Passing of the Father of the Range Rover

First, we mourn over the passing of Japan's most experienced Ring Meister and father of the Lexus LF-A supercar. But in just a span of a few days, we automotive industry lost another towering figure, Charles Spencer "Spen" King, more commonly known as the father of the Range Rover. Two weeks ago, Spen King was riding a bicycle when he collided with a van. He succumbed to his injuries over the weekend. He was 85.

In my mind, among the most notable icons of the British motor industry, the late Sir Alec Issigonis and John Cooper ranked right up the top for creating the Morris Minor / Mini and its souped up cousin - the Mini Cooper. The other would be Sir William Lyons, founder of Jaguar. Spen King was a far more low profile individual but his most notable creation - the Range Rover was just as much of a British icon as the Mini or Jaguar.

One of the little known aspect was that the iconic silhouette of the Range Rover, including its grill and clam shell hood design was not the work of the styling department, but rather it was born out a pragmatic need. It was one of those rare moments in history that things got so right at the first time. To read further, go here.

The Range Rover is this author's favourite SUV. The alternatives from Munich may drive better on the road, but even their makers don't try to sell them as proper SUVs. The ones from Stuttgart look a tad clinical while opposition from Ingolstadt looks spankingly good but just lacks the sort of go-anywhere image. The Land Cruiser 200 might be just as capable and luxurious but it lacks the emotional appeal. Anyway, if I am attempting a drive across Afghanistan or the Sahara I won't bother with the newer Toyota ranges and will bet on a far older / utilitarian but far more reliable Land Cruiser 70 series (which is still on sale in certain parts of the world mind you, Australia and South America for instance). The Range Rover is not as obnoxious as a Hummer, but overflows with good old Queens English, British aristocratic sophistication. It is after all, as they say the best four by four by far.




If these SUVs are people, the Hummer is Arnold the terminator whose surname's spelling I am too lazy to look up. The X5 rich brat who went to military college but would not dare step into a real battle field, the ML-class is the more geeky rich kid who went to military college but would rather be piloting a F-16 than be a sniper on the ground, while the G-wagen is the robotic German soldier ready for his next command, the Q7, erm not too sure what to make of it - mix American-German parentage but trains hard at a gym in China? Land Cruiser 200 is of course United Nations observer, highly capable but would rather not get dirty or even to fire a shot. The Range Rover - may be Her Majesty the Queen but I like to see it as Prince William, highly intelligent, trained in military, fought front line in Afghanistan, equally adapt in the palace of the Queen as well as the battlefield, and a bit mischievous at times.

Other notable achievements by Spen King was the Rover P6, which was a 60s Britain equivalent to Camry in our Asian context. Driven by bankers, some politicians and was just a notch below the Jaguar. He was also responsible for the Rover SD1, one of the best looking mainstream cars of its time. But his great creations has to be viewed in context that Spen King created many of his cars at a time when British Leyland was bogged down with labour unrest, and one could only wonder how much better could things have been. What makes Spen King special was not just about his iconic creations, but the fact that he came out with pretty decent products under extremely difficult financial constraints.

Linked here is an interview with Spen King back in 2002, although to really appreciate the content you must be quite well read with the history surrounding British Leyland and the state of the British motor industry between its prime in the 60s and their fall from grace in the 70s.

Hiromu Naruse Lexus Test Driver dies, debate continues on for high speed autobahn testing

From Lexus Enthusiast.
It was just less barely a month ago when we talked about Naruse-san's FR Hot Hatch project. We also briefly linked to Gazoo Racing's article on Toyota's very own Meister, master test driver who was responsible for many iconic Toyota high performance vehicles. The late Enzo Ferrari once acknowledged his talent and called him “Nur Meister (One and Only Master Craftsman)” and refers to him as “man who knows all the world’s roads.” It was some recognition because the late il commendatore of Ferrari is not known to be a very generous nor a nice man.


Yesterday, Hiromu Naruse was killed while testing the Lexus LF-A Nurburgring Edition on the L94 road in Boos/Nürburgring, near the famed Green Hell circuit of Nurburgring Northern Loop or Nordschleife in the German Eifel region. Details were still sketchy pending police investigation, but somehow Naruse-san's LF-A veered to the oncoming traffic lane and collided with a production model BMW 3-series, also under testing by two BMW staffs. The passeger of the BMW was critically injured and had to be airlifted by a rescue helicopter to a hospital in Bonn while the BMW driver suffered serious but not life threatening injuries, was transported to a hospital in Daun. Naruse-san was killed on the spot and his body was trapped inside the wrecked LF-A. His body could only be removed once police prosecuters closed off the L94 and reviewed the accident scene. The Lexus LF-A is estimated to be worth around 1.5 million Euros and is limited to 500 units. But more precious than the Lexus, there is only one Hiromu Naruse, said to be Japan's most experienced Ring Meister.


