupants and prevent them from being ejected from the car if it rolls over...
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- Joanne Helperin December 6, 2006, 4:12 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
December 4, 2006
By now you've probably heard about the 2007 Lexus LS 460 sedan's otherwordly ability to park itself: Using sonar sensors, computer algorithms and electrically assisted steering, the new LS can indeed wheel itself into a parallel-parking spot -- with a little brake pedal work from its driver. Interestingly, if you buy a Prius in Europe, you can also get this feature. While it makes sense that Toyota would offer its "self-park" feature on one of its most technologically advanced cars, the funny thing is that the Prius is, as we've noted in our long-term test blog, probably the easiest-to-park car Toyota sells, what with its superb sightlines (including a huge rear glass area) and tidy turning radius. I for one would like to see the company offer this feature to U.S...
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- Erin Riches December 4, 2006, 8:12 PM
- Categories:
- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
November 29, 2006
Last night I attended the unveiling of the 2008 Buick Enclave at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design. Today at the GM conference in the LA Convention Center's South Hall, Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, gave the crossover SUV another brief introduction, calling it "the perfect vehicle for the times." Well, considering that all of Buick's competitors currently field a vehicle in this class, it's about time the brand had a competitive offering to attract consumers. Arguably, the Rendezvous (which the Enclave will replace) already filled this role, but it has always lacked the style, elegance and performance to go up against the Acura MDX and Lexus RX -- Buick's target rivals for the Enclave, which goes on sale in late spring to early summer of 2007.
While the look of the Enclave still won't sit right with everyone, it's the most appealing Buick I've seen in the last 5 years.
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- Erin Riches November 29, 2006, 4:43 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
At today's Auto Show, Nissan showed off two new cars, the goofy-looking Sentra SE-R, which didn't muster a lot of enthusiasm, and the Altima coupe, which did. People were abuzz about the Altima coupe's sexy new lines. OI heard someone say that this new car might even "take the shine off of
the [Infiniti] G35." Quite a compliment...
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- Joanne Helperin November 29, 2006, 4:37 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
November 13, 2006
While this isn't an alternative fuels blog, women are definitely interested not only in hybrids, but in all fuel alternatives that will help clean up the environment and provide better gas mileage. Fortunately, there's lots of good news today from around the country. Even though some of it is local to certain cities, it bodes well for more widespread changes...
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- Joanne Helperin November 13, 2006, 12:47 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
November 9, 2006
This falls under the category of, "OK, now I've heard everything." But it's still a lot of fun.
Kathryn Weber, author and publisher of the
Red Lotus Letter, the Web's largest weekly feng shui e-zine, says it's a good idea to let the ancient Chinese art of feng shui help you decide what the best car colors are. Instead of using feng shui only on your home or office, you can also choose car colors that bring "money/success" or that are oriented toward "relationship/family." Either one should bring you luck, she says. You can use her handy
kua calculator to find your "kua number," then see your personal colors:
1...
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- Joanne Helperin November 9, 2006, 10:30 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
October 31, 2006
The Sunday
New York Times article,
"What Do Women Want? Just Ask," is a terrific illustration of how women's buying power is not only being acknowleged, but incorporated into the very earliest stages of product and planning and marketing. Mickey Meece did a lot of legwork for this piece, covering industries such as real estate, travel, consumer electronics, financial services, entertainment, and of course, car buying and ownership. I love this quote:
Snippet: “We are perhaps on the first step to a matriarchal society; women will earn more money than men if current trends continue by 2028,” said Michael J...
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- Joanne Helperin October 31, 2006, 4:37 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
October 27, 2006
Anne Doyle, formerly the director of communications at Ford, published a column this week in Automotive News (the subscription-based publication that everyone who works in "the industry" reads) warning that the exodus of women in high-ranking positions at the domestic automakers is a problem that ought to be taken seriously... as seriously as the Big 3's struggles to build cars that can compete with the import brands. She cites a dozen female executives who have left Ford over the last 6 years and a handful each from GM and DaimlerChrysler.
Snippet: For a long time, we've heard the statistics: Women today account for about half of new-vehicle purchases and influence up to 80 percent of them...
