Key, just a Key!

For quite long time, car keys became so boring. Most of the look very similar to VW and the rest of them are quite boring. Despite the improvement in design the car keys did not change that much. You buy a Ferrari and you end up with a stupid looking key. The Mercedes has the change key, commercial to Maybach! BMW offers a very nicely designed key. The most interesting and the post came was introduced by Mercedes as usual! This is matching their brand identity. Swarovski crystal covered key for Japanese market. It is not offering anything more just more crystals and bigger price tag!

The most cleaver key I have ever seen is from Land Rover. I know you won’t be that excited for a car but in daily basis, the stupidly designed key can turn your life into hell. Especially in case of emergency! Unless they don’t cause, they look terrible. I didn’t see a key which is offering the both. I am sure no one will ever change own car for a key but they supposed to look good and function seamlessly. And Land Rover made it, just watch the video and you will the cleaver design. Especially replacing the battery looks very easy! That’s one of the most annoying thing in a car key.

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Land Rover, Bentley, Mercedes

Hard VW vs. Soft VW

VW EOS, this car has never been a big sensation in automotive industry. I don’t know why it could not manage to receive enough attention. Most of the people never heard of it either. VW’s metal roof, coupe / cabrio model! Well, that’s a SLK for normal people :) But normal people did not like it that much. I didn’t like it either, Murat Günak designed the EOS but it was not a car like Peugeot 206 or Mercedes SLK. Those cars were also designed by Günak too! But they look much better. EOS was a very boring car and sales proofed that either.

Eventually VW revealed the face-lifted version which looks much better the current model. I am more optimistic for EOS this time. Interior is much better designed also. Interestingly VW was not happy enough with EOS and they announced cabrio Golf! I am sure you will be asking what’s wrong with this. Honestly I tried to find a matching example for this weird decision but I couldn’t make it.

EOS is a cabrio car which is positioned in Golf’s segment (C Segment) and the whole marketing strategy is based on offering a coupe / cabrio Golf alternative. Now VW will offer cabrio Golf, that would be a better alternative for Golf cabrio, instead of EOS. I think they will use soft top and probably a bit cheaper (I never seen a cheap Golf) and they will solve the problem.

EOS will be expensive and hard top cabrio, Golf cabrio will be cheaper soft top cabrio. VW will say this is a very good way of differentiating the products. However the reality will be, EOS and Golf cabrio will eat their market share as a result of overlapping with each other. In some market, VW will not import EOS or Golf cabrio. Dealers will have problem to differentiate the cars, consumers will be confused and this chain reaction will go forever.

I have nothing to say! Just produce it and we all have something to write :)

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VW, World Car Fans

A detailed explanation for the problem of German Cars

For very long time I was trying understand what is wrong with German cars. I didn’t make mistake while writing, German cars. There is always something missing with them, I could not understand but German cars never have the same taste with Italian cars. Of course, I am not licking cars to identify their differences. I am pretty sure that all German cars would taste the same :)

And recently I found the problem with German cars. The huge problem which irritates me for very long and irritates many other people, I am using sales figures of Italian cars as a proof! German cars are offering everything; perfection, design (not all of them), efficient, luxury, perfect, gray, very gray, light gray, very dark gray and this goes forever. Germans cars are doing what you told them to do! Actually if a German car goes wrong, it terribly goes wrong. This happened in 2003-2004 with Mercedes E Class, electronic brake system and electronic control modules of C Class. Anyway, they don’t cause trouble anymore. The main thing is German cars are doing what they are supposed to do and they do not questionize. They just are doing it!

A German car always handles well, the automatic screen wipers always works with the same amount of rain, engine always makes the same sound, all the parts inside the car have the same millimetric distance within each other. This combination of perfection obsession is not matching with human being because we are not perfect and we want things different. I think the best explanation for German cars is they are like trains. They are doing what they are supposed to do, trains cannot change travel anywhere else than railway and they always follow a route.