Note this is left-hand drive Germany. The Lexus have no business facing that direction on the left side of the road. Notice the skid marks left by the BMW.




The accident will provide further impetus to factions of the German government who are keen to impose stricter speed limits on German roads. Contrary to popular perception, only very few stretches of the autobahn still remain speed limit free. The former Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroder once called Germany an "Autofahrernation," meaning a nation of drivers, in objecting the first calls to impose speed limits. The debate on imposing speed limit is a very controversial topic to the German public, who see their autobahns as one of the few remaining spaces of civil liberty, in a country famous for its very strict policing. Germans are always being told that they made the best cars in the world, they have the best highway networks, and to be able to drive fast with no speed limit is considered as a birth right of all Germans. But growing eco-consciousness amongst the German public have led to a growing support to impose speed limits of 130 km/h, in a bid to cap vehicular CO2 emission. Modern cars are also a lot faster than what they used to be 20 or 30 years ago. A top end Volkswagen Golf R today easily matches the power of an average Ferrari road car 25 years ago.

Although in deregulated stretches of the autobahn, there are no speed limits imposed, but the recommended speed is 130km/h. If you are involved in an accident at above that speed, you could be jailed.

Cases of high performance test cars being involved in fatal accidents have also angered certain factions of the German public.

Just a few months ago, on April 23rd, a 52-year old test driver of a 2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class prototype crashed into a Mazda which had broken down at the side of the road. The driver of the Mazda was getting out of his vehicle when the prototype M-class struck and killed him. The M-class prototype flipped over, travelled for another 250 feet before landing on its roof, seriously injuring the Mercedes test driver. One can imagine how fast was it going. The accident happened on A81 autobahn, connecting Singen and Stuttgart.


On an early morning at around 2.45am of Feb-13 2009, a Porsche test driver, in a pre-production Porsche 911 Cabriolet driving at the A5 autobahn lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a roadside barrier, instantly killing him. Another Porsche Panamera was travelling behind it managed to avoid the crash. Police investigation however later ruled out speed / technical defect as the cause and pinned it down to purely driver error. The two test drivers have been working together in a 10pm - 6am test drive shift. The police determined the crashed 911 was only travelling between 110km/h to 120km/h at the time of the accident. The pictures below showed that it was a very gruesome death. Can't imagine the remains of the body.


But the most dramatic car crash involving a test driver was the case involving Rolf Fischer, or more commonly known as "Turbo" Rolf, a former test driver for Daimler AG. On July 14, 2003, Turbo Rolf was driving a prototype Mercedes CL 600 at over 230km/h along the deregulated A5 autobahn. His speed was far too high when he came up behind a small Kia driven by a 21-year old mother and her 2-year old daughter. The mother, known only as Jasmin A., panicked at the Mercedes who kept flashing her to move aside, at extremely high speeds, she tried to move over to the right (Germany is left hand drive) but lost control of her vehicle. The Kia left the road, skidded to a ditch and then crashed into the two trees, killing her and her daughter. Turbo Rolf however speed off and would later denied knowledge of anything related to the crash. It took the police months to track down the offending vehicle. The prosecutor would also later critise Daimler's staffs for being very uncooperative. Witnesses also noted that the Mercedes could have touched the Kia when Turbo Rolf tried to force the Kia out of the road. Rolf was sentenced to 18-years in jail but his conviction was later appealed and reduced to 1 year suspension. He was however dismissed by Daimler AG as a test driver.


Note however that under the German regulation, when driving on deregulated speed limit free stretches of the autobahn, faster cars are allowed to request slower cars on the fast lane to move aside by flashing their headlamps not more than 3 times, at a distance no closer than 300 metres. Tailgating laws is strictly enforced and there are random unmarked police cars armed with video cameras patrolling the autobahn. Likewise, it is illegal for cars to drive below a minimum speed limit, depending on the lanes they are in.

When I was younger, I used to think that speed is not the main cause of accidents. I like to point out that German autobahns with no speed limits have some of the lowest accident rates. But the older (hopefully wiser) and the more kms on the road you clock, you start to realise that it's all about being sensible. Speed does indeed kills. Speed limit free or not anything above 110km/h is starting to border on dangerous. Of course it's not just about the absolute figure, but rather it's about relative speed. Doing 140 km/h on a crowded highway when everyone else is pulling 110km/h is just as stupid as doing 70km/h at a housing neighbourhood. But driving at 130km/h on a clear stretch with clear visibility is just as sensible.