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- Erin Riches October 27, 2006, 11:21 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
October 11, 2006
On September 25th I wrote that BMW's Performance Driving School is going on the road, taking its program across the nation so driving enthusiasts can sample BMW's race-inspired M-series vehicles while learning important driving skills. I took the program myself yesterday at the California Speedway (think NASCAR). No, we didn't get to lap the oval, but were still treated to plenty of thrills...
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- Joanne Helperin October 11, 2006, 3:47 PM
- Categories:
- Car Safety, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car, Women in Motorsports
October 9, 2006
Anyone who goes to a European car show is sure come talking about hatchbacks. Every car manufacturer has two or three or more over there, and if you take a walk in any European city, that is mostly what people drive (followed by wagons and strange-looking minivans). It's enough to make someone like me wistful -- I'm single, and while I don't necessarily need a backseat that I can use everyday, I do like the idea of having plenty of cargo space, something that nearly every hatchback offers. And finally, some of these vehicles are making their way to the U.S...
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- Erin Riches October 9, 2006, 10:22 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
October 5, 2006
One thing I noticed while traveling in Europe last week for the Paris Auto Show was the differing preference for seating configuration in minivans. In the U.S., twin captain's chairs in the second row have pretty much become the norm, except in the 8-passenger Toyota Sienna and the Dodge Caravan SE. However, in Europe there's seems to be less emphasis on personal space and maneuverability within the van and more emphasis on fitting as many people as possible. Hence, the German-market Mazda 5 I rode in had a 7-passenger configuration...
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- Erin Riches October 5, 2006, 10:24 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
September 22, 2006
While a significant
alternative transportation exposition is taking place in Boston this weekend, another, even bigger one is being planned for December 9-10 here in Santa Monica (which means I get to go to it!) The
AltCar Expo will feature more than 100 alternative fuel and high MPG vehicles, as well as seminars and advanced technology displays. It's open to the public, and the best part is that anyone can participate in a "ride and drive," in which you can test drive these vehicles, some of which are available to purchase.
Excerpt:
A third of Americans polled said they are seriously interested in buying or leasing such a vehicle, and a full 92% said they would be willing to pay more for one over a traditional gasoline-powered car. Top reasons cited included concerns over damage to the environment from fossil fuels and the high cost of gasoline...
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- Joanne Helperin September 22, 2006, 4:05 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
September 11, 2006
When you treat a woman right, she will stick with you. There might be a direct correlation between satisfying women and Honda and Toyota's secret for success.
This revelation hit me, in part, as I was sitting in the chair at the dental hygenist office today. I was in the midst of the standard conversation that occurs when you're an automotive writer. You are approached for car buying tips. Somehow, a sense of duty, as a credible source, requires you to listen and alert buyers to what they should be thinking about when it comes to car criteria. Ordinary small talk becomes advisory, especially, when someone holding painful dental instruments is the one asking for some pointers. However, this conversation ended up being educational for me, too. My hygenist Theresa, who has a very gentle, but precise hand, told me she was actually in the market for a new car. Her lease is up on September 20 on her Honda Accord. She is debating what to get next. Before she discovered the Accord, Theresa's last two cars were Acuras. She was a huge fan of the Acura TL, until she caught sight of the Accord's snazzier interior. She preferred what she calls it's sleek modern design to wood grain on the model she spotted. She made the switch, and found her match made in heaven. Theresa also confesses to being hard on her cars, and her Honda Accord has been a trusty and sturdy companion for her.
She professes to have a thing for the BMW 325i, but apparently a bad showroom experience soured her to BMW. The salesperson was stuck on selling her a bare bones model. When she pressed on about packages, she said she felt like she was being patronized as the sale persons dangled options that she already had on her Accord, like heated seats. Plus she said the interior of the BMW was drab. Her logic for wanting an extra spicy interior: the inside is what she has to look at everyday. We all know what happens when a woman's fed up. She's outta there. Bub-bye BMW, said Theresa.
This time around, Theresa plans to stick with her Honda gameplan, though she's not entirely opposed to suggestion. Really, it's only a matter of finding the model that catches her fancy. Most likely it will be another Accord, since she prefers sedans, and the payments on the Accord are manageable for her. She'll look at the entire lineup, but she's got her reasons for standing by, and these reasons are applicable to core customer values.
