DownsideUpDesign

Today sees the launch of perhaps one of the most important developments in the automotive sector in its 100 year-plus history. After much speculation, fuelled by a drip feed of information from BMW, the Munich-based company has pulled the wraps off BMW i.

Much more than a new car launch, i represents a new way of thinking, not just about personal transport but also urban mobility.

There had been clues all along that BMW wasn’t interested in simply producing a smaller car. The project codename -MegaCity- hinted that the company was well aware that there were some much bigger issues that it would have to deal with to stay relevant long into the future. Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: So despite Activate The Future appearing engaging and media-rich, the bone heads at BMW and KBS+P wont let me embed the video. That should qualify as an automatic social media fail. Talk about activating the past. But it’s Monday and I’m still feeling generous. Hit the link in the line below…

This trailer ticks so many boxes Drew-shaped boxes it hurts. From the Plymouth Superbird to the plinkety-plonkety music and the cute bon mots, I was hooked before I even realised what everyone was talking about. Which just so happens to be the future of mobility. Booyah!

The result of a partnership between BMW and KBS+P, the series of four movies will investigate the impact of urban density, technology and society on how we get around. The roster of talking heads is rather impressive with Syd Mead and Buzz Aldrin chipping in amongst others like Marissa Mayer (VP, consumer products, Google) and Robin Chase (Co-founder, Zipcar).

What’s most fascinating to me is that, at an industry level, BMW is completely owning the new mobility space. Of course, they have new range of mobility solutions to hype so it makes perfect sense. But, as yet, none of the big league players have taken up the urban mobility bat in such overt, engaging and media-rich manner. Props to little BMW and partner for getting there first.

The first movie The New City: How the way we live will impact the way we move goes live on February 1 at bmwactivatethefuture.com

I’ve just had my eye drawn to a cute little competition being run by DesignBoom – in collaboration with Porsche and the Scuola Politecnica di Design – for which entrants have been asked to design a wrap “to enhance the visual appearance of the sports vehicle”.

There’s a clear impetus here, on the part of Porsche, to try and bring some of the visually-oriented expression of self that younger generations engage in online into their brand world.

Where once we projected ourselves into shiny new cars, using them as a representation of how we wanted to be perceived (and how we perceived ourselves), outlets like Facebook enable us to do this far more easily, cheaply and in real-time. These wraps are likely seen, from a marketing perspective, as the bridge between the two.

Yet it seems that until car manufacturers really – properly – get their head around the fact that cars themselves are no longer the social avatars of choice for a growing number of young people, we’ll have to put up with window-dressing like the wraps (or the fraught incorporation of Facebook and Twitter apps into in-car entertainment systems: “Hey guys, I’m sat in traffic! LOLZ”).

Read the rest of this entry »

So that makes two brands trotting out old cars in a bid to highlight just how good their new cars are.

Firstly, we had Volvo asking journalists to drive old workhorses like the 240, 740 and 850 at the UK launch of the naughty S60. Joe Simpson, writing for Car Design News remarked on how much improved the overall performance of the new car was. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems fairly appropriate, given that I’m passing my New Year in Paris, to catch wind that the City of Light is looking to ban SUVs from the town centre.

In a two-fingered salute to the haute bourgoisie, Dennis Baupin, deputy mayor, said of the SUV

“Sell it and buy a vehicle that’s compatible with city life. I’m sorry, but having a sport utility vehicle in the city makes absolutely no sense”.

Bravo! say I to monsieur, having witnessed one to many inelegantly parked Range Rover in the 16th for one week. But the most laudable aspect of this story (whcih the Detroit Free Press and, by turns, Autoblog failed to link) is the fact that Paris is providing a carrot to go with their 2.5 tonne stick.

Having got to grips with providing velos en masse through the Vélib’ scheme, the city is now rolling out Autolib’, a system of 3,000 Pinifarina deisgned electric cars available from 1,000 stations for a subscription of €12/month. Chic, easy to park and -above all- producing zero emissions, the little Autolib’s should prove immensely attractive to urbanites who are keen to live without the pain of car ownership (Parisian cars spend 95% of the time parked and 16% of Parisians use their cars less than once a month) but maintain the liberty that comes with four wheels and a roof over one’s head.

For me, the take with one hand and give back with the other approach will be the crux of the success of Autolib’. The city of Paris recognises that cars give us enormous personal freedom, a freedom we’re loathe to give up in the name of “better” living for everyone. But if the city can provide us with an alternative that doesn’t cost us in terms of access, usability or -importantly- style and personality, we’ll be far happier to hand over the keys to the tank.

Now Boris, where are our Barclays Beetles?

P.S. Apologies for bowing to the cliché of dropping some Francais into this post. Paris tends to have that effect…

Images:
Range Rover in Paris SamismagiC
Pininfarina Blue Car Pininfarina