The Italian cars are like pizza, each pizza is a unique dish. It is nearly impossible to have the same pizza, even if you manage to have the same one you cannot eat in the same way. All the mozzarella cheese will try to go somewhere else, you will try to make some weird moves to eat the slice and some vegetables will fell on your trousers while you are trying to clean your trousers, your elbow will hit to pizza. Basically each time you try to eat an Italian food, you will have a new adventure like in Italian cars. Each Italian car is totally unique, I don’t know how they manage to do it but they are excellent at producing each car unique. There is no identical twin of a Ferrari 458 or Alfa Romeo MiTo or Fiat 500. Even if the factory is robotized, their supplier may not be robotized and their production technique might be influence the employees emotional conditions.

Therefore each Italian car is like a sculpture, you cannot find the same one. And Italian cars do not react as you wished, try to control a Ferrari 599 GTO. Jeremy Clarkson tried to do it in “Italian Job” and he failed, try to control an Alfa MiTo diesel. The electronic systems will help you but the car will control you. You will do what the car is ordering you!

And lastly British cars; very basic definition, there is always something is missing. In order to proof this, just look at British taps! They have separate taps for hot and cold water. You cannot find this in other part of the world. British engineers never connect hot and cold water together, you either burn your hands or freeze your hand. There is no balance and you can face with this ugly truth even in the most prestigious hotels or in houses. Everything looks excellent, suddenly you want wash your hand, and you burn your hands!

You can find this in British cars also, everything is excellent. Design, materials, engines but you cannot have a door closing aid in a Bentley Azure. This is a very basic technology from Germans, when your door is not fully closed the hydraulic system closes for you. But you cannot have this in a Bentley Azure! This car costs more than a country and you have to close your door properly by yourself. But still I like British cars they are combination of Mr. Bean and Paul Smith shirt!

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Mercedes, Pizza Express, Aston Martin, Deutsche Bahn, Maserati, Paul Smith

Bullet-Proof Volkwagen Bora :O

I just read something unbelievable, bullet proof Volkwagen Bora! Bora is the old name of Jetta but it is still used in some markets like Mexico. In Mexico, VW is selling bullet proof Boras for nearly €60 000. The level of security is B4, I understood this despite it was written in Spanish! So it is official that Bora has a bullet proof version. This very unique car is using the 2 litre turbo engine with 200 horse powers and six speed double clutch automatic transmission. The web site is here, you can see it with your own eyes!

http://www.boraprotect.com.mx/

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VW

A pre-histroic car in New York

Flash news from Volkswagen for US market! Actually the news release is for Europe but the content should be explained to Americans. Volkswagen’s boring family sedan Jetta is quite common in US like in Europe. If you have two children, a wife and most probably you are young and you could not afford to buy a larger car. Anyway, family cars suppose to offer more comfort than coupes! This means suspension should be “a bit” more comfortable without compromising the handling.

Unfortunately, two generations ago Jetta (Bora) and Golf models were offering a catastrophic rear suspension system called torsion bar. Actually some Toyota models and French cars still have this. What’s wrong with that? Very simply; torsion bar is not a suspension, it is just a cheaper replacement for a proper suspension. Many of you will think, so what! When you have a car with a torsion bar, your handling will be worse and people in the back seat will feel the every single pothole inside their spine! It is offering neither better handling nor comfort but it is cheaper!

VW was using this with Bora (Old Jetta) and Golf, later on understood what they done wrong and replace the rear suspension with multi-link independent rear suspension. Multi-link independent rear suspension is a proper suspension, you don’t need to worry about anything but it is expensive for car companies. For that reason, Ford Focus always had worse interior and great handling. Ford Focus has the best rear suspension on its segment.

The current Jetta sold in US market is offered with torsion bar. This means, Americans have a pre-historic suspension system in a European car, hopefully in Europe VW did not risk its reputation and offers the Jetta with proper multi-link independent suspension. Anyway, Jetta is available with micro size engine 1,2lt TSi with 105 horses inside :)

European Jetta 

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Ford, VW

New VW EOS (Finally!)

Finally ugly looking VW EOS is being facelifted! Murat Günak’s design EOS was the first coupe/cabrio VW model unlike Günak’s iconic design Peugeot 206, EOS was not looking that good! I tried many times to like it but it was nearly impossible! Hopefully VW realized this problem and they face lifted the EOS.