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- September 11, 2006, 1:19 PM
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September 8, 2006
In a big win for consumers, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now requiring that its crash test results be displayed on all new car window stickers starting September 2007. The program, called "Stars on Cars," will indicate how many stars a car has received (from 1-5, 5 being the best) during testing. This will allow consumers shopping on a dealer lot to plainly see how a car they are considering stands up to both impacts and potential rollovers.The new rules cover passenger cars, vans, and SUVs, but not pickups...
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- Joanne Helperin September 8, 2006, 3:13 PM
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- Car Safety, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
September 6, 2006
Related to Joanne's post on Ford's 4-point seatbelt design, I came across an article in this week's Automotive News, an industry publication, on the subject. Evidently, one obstacle that has to be addressed before this type of seatbelt can be installed in production cars is how to make the belts safe for use by pregnant women. Because the buckle assembly of a four-point belt is in the center and sits on the user's lap, Ford has to design an adaptor to reduce the pressure that would be exerted on the fetus in the event of a collision.
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- Erin Riches September 6, 2006, 11:49 AM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
September 1, 2006
We've published our first drive of the redesigned 2007 Honda CR-V today on Inside Line, and while I'd love you to read the article (full disclosure: I wrote it), I wanted to elaborate here on one of the more interesting aspects of the vehicle: the target audience.
Usually, manufacturers will tell you they want to sell their vehicle to a nebulous audience: active, well educated, risk-taking, influential professional men and women with an annual household income of 100K and a 60% chance of having children. But Honda officials were amazingly direct about who they'd like to buy the CR-V: women in their early 30s who either have a child under age 2 or about have a child. Later in the event, they conceded that based on previous-generation CR-V sales, about half of their customers are likely to be empty-nester women.
But it's the former group Honda really wants, so the company made its small SUV exceedingly baby-friendly.
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- Erin Riches September 1, 2006, 11:58 AM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
August 30, 2006
Ford is advocating to put four-point seat belts in their cars.
According to Ford, "Recent customer research showed Ford scientists and engineers that consumers perceive four-point belts to be safer, as well as more comfortable and, depending on their design, easier to use than traditional three-point belts." Ford's research tested the belt on thousands of people of all demographics and sizes.
These belts remind me of the belts worn by race drivers, of course, and by young children, who use a five-point harness...
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- Joanne Helperin August 30, 2006, 4:27 PM
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- Car Safety, What Women Want in a Car
August 24, 2006
Consumer Reports has come out with another national survey; this one is about
what motivates new car buyers. When asked what would be their primary motivating factor in a car purchase decision, respondents said:
Fuel economy - 27%
Reliability - 25%
Purchase price - 14%
Safety features - 12%
Manufacturer or dealer incentives - 5%
Note that fuel economy and reliability are neck and neck, while purchase price is a distant third.
Consumer Reports also asked which manufacturer or dealer incentive would be most likely to motivate a new car purchase.
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- Joanne Helperin August 24, 2006, 3:36 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
August 9, 2006
Another month, another JD Power survey, right? But this one released today, the 2006 Vehicle Dependability Study, might interest you if you're thinking of buying a used car, or buying a new car that you'll keep for a long time. In this study, JD Power survey the original owners of 3-year-old (2003 model year) vehicles and logged all the problems people had with their cars. The rankings are based on the average number of problems present in every 100 vehicles...
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- Erin Riches August 9, 2006, 12:10 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
August 7, 2006
This morning,
The Dallas Morning News had a great
article on GM's relationship with Mary Kay, Inc. Since Mary Kay's inception, a pink Cadillac has been the top reward for salespeople across the country -- and it's a very visible status symbol indeed...
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- Joanne Helperin August 7, 2006, 2:02 PM
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- Custom Cars and Classic Cars, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
July 31, 2006
Noting Joanne's experience with our 2006 Chrysler Town & Country test vehicle, I decided to spend the weekend with the minivan. After all, my last exposure to a Chrysler minivan was our long-term '01 Dodge Grand Caravan, which of course didn't have Stow 'n Go seating or a rear entertainment system.
Within 30 minutes of getting behind the wheel, I agreed with my colleague on pretty much every point. Although I generally liked our old Grand Caravan (aside from its neverending stream of repair issues), five years is a long time and the Chryslers minis don't cut it anymore...