I used to take pride that I drive fast but I speed responsibly, and was always in control. But now I think anyone who thinks so is only kidding themselves. There is no such thing as being in total control when you are driving on public roads / uncontrolled environment. There are always third party factors that is beyond your control. Not everyone drive with the same level of alertness or skill. It's called public roads for a reason. The simple fact that our mind is not wired to react that quickly, and our bodies simply cannot take that sort of G-force should the inevitable happen, though the car's structure might remain in tact, as shown by the images of Naruse-san's LF-A and the BMW he crashed into. The car's cabin still looked fairly intact. The fact that these very highly experienced test drivers who can drive a lot better and have a lot more high performance driving training and experience than all you readers combined, they too can misjudge and cause a fatal accident, proves this. What more about us. Sometimes it's your own ego that gets in the way, to think that your "supercar" has more right to the road than a smaller car - as shown by Turbo Rolf's fatal mistake.

German Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer have expressed his displeasure at the recent incidences, by saying "Test pilots are professional drivers. You must not behave like Rambos, but must still drive as good as any other and respect the traffic regulations. German roads are not the Nürburgring! I appeal to the auto companies to adopt a test driver for a specific code of conduct with strict rules."


Naruse-san is a close friend of Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda. They are both true blue petrol heads and they raced together in the Nurburgring 24 Hours. He was also a personal driving mentor to Akio Toyoda, long before Akio assumed his current role. Naruse-san is no doubt a very important partner in Akio Toyoda's quest to produce more fun to drive and emotionally captivating cars - something which is sorely lacking Toyota's present day line-up after more than a decade of neglect by the previous management under past president Katsuaki Watanabe. But Akio Toyoda posted a very well worded message in his blog, that he wow to continue Naruse-san's dream of building better fun to drive cars.

Much have been written and said about Hiromu Naruse, but spare a thought and prayer for the other two seriously injured BMW test drivers. Their lives are just as valuable as that of Naruse-san. They were just going about their work as they always do when a yellow supercar suddenly swerved into their path.

JD Power IQS 2010 USA, and controversy on JD Power methodology

JD Power IQS is the most influential survey data used by the auto industry and consumers alike to measure vehicle quality. The JD Power brand name became synonymous with vehicle quality when Lexus started boasting its JD Power scores in the early 90s. However this year's JD Power IQS scores showed a very different result. 

Lexus, the brand which have many years top the JD Power IQS score charts have been bumped down to 4th. Topping the list is Porsche, followed by Honda's luxury sub-brand Acura, followed behind by third placed Mercedes-Benz. Toyota, also another JD Power IQS favourite have been knocked down to a lowly 21st place, overtaken by just about anyone including Honda (6th place), Nissan (15th), almost every GM brand including Chevrolet (14th), Cadillac (13th) as well as Ford (5th).

In short, Porsche is the new king of quality. Honda and Acura are the new Toyota and Lexus. At least according to JD Power. Why do I say that? Personally I am not convinced that JD Power is a final authority in independent vehicle quality assessment. One needs to understand that JD Power derived its income by selling the results of their survey to car manufacturers. And car manufacturers are more interested in how their new cars fare. They are really not quite interested in how well their cars do after the factory warranty period expires (i.e. more than 3 years). Hence the JD Power IQS survey is tailored to meet the needs of car manufacturers more than that of consumers. Thus, the survey only interviews owners of new cars, within a 90-day ownership period. Yes one may argue that if there is anything wrong with the car, it should appear within 90-days of use. But what about premature failures of major electronics / mechanical components within just 5-years of use, a question which consumers are actually more interested to know. JD Power IQS methodology is structured to meet the interest of their customers - and JD Power's customers are the car manufacturers, not consumers.

Another problem with JD Power IQS is that subjective design related issues (things that cannot be solved, i.e. iDrive user interface, climate control button positions etc etc) are lumped together with actual quality isses (things that can be solved, i.e. rattling, squeaks, component failures). In other words, how can one consider an ill fitting cup holder to be as serious as a transmission failure? But this is essentially how JD Power IQS survey is done. It only shows the problems per 100 vehicles. The problem could be as simple as an owner who dislikes the signal stalk position (which is a subjective and a design issue, not a quality issue) to something as serious as an engine component failure (a real quality issue).

In the United States, the alternative is Consumer Reports, but even they have recently shown a tendency to blow things out of proportion, case in point was the Lexus GX's slow responding electronic stability control issue.