Now it is looking much better and completing the VW Group design concept. And also includes the reflexive leather which is also available in BMW 3 Series Cabrio, this leather reflect the sun light and prevents your body parts to have “cabrio car sun burn”. And it also features regenerative braking technology which is charging your battery while you are braking and reduces CO2! The rest is same with other VW cars, 1,4lt turbo engine from 122 horses to 210 horses and diesel is 2,0lt with 140 horses.

Actually it is very well packed car for its price and for a coupe/cabrio! Unlike first generation, it will receive more attention.

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VW

New family living space VW Passat

As Paris Motor Show 2010 is getting sooner, we start to see new models. VW released the new Passat’s pictures. Honestly I have never liked Passat, it is always have the boring family car feeling. It had too much family for a car. Thanks to its previous designs, Passat became a part of fertility. When you have more kids, you shift to Passat.

Hopefully this time VW designed much better looking car. Like previous model, it has some design bits from Audi, especially A8 but this time it looks really nice. Actually I don’t see any reason to buy Audi A4 with small engines, just buy Passat they are the same thing! Also Passat will feature crash prevention system until 20 kph, system breaks the car to stationary. Speeds above 20 kph, you will hit to the car in front, so money is makes the difference. Pay more and let car stop by itself without any speed limitation. The other interesting fact is the sleep presentation system. Don’t worry there is no cold water spray for your face to wake up, like in Mercedes it will be beeping to wake you up.

Petrol engines starts from 1,4lt 120 horsepower and diesel starts from 1,6lt 105 horsepower. I think we should wait a bit to see better engines. However VW Passat worth a chance to replace your Ford Mondeo.

 

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VW

VW Golf Plus the ideal reasonable family car

VW Golf Plus is in my favourite pointless, senseless car category. It is not the first one but it has a very high potential! When it was first revealed I could not find a target consumer group to buy this higher Golf. It was not offering something special except being taller. And the sales figures supported my hypothesis and it did not receive a huge demand, actually it is not sold in Turkey anymore!

It has an identity problem, why I should buy one? There was no a clear question for this. Therefore people hesitate to buy one. Identity crisis is the worst thing a car can have, people will hesitate to buy one, nobody will bother to see one, it will turn into a ghost car.

However a few days ago I was chatting with blogger friend FashionBySiu (I don’t know her real name) and she told me that she is looking for a new car to replace her Honda HRV. HRV is one of the most confusing SUVs ever seen, it has a ridiculously high ground clearance for a car which is not able to attempt any off roading! Actually Honda engineers decided to raise the vehicle by increasing the gap between ground and the vehicle instead of increasing the height of the roof and we have something very interesting!

Anyway, she is looking for a car which should be automatic, diesel, tall and reasonable priced! Unfortunately this is impossible in Turkey, thanks to our taxation system which we pay exactly twice the price of EU, there is not car which could satisfy these needs. Especially the reasonably priced facts! Dacia Duster is fulfilling this fact but it does not offer any automatic. So this combination ends up with Golf Plus.

Finally I met with someone who needs a car which is exactly a Golf Plus! As long as you don’t need four wheel drive, Golf Plus is a very “family” car with normal price!

I have never imagined that one day I will be writing about the Golf Plus :)

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Honda, Dacia, VW

Have fun with Porsche Design

Recently Volkswagen Financial Services AG started to follow my blog. Thanks to Google Analytics, I can see which companies are following me. Therefore I have to post article for my audience. And I decided to offer something interesting for VW Financial Services.

As I read from their web site, it is the best place to work in Germany. And from the pictures, I can agree on this. But financial services are not something very entertaining for everyone. I am sure that some of the stuff is dealing with credit check for customers, analysing a potential VW Passat Estate Diesel’s future owner’s last ten years credit history. I don’t think, they are having fun like in research and development department.

Now it is time to have a break. From the sibling company Porsche Design, there is a very funny iPhone application. Actually fun and Porsche Design are not very close words but they manage to combine it with this very interesting application.

In this application you choose the worst sun glasses of Porsche Design, not the best one the worst ones, and you take a picture of your face and then application is adding the desired sun glass with your face. Sound very creative but practically very funny. While looking for credit history check, you can have fun :)

Alessandra Ambrosio and VW Brazil, very senseless conversation

Brazil reminds me three things. Ayrton Senna, Alessandra Ambrosio and Volkswagen Truck! I am using word “truck” with Alessandra in the same sentence. I do know that Alessandra and trucks are totally different things. And I should be crazy to use them together. However their common part is the uniqueness.