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- Erin Riches July 31, 2006, 6:28 PM
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- Rants and Raves, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
July 19, 2006
I enjoyed driving the 2007 Volvo C70 hardtop convertible recently, even though I was a bit disappointed by its lack of athleticism. In my travels on the Web this week, I came across the Ford Focus Cabriolet, which is exactly what it looks like -- a hardtop convertible version of the Focus. Good news is that it's a bit cheaper than the C70, which starts at over $38K. Bad news is that it's only for the European market...
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- Erin Riches July 19, 2006, 12:35 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
July 13, 2006
Today Inside Line published a road test on the famously cute, two-seat minicar, the Smart fortwo. It's worth a read if you haven't checked it out, as our senior consumer advice editor got a chance to drive this tiny car in LA traffic. Smart is a division of DaimlerChrysler (DCX) and the fortwo has been on sale in Europe for years, along with a larger Smart called the forfour that's about the size of a Scion xA or Honda Fit.
Although the Smart project hasn't really been profitable, plans have made, then abandoned, then revived to bring Smarts to the U.S...
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- Erin Riches July 13, 2006, 6:08 PM
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July 12, 2006
As you're likely aware from reading our reviews, the Volvo XC90 is one of our favorite premium SUVs for buyers with two to four kids to haul around. It's one of only a few midsize SUVs that has a genuinely usable third-row seat (that folds flat to boot), and it has a fore/aft adjustable second row with a convenient 40/20/40 split. The "20" section even scoots forward when equipped with Volvo's built in child booster seat, so that you can talk to or comfort your toddler without a contortionist move from the driver seat. The XC90 was also the first SUV to offer a stability control system with rollover avoidance logic, and of course, 3-row side curtain airbag coverage is standard...
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- Erin Riches July 12, 2006, 2:26 PM
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July 11, 2006
OK, so a minivan doesn't get much for style points, but that's not what a minivan is really about now, is it? A minivan needs to feel safe on the road, hold lots of kids and cargo, and, hopefully, make you comfortable. Although it's easy to be a Honda Odyssey / Toyota Sienna snob, I was pleasantly surprised when I recently drove the 2006 Kia Sedona minivan...
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- Joanne Helperin July 11, 2006, 4:47 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
July 7, 2006
Checking the oil in your car is a pain in the butt. Even remembering to do it is a pain in the butt. But BMW made it a lot easier in the recently redesigned 3 Series.
For one thing, there's no dipstick...
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- Erin Riches July 7, 2006, 4:52 PM
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- Car Maintenance, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
June 16, 2006
AutoPacific, an industry-oriented auto consulting and marketing firm, released its first ever "Ideal Vehicle Awards" on Wednesday. In case you're wondering, a vehicle is considered ideal if owners wouldn't want to change much, if anything, about it. It sounds quite a bit like JD Power's initial quality awards. AutoPacific says it collected the data from owners and lessees of new vehicles purchased from Sept...
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- Erin Riches June 16, 2006, 4:27 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
June 8, 2006
We're working on an updated version of one of our older stories, Features Every Minivan Should Have, and we wouldn't mind hearing from some real minivan owners (other than our own staffers, that is).
If you own a minivan or you're thinking of getting one, we'd be curious to know what convenience items, safety features and miscellaneous kit you think are most important. It doesn't have to be the usual stuff (fold-flat third-row seat, side airbags), either -- pie-in-the-sky suggestions are welcome.
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- Erin Riches June 8, 2006, 5:07 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
June 7, 2006
High beltlines are trendy on today's sedans and wagons. If you don't know what I mean by "high beltline," think Chrysler 300 -- very tall doors, very short glass area. A high beltline gives cars a sportier look, and manufacturers like it because it improves their cars' side-impact performance (since doors provide better protection that windows) while giving some consumers a safe, secure feel.
However, if you're of shorter stature or even tall like me but short-torsoed, a high beltline can make you feel like you're sitting really low with limited visibility out the front or back. Needless to say, not a great position to be in when you're piloting a 3,500-lb hunk of metal and plastic...
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- Erin Riches June 7, 2006, 3:12 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
June 5, 2006
A curious trend is developing among compact/midsize SUVs: Auto manufacturers are choosing to use turbocharged four-cylinder engines instead of V6 engines. Conventional wisdom says that only engines with six or more cylinders have the kind of low-end power needed to move heavy sport-utility vehicles, especially when they're carrying the usual load of passengers and cargo.