The fact that JD Power ranks the Lexus GX 460 as the highest quality midsize premium crossover SUV when Lexus issued a worldwide recall to correct its ESC software is itself proving that there is a very strong contradiction between what JD Power calls a "high quality" car and a truly high quality car. Of course an owner is unlikely to notice a serious safety related flaw within 90 days of the car ownership.

Plus, how likely is an owner to criticize his newly purchased car? That would only make him / her look like an idiot for buying the car in the first place. People generally don't talk too bad about their new cars within the first 90 days. It is only after a longer ownership period, after thousands of kilometres of abuse do many more serious problems surface, and if the owner is unlucky, it could happen right after the factory warranty expires.

In other parts of the world, there is little other reliable sources to refer to. It all goes back to the very pragmatic question of will consumers pay for it? Hence nobody is really tracking long term reliability of cars. Consumers still don't have much choice, but where possible, speak to the actual owners of the vehicle who have had the cars for a much longer period. Just because JD Power says a Honda is better than a Hyundai does not necessarily mean that will be the case for you. It could also be a combination that Honda owners are more pleased with purchasing a Honda brand and is more easily pleased with his car's design than a Hyundai owner is with his / her purchased brand.

Consider the differences between the top ranking brand Porsche, with a score of 83, against the worst ranked brand Land Rover with a score of 170. The numbers seem very big, but remember these are in units of problems per 100 vehicle. So a Porsche is likely to have 0.83 problems per vehicle, while a Land Rover is likely to have 1.7 problems per vehicle. So the difference between the top brand and the lowest ranking brand is 0.87 problems per vehicle. Big eff-ing deal! Generally, car makers have greatly improved their overall quality to the point that there is very little measurable difference between them today.

Oh yea and remember, the scores here for in American context. It may not be representative of your local market.

Warren Buffett's USD600 billion challenge

This post have little to do with automotive world, but I thought it would be interesting enough to share with everyone else. Since we did touched a bit on the family soap opera that is going on at the Naza empire and someone posted a comment linking to Warren Buffett's son. Yesterday, two of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates asked rich American families to pledge 50% of their wealth away. Warren Buffett went a lot further, by saying

First, my pledge: More than 99% of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my lifetime or at death. Measured by dollars, this commitment is large. In a comparative sense, though, many individuals give more to others every day. Millions of people who regularly contribute to churches, schools, and other organizations thereby relinquish the use of funds that would otherwise benefit their own families. The dollars these people drop into a collection plate or give to United Way mean forgone movies, dinners out, or other personal pleasures. In contrast, my family and I will give up nothing we need or want by fulfilling this 99% pledge.

I liked the way he put, the part where measured in dollars he may have given more, but many others have given a lot more in their own ways. He further added,

Moreover, this pledge does not leave me contributing the most precious asset, which is time. Many people, including -- I'm proud to say -- my three children, give extensively of their own time and talents to help others. Gifts of this kind often prove far more valuable than money. A struggling child, befriended and nurtured by a caring mentor, receives a gift whose value far exceeds what can be bestowed by a check. My sister, Doris, extends significant person-to-person help daily. I've done little of this.

It was a very short but very meaningful statement, recommend everyone to read it here.

By the standards of most people in the world, Warren's son is not a very successful person, as he is a professional musician. But it just goes to show how the Buffett family kept their values intact while the rest of the world goes on mad chasing for meaningless items that doesn't really make them any happier.

Here is another interesting critique on the Asian perception of a child's "success".

Related link :
A Very Expensive Chinese Wedding
Gen-Y buyers and their attitudes towards cars

Chevy vs Chevrolet - much ado about nothing

Early this week, Chevrolet sales vice president Alan Batey and marketing vice president Jim Campbell sent a memo to employees asking that they talk about the brand as Chevrolet, not its shortened nickname Chevy. A similar message was then escalated across the world, telling overseas GM employees to immediately refrain from using the word Chevy. The logic behind it is that having a single consistent brand name is important for a global brand. GM also mentioned that model names will also be commonized globally from now on.

It's a classic example of how insular are the senior American managers at GM-Chevrolet. They still think that the rest of the world must learn to speak English. Depending on which period of data you look at, China is the No.1 market for Chevrolet branded passenger cars. And in the middle kingdom, very few people have heard of the name Chevrolet. But the logo has one of the highest automotive brand recognition - because Chinese in China know Chevrolet as 雪佛兰. I am not sure what do the Arabs call it as the middle East is also one of Chevrolet's largest overseas market. So if your largest / second largest market does not even use either Chevrolet or Chevy, why bother?