In Victoria’s Secret there are other Brazilian super models besides Alessandra, but this did not help us to know other girls’ names. Many people know Alessandra and recognize other girls. There is something very special with Alessandra, it is hard to mention with words. May be she is on the cover of many magazines, maybe she is very tall, maybe she is very charming and this can go forever. However the result is everyone knows Alessandra! Most probably in next couple of decades her popularity will increase dramatically and I am sure on this. During last six years, she became more popular than Starbucks. Sorry for the bad comparison but Starbucks is a very good icon for popularity.

Unfortunately VW Trucks are not that popular. Actually nobody knows them. In terms of Europe, we have never heard of VW Truck. The only vehicle which is close to a truck is the Touareg and it does not offer enough space for heavy loads. Without any significant reason, VW is manufacturing trucks in Brazil for American market excluding US and Canada. Anyone who visit Brazil says “girls are great and I saw VW truck”. This only happens in Brazil! Anywhere else on earth, nobody pays attention to trucks at the same time pays attention to girls.

I don’t think that people are losing their minds in Brazil and start to talk about trucks. The core of this conversation is the uniqueness of VW trucks. You cannot see them in everywhere and when you spot one, you want to share your experience. At the same time, you spot lots of Brazilian girls and the brain starts to malfunction and joins to different subjects at the same conversation and ends up totally senseless.

I can only say one thing, there is something very special with Brazil :) And Alessandro can be a good brand ambassador for VW Brazil. Not for trucks !

Portuguese translation from Google Translate.

Brasil faz-me lembrar de três coisas. Ayrton Senna, Alessandra Ambrosio e Volkswagen Caminhões! Estou usando o caminhão "palavra" com Alessandra na mesma frase. Eu sei que os caminhões Alessandra e são coisas totalmente diferentes. E eu devia estar louco para usá-los juntos. Entretanto, sua parte é comum a exclusividade.

Em Victoria's Secret, existem outros modelos brasileiras Alessandra além de super, mas isso não nos ajudam a conhecer os nomes das outras garotas. Muitas pessoas sabem Alessandra e reconhecer outras meninas. Há algo muito especial com Alessandra, é difícil falar com as palavras. Pode ser que ela está na capa de muitas revistas, talvez ela é muito alto, talvez ela é muito charmoso e isso pode ir para sempre. No entanto, o resultado é que todo mundo sabe que Alessandra! Muito provavelmente no próximo par de décadas, sua popularidade vai aumentar drasticamente e tenho certeza sobre isso. Durante os últimos seis anos, ela se tornou mais popular do Starbucks. Desculpem a comparação ruim, mas a Starbucks é um ícone muito bom para a popularidade.

Infelizmente VW Caminhões que não são populares. Na verdade ninguém sabe deles. Em termos de Europa, nunca ouviu falar de VW Truck. O único veículo que está perto de um caminhão é o Touareg e não oferece espaço suficiente para cargas pesadas. Sem qualquer razão significativa, a VW está a fabricar caminhões no Brasil para o mercado americano, excluindo E.U. e Canadá. Qualquer pessoa que visitar o Brasil diz que "as meninas são ótimas e eu vi o caminhão VW". Isso só acontece no Brasil! Em qualquer outro lugar na terra, ninguém presta atenção aos caminhões ao mesmo tempo, presta atenção às meninas.

Eu não acho que as pessoas estão perdendo suas mentes no Brasil e começar a falar sobre caminhões. O núcleo desta conversa é a singularidade de caminhões VW. Você não pode vê-los em qualquer lugar e quando você encontrar uma, que você deseja compartilhar sua experiência. Ao mesmo tempo, os lotes que você mancha de meninas brasileiras eo cérebro começa a avaria e junta-se a indivíduos diferentes na mesma conversa e acaba totalmente sem sentido.

Só posso dizer uma coisa, há algo muito especial com o Brasil:) E Alessandro pode ser uma boa embaixadora da marca VW para o Brasil. Não é para caminhões!

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Alessandra Ambrosio , VW