However, Mazda and Acura have figured out how to get equivalent power out of smaller, turbo four-cylinders. The only question is: Would you want to buy a four-cylinder SUV?
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- Erin Riches June 5, 2006, 11:39 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
May 30, 2006
What do I want in a car? Impromtu buying ability.
I was at my favorite map/travel guide store (which, sadly, is closing down) and they had a couple of armchairs they wanted to get rid of for $25 apiece. Now if I'd been driving a sport coupe like the Ford Mustang, Mazda RX-8 or Nissan 350Z, I never could have scooped those chairs up...
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- Erin Riches May 30, 2006, 1:47 PM
- Categories:
- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
May 12, 2006
You might have noticed we
blogged on Ford's Fusion D campaign targeting women. Now, Ford is setting its sights squarely on mothers, flooding the airwaves with Mother's Day TV spots designed to tug at moms' heartstrings.
This Sunday, Ford will air "The Dive," a 30-second TV spot featuring a mother and daughter who make the Bold Move of jumping off a high embankment into a lake. (Ford's new ad slogan is "Bold Moves.") It will appear 15 times in such "female friendly" shows as Extreme Makover: Home Edition, Law & Order, and my personal favorite, Grey's Anatomy, among others.
I liked the ad, myself, but I'd like to know what you all think...
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- Joanne Helperin May 12, 2006, 1:28 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
May 9, 2006
A new Mother's Day survey by NadaGuides projects what moms want in a car. When asked what their top three priorities are when buying a car, 67% chose Safety, 52% chose Fuel Economy, and 50% chose Roominess. Overall Purchase Price came in a close fourth with 48%. Interesting that Fuel Economy outranked Overall Purchase Price.
More than half the women surveyed currently drive SUVs (54%), which are generally not that fuel efficient...
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- Joanne Helperin May 9, 2006, 12:21 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
April 27, 2006
In Great Britain, women can now find cheap "women's car insurance" through their very own women's insurance sites.
Women on Wheels and
Girl Motor, for example, are marketing "women only" car insurance that is... what do you know... cheaper than men's insurance.
The only problem with this, of course, is that it's deceptive. Women's auto insurance is always cheaper. (In the US at least, and I would assume elsewhere as well.) Why? Because insurance rates are set based on the cost of claims, and women's auto insurance claims amount to less than men's overall. This isn't necessarily because they have fewer incidents, but likely because women are more likely to get into fender-benders and less likely to be the driver in expensive, high-speed wrecks.
In fact, these two "women only" sites are merely insurance brokerage sites. They don't underwrite their own policies; they merely use the computer to find you the lowest rates based on a variety of factors, one of which is gender. The companies they shop from sell insurance to both men
and women. Women don't need a "women only" site to do that kind of rate search.
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- Joanne Helperin April 27, 2006, 4:11 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
April 25, 2006
Bloomberg columnist Doron Levin wrote an interesting article,
Hey Guys, Are You Man Enough to Drive a Chick Car? , covering Hummer, Volkswagen, and "secretary cars" (did you know there actually was such a thing?) among others.
He says, "
Automakers traditionally regard women as more practical
shoppers than men, less interested in power and more in design." Women have more money and autonomy than the old days, and are making their mark when they gravitate toward certain vehicles. Which includes, by the way, the Hummer H3.
For more on the debate about chick cars, see our other blog entries, Rampant Sexism and Mercury Is For Chicks?
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- Joanne Helperin April 25, 2006, 11:43 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
April 12, 2006
OK, a little background: Acura's MD-X concept, revealed today at the NY Auto Show, is a thinly veiled prototype of the redesigned 2007 MDX sport-utility that will go on sale this fall. As before it will seat seven.
As I was talking to Chief MDX Engineer Frank Paluch about the vehicle, he noted that they had done extensive research with families who own 2001-2006 MDXs while working on the new versions. Invariably, all were delighted with its practicality for hauling kids and related cargo...
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- Erin Riches April 12, 2006, 8:57 PM
- Categories:
- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
March 31, 2006
What is it about cute cars and community service? Volkswagen and Mini think that's a good way to sell them. It started last year with VW's Force of Good campaign. It's just a little website to market the New Beetle Convertible with a game and a movie, but VW also had a Force of Good tour in which the company went around the country and co-sponsored community events -- a Habitat for Humanity project in San Francisco, an up-and-comers film festival in Chicago, etc...