At the same week, I was hosting a guest from China. We came across a Chevrolet Captiva SUV, and he said "Hey it's a 雪佛兰". I said, "A what?" He then pointed at the Captiva, and said that this brand is very popular in China. I said, "Oh you mean a Chevy", and he replied, "A what?" It was quite amusing. I asked him why do the Chinese like Chevy, he looked at me like it's the most stupid question in the universe, and answered it's a very good car. Good quality, he said in Chinese accent English.

A Bumble Bee look a like gathering in China.
He added that in China, unlike here, Chinese consumers don't perceive Japanese cars to be really that much better than Germans or Koreans. The younger generation are more receptive to Japanese brands, while the older generation still harbour some anti-Japanese sentiments because of atrocities committed by WW2 Japanese soldiers in China. Japanese cars still sell relatively well there, but they don't have a significant control over the Chinese market like they do in other parts of the world. Chinese customers are relatively open to any foreign brand, as they are a young market and have less prejudice on the brands. Compared this to Americans who disdain domestic brands because of their bad experiences in the 1980s with GM.

People remember images better than words. Which is why a having a recognisable corporate logo is so important in branding. Words, due of different cultural context and local language phonetics, they may have different meanings, which is why car companies sometimes have different names in different markets for the same car. Toyota had to rename its MR-2 sports car into just Toyota MR, because when MR2 is read in French, em-er-deux, it sounds a lot like merde, which means sh i t in French. So I don't think it is realistic to have a "global name" that is suitable for use across all the many different markets.

The management of GM should really concentrate on other more important areas. You can't stop people from calling your brand in whatever way they want. And about the confusion / lack of a standardised global brand name - Coca-Cola is still the most valuable brand in the world, and Coca-Cola bosses don't have problem with their staffs referring to the brand as Coke. Like wise with McD / McDonalds / Mac. And speaking of Mac, Steve Jobs is not bothered about whether will people confuse his Macintosh products with a hamburger. People are not that stupid. Neither does Steve Jobs stop his employees from using the term Apple / Mac interchangeably.

Until today, most of the English speaking world still can't pronounce the Volkswagen name properly. It's fox-wah-gen and not Vox-weh-gen. But the managers at Wolfsburg are not bothered about it, and focused on getting people to recognise the logo instead. Like wise, for BMW - it's actually Bei-em-vee, in native German.

2011 Suzuki Swift revealed - Official Photos

A follow up from an earlier post regarding the 2011 model year full model change Suzuki Swift. Suzuki have now released two set of official images on the new Swift. Compared to the current Swift, the car is slightly bigger in all dimensions, including a slightly longer wheelbase to aid high speed stability.



More info in an earlier post here.

Related link : Suzuki Turns 100

Lawsuit threatens to break up Naza Group

Many may have already heard of this news that was first reported by The Malaysian Insider. Almost like taking an episode out of a soap opera, the second wife of the late Malaysian automotive magnate tycoon Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin is invoking a section of the Islamic Syariah inheritance law to claim a long list of assets, among them RM 350 million in cash, properties in London, LA and South Africa, control of subsidiary companies Naza Kia Sdn Bhd, Naza Automotif Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, Nasim Sdn Bhd, Naza Motor Trading Sdn Bhd, Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd and NZ Wheels Sdn Bhd.

Under the Islamic law, Muslim men are allowed to take up to 4 wives so long as they meet a long list of requirements ensuring that the families are treated fairly. The Islamic law also states very clearly on how should family inheritance be distributed, and depending the legal system adopted, it could take precedence over a will. More details in the linked article above.

The late Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin is a controversial figure who made his fortune on the back of government approved import permits, also known as APs. APs are in short meaningless pieces of paper and a layer of bureaucracy created not out of any business need but solely to lift the economic standing of ethnic Malay Malaysian entrepreneurs. At one time, they can be worth up to RM 50,000 a piece and even factory backed distributors have to purchase APs from these AP holders to import any car. In reality, APs were being manipulated and distributed only to ethnic Malay businessmen who are politically linked with the ruling UMNO party. The regular Malay folks benefited little from it.

APs are essentially a ticket for the politically connected few to rake huge profits without even lifting a finger, without investing in developing any human resource, technology nor contribute anything to the development of the industry as a whole.

Viewed from the perspective of a foreigner / investor or even a simple tax payer, the system represents everything that is wrong with the country and goes against every understanding of fairness and just policies. Proponents however, like ex-PM Dr. Mahatir who is a firm supporter of the system and would often cite the late Nasimmudin as the best example of his NEP and affirmative