Posted by Admin on
July 15, 2008
Those fine folks over at Automobile magazine have bestowed their “Funky Ergonomics Awards” again this year. As one could imagine, BMW’s iDrive and 7 Series interior (pictured above) again tops the list of bad designs. (Rightly so.) Their list includes convenience keys that are downright inconvenient, window switches that require broken wrists to operate, touchscreens that are dangerously slow to respond, all center-of-the-dashboard mounted instrument clusters, complicated navigation systems, reverse-action manu-matic transmissions, and dimly lit interiors.
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Posted by Admin on
June 15, 2008
The 13,000+ Bentley Continental owners (or, more likely, Bentley Continental owners’ chauffeurs) will now need to be making an unscheduled pit stop at their local Flying B dealership. An official safety recall has been issued due to the potential for road salt to corrode the fuel filter, resulting in leakage and the obvious potential for fire, Olde-English style.
Can’t wait to see the spin German behemoth VW is going to put on this. Perhaps something like: “It might not be a British car anymore, but we can still make it spontaneously combust, right? - Bentley Marketing.”
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Posted by Admin on
June 11, 2008
In the latest round of customer surveys conducted by U.S. market research institute J.D. Power, Mercedes-Benz has become the recipient of not 1… not 2… but 3 accolades. Receiving 2 gold awards for the highest vehicle quality in their respective market segments are the E-Class and CLK-Class, while the Platinum Award was bestowed upon Mercedes Benz’s Sindelfingen plant. The Platinum award makes it the assembly facility with the best delivered quality worldwide. Overall, Mercedes improved one place over last year - ranking fourth in overall quality - and it was also the only European brand to win an individual model award.
How does J.D. Power arrive at the results? Market researchers investigate the satisfaction of American customers within the first 90 days of their vehicle purchases, evaluating the quality of both the concept and execution of the purchased vehicle. This year, the opinions of some 80,000 verified owners were tabulated, all of whom owned 2008 model year vehicles.
To learn more about the latest J.D. Power Quality Study as well as how the Mercedes-Benz brand fared, you can find the full details below and at J.D. Power’s Website.
Enjoy.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Latest J.D. Power Quality Study from the U.S.: Mercedes-Benz receives three awards for best product quality
Stuttgart - Mercedes-Benz is one of the most successful auto brands in this year’s customer survey conducted by U.S. market research institute J.D. Power. The Stuttgart car brand receives two gold awards for the highest vehicle quality in their respective market segments, and is also honoured for the world’s best production plant. This outstanding result is one outcome of the initiative launched by Mercedes-Benz to raise customer satisfaction and product quality.
In conducting the annual study, market researchers investigate the satisfaction of American customers with new vehicle purchases within the first 90 days, and evaluate the quality of both the concept and execution of the vehicle. Overall, Mercedes-Benz moved up one place against last year from fifth to fourth, and is the only vehicle brand with three models (CLK, E and S-Class) within the top ten passenger vehicles.
This year saw the E-Class and the CLK each receive gold J.D. Power Awards. According to the U.S. study, these models are the highest quality vehicles in their market segments. Furthermore, Mercedes’ Sindelfingen plant receives the Platinum Award, making it the assembly facility with the best delivered quality worldwide.
Copyright © 2008, Daimler AG
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Posted by Admin on
June 6, 2008
What makes a proper Road Trip? Do you have to cross political boundaries? Some minimum mileage that must be travelled? Do you have to be gone for days or weeks at a time? No freggin’ clue. But neither do the folks at Kelly Blue Book (KBB) who decided to compile an interesting mix of vehicles to meet the task of a Road Trip - ranging from the obvious choices like the Dodge Grand Caravan to surprises like the spirited Audi S5 and venerable Bugatti Veyron. And there’s even the VW Eos, not a car we’d enjoy to be crammed into for a long journey, but to each their own. The full list and press release below.
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