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- Erin Riches March 31, 2006, 6:14 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
March 18, 2006
Auto manufacturers have reached a stunning revelation: If they want to sell cars and trucks to a diverse group of buyers, they might need more than just white male car designers.
An interesting article in last Sunday's Detroit News talks about automakers' efforts to reach out to female and minority students who might ordinarily have difficulty carving out a career in this narrow field.
Carmakers' interest in diversifying their design teams was evidently stimulated by projects like the Volvo YCC concept car, designed entirely by women, and the wildly successful Chrysler 300 production car, penned by Ralph Gilles, a young black designer...
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- Erin Riches March 18, 2006, 8:00 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
March 13, 2006
When Nissan launched its Nissan Quest minivan in 2004, the ads were targeted at women and it wasn't necessarily about the kids. Some of them mentioned "Mom" by name but the Quest was portrayed as a vehicle that would empower its owner to move beyond that role, a vehicle whose unique styling inside and out could be an expression of Mom's individuality.
Almost four years in, though, amid slow Quest sales, Nissan has reconsidered its approach, and according to industry publication Automotive News, will put Mom back into a mainstream family context -- since "family" is indeed the biggest reason why someone would buy a minivan in the first place.
This goes hand in hand with the changes to the van for 2007, which we reported on from the Chicago Auto Show in February...
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- Erin Riches March 13, 2006, 4:27 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
March 3, 2006
We've seen a number of intriguing small cars on the auto show circuit this year -- the Dodge Caliber, Nissan Versa, Honda Fit, the Mini Traveller concept (a larger version of the Cooper that will go into production). Here at the Geneva auto show, there were a couple more hatchbacks with interesting combinations of style, perfomance and practicality. I really want to go small with my next car.
Dodge's Hornet is just a concept, but a version of it will almost certainly go into production...
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- Erin Riches March 3, 2006, 1:06 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
February 22, 2006
Ford is traveling to 10 cities this year with its "Fusion Studio D," an interactive "lifestyle experience center" showcasing beauty, music and fitness for women. The tour makes its first stop in Los Angeles, from February 18 through March 8, at the Hollywood and Highland Center on Hollywood Boulevard.
Women visiting the studio can get eye makeovers and -- get this -- interpretive "lip readings" (like palm readings) in The Beauty Experience. In The Music Experience, visitors listen to some of the latest music, get free download cards and CDs...
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- Joanne Helperin February 22, 2006, 1:17 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
February 21, 2006
A bit of interesting news came out of the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) convention, as reported in industry publication Automotive News: Evidently, empty-nesters and families with older children aren't the primary buyers of the six-passenger R-Class crossover wagon as Mercedes had anticipated. Instead, it's well-to-do parents with small children who appreciate the large Benz wagon's combination of versatility and style.
Could it have something to do with the price?? An R350 starts at $48,000, likely an offputting sum to older families facing the prospect of putting a couple teenagers through a private university education...
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- Erin Riches February 21, 2006, 7:54 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
February 13, 2006
Progressive Group of Insurance Companies just published a survey of 1,000 car
buyers on the things they consider when buying a vehicle. The results, below, are surprising.
Factors that are most important to people shopping for a new car:
1. Overall purchase price: 46%
2...
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- Joanne Helperin February 13, 2006, 2:36 PM
- Categories:
- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
February 10, 2006
Dodge has styled its 2007 Nitro compact SUV to appeal more to men -- some feel that most of the existing small SUVs (Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute, Jeep Liberty, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Honda Element) appeal mainly to women, because of how they look. So the Nitro has much more aggressive lines on the outside. Yet, on the inside it has wipe-clean surfaces (easy to find in the "women's" SUVs), along with a handy slide-out tray.
And contrary to what you might think, the Dodge Nitro is not intended as a rough-and-tumble off-roader...
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- Erin Riches February 10, 2006, 9:12 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
February 9, 2006
If you love to drive -- and do I mean love to drive -- a couple of very interesting cars turned up at the Chicago Auto Show. The best part is that both of them have four doors, so no worrying if you need to carry your boyfriends' parents or your kids in the backseat.
One of these cars is the Honda Civic Si Sedan concept. That's right, Si sedan...
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- Erin Riches February 9, 2006, 3:20 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
January 30, 2006
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- Joanne Helperin January 30, 2006, 5:10 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
January 26, 2006
Joanne got a chance to explore the interior of the 2006 Kia Sedona at the LA Auto Show, and a couple of days ago, I got a chance to drive Kia's redesigned minivan.
Although we'll be publishing a "First Drive" road test shortly, I can tell right now that this van is very smooth-riding on the highway and very, very quiet. So quiet that you can easily carry on a conversation with rear passengers at 80+ mph.
Handling still isn't quite in the league of the minivan class leaders (Honda Odyssey & Toyota Sienna), but this Sedona is more sure-footed than last year's van...
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- Erin Riches January 26, 2006, 5:46 PM
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- The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
January 17, 2006
Lest you think that a road trip to Vegas is all sunsets and scenery, I thought I'd throw in this shot as a representative of the more mundane (torturous?) stretch of road. Graffiti, trash, traffic, and ugly highways are what you get on the road between leaving Los Angeles and the 15 freeway that takes you straight across the desert. If you're unlucky and stuck in traffic, you'll be looking at it for some time.
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- Joanne Helperin January 17, 2006, 4:23 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
January 13, 2006
Do Hispanic women want anything different than non-Hispanic women?
During the current Detroit Auto Show,
Autos Mujeres al Volante (Women Behind the Wheel) magazine, which claims to be the No. 1 automotive magazine for U.S. Hispanic women, named the Chrysler Town & Country and the 2006 Jeep Wrangler as the "2006 Women's Car of the Year" in "Best Minivan for Women" and "Best Compact Sport Utility for Women" categories, according to the
Auto Channel...
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- Joanne Helperin January 13, 2006, 3:38 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
I love the idea of the Mini Concept Detroit. It's longer than a regular Mini and thus has more room for rear passengers and bulky cargo, something the current Mini Cooper definitely lacks. As you can imagine, a larger Mini would go over well with a lot people in the U.S., so Mini is indeed going to build a production version of this concept vehicle. They'll call it the Mini Traveller when it goes on sale, probably in late 2007...
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- Erin Riches January 13, 2006, 1:06 AM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
January 12, 2006
Just got back from covering the Detroit Auto Show with our Inside Line crew and thought I'd share some more detailed thoughts about the vehicles I got to know there. I'll start with the 2007 Mercedes-Benz GL450, which will probably go over very well with families in high income brackets. It's Mercedes' first large SUV, and unlike every other large SUV on the market (Expedition, Sequoia, LX 470, Armada), it's a unibody design -- and that means it should be a much better handler on pavement. I also think the GL is incredibly good looking with better proportions than the M-Class...
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- Erin Riches January 12, 2006, 7:57 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, What Women Want in a Car
January 6, 2006
I recently took my husband and two kids for our first road trip to Las Vegas in my Honda Odyssey. Let's just start out by saying that rear DVD entertainment systems are a gift from heaven. I mean really.
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- Joanne Helperin January 6, 2006, 4:07 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
January 5, 2006
No question about it, the redesign of GM's full-size sport-utilities for 2007 is a big deal. Is there still a place for big SUVs at a time when gas prices are up, petroleum reserves are half tapped out and global climate change is increasingly apparent? The next Chevy Tahoe and Suburban better be good, really good. Same goes for their GMC twins, the Yukon and Yukon XL.
Unfortunately, my early impression is that these redesigned SUVs are good -- but not as good as they should be. I spent half a day driving the Tahoe in mid-December and then got a look at Suburban and Yukon XL at the LA Auto Show today. Here are the main points as I see them:
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- Erin Riches January 5, 2006, 9:31 PM
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- Car Design and Car Shows, The Car I Drove Last Night, What Women Want in a Car
December 22, 2005
Although I don't generally push products, sometimes I see something I want for myself, and so I share my discovery with you. In this case, it's Parrot's Easy-Drive Bluetooth car kit. This plug-and play solution uses voice recognition to let you make and receive hands-free calls through almost any Bluetooth-compatible cell phone. It's available at CompUSA's nationwide (just in time for the holidays) for $99...
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- Joanne Helperin December 22, 2005, 11:37 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
December 20, 2005
Automakers' efforts to reach to women in the U.S. have largely been subtle, but Mazda for one is approaching the issue with a heavier hand in Japan. Witness the Mazda Demio Casual-Stylish 'M.' In the picture it looks like an unassuming, Scion xA-sized hatchback, albeit with underbody spoilers which Mazda says "add a 'cool' element to the 'cool & cute' attraction for females." Inside, this special Demio has addditional "female-friendly" features.
From Mazda's press release: "The Casual-Stylish 'M' takes it a step further with a large driver's seat armrest, an audio remote control switch on the steering wheel and lighted vanity mirrors for both seats, as more female-friendly additional equipment...
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- Erin Riches December 20, 2005, 9:00 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
December 12, 2005
I have been seeing our 2006 Volkswagen Jetta long-term test vehicle around the parking garage a lot lately. It reminded me of a comment Donna DeRosa made in the 2005 Jetta Full Test, “I think the Jetta is a guy car. Guys think it's a girl car.”
Sitting next to a Jetta in typical L.A. traffic, I asked my husband what he thought...
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- Michelle Magoffin December 12, 2005, 11:38 AM
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- What Women Want in a Car
November 22, 2005
We all know how auto manufacturers are eager to reach out to younger, more progressive-minded buyers, but if you thought their efforts would be limited to light-up footwells in Scions and digital audio card jacks in Civics, well wait 'til you hear what Lincoln is trying: Massages.
In order to help the younger crowd see that its new compact entry-luxury sedan, the 2006 Lincoln Zephyr, is down with their needs, the company will post massage therapists at the American Airlines terminals at NY LaGuardia and DFW over the Thanksgiving holidays, according to industry publication, Automotive News. And the therapists will relieve travelers' tension by giving neck and shoulder massages.
So here's the question: Would a Lincoln-sponsored shoulder massage warm the cockles of your heart for the Zephyr?
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- Erin Riches November 22, 2005, 10:00 AM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 21, 2005
Volkswagen has long been a favorite brand among women. But there's a growing scandal involving VW's corporate boondoggles and prostitutes.
Is a company's corporate behavior a factor in whether you'll buy their cars? Sure it is. And the companies know it: That's one of the reasons carmakers support charitable causes -- to improve their PR. But it works both ways. Whether a company does something "bad" or "good," it reverberates with the public...
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- Joanne Helperin November 21, 2005, 3:07 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 18, 2005
AutoWeek reports that Chevy's new marketing campaign for the Silverado "touts masculinity." It includes a TV spot that says, "Men love trucks. Why? Because trucks don't ask why."
Man, that's cold. Besides, women are the fastest-growing segment of truck buyers, and they have a blast driving them...
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- Joanne Helperin November 18, 2005, 3:13 PM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 17, 2005
Another interesting story in the Detroit Free Press today talked about Mercury's efforts to reach out to female buyers, almost going so far as to frame itself as a women's brand. Mercury has hired a female spokesperson, actress Jill Wagner, and customers have indeed been getting younger, more female and, most importantly, more numerous.
But the specifically "feminine" appeal of Mercury's vehicles is debatable. Most of them are still way too similar to their Ford counterparts...
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- Erin Riches November 17, 2005, 8:51 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
A story in today's Detroit Free Press talks about what women want in a car. They mention the Volvo YCC (which we've covered on the Women's Car Guide) as being "designed for and by woman." But Volvo has told me that, while design team was all women, the concept car they developed was not created FOR women. On the contrary. Their point was to show that when women are given the chance, they can develop a car that will appeal to both genders...
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- Joanne Helperin November 17, 2005, 1:37 PM
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- What Women Want in a Car
Back on the subject of checking your oil, you know who makes it real damn easy? Audi. It was time to check the oil in our long-term 2005.5 Audi A4 2.0T yesterday. I popped the hood, and when I went around front to release the clip, it was right there and easy to grab, no fumbling required...
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- Erin Riches November 17, 2005, 9:00 AM
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- Rants and Raves, What Women Want in a Car
November 16, 2005
According to a new survey, fuel efficiency has increased in importance
among women shopping for a new car. So much so, in fact, that it now
outranks everything except reliability -- even safety. This is probably
simply a factor of high gas prices. If gas prices dropped, safety would
likely take its second-place status back...
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- Joanne Helperin November 16, 2005, 4:33 PM
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- Hybrid Cars and Better Gas Mileage, What Women Want in a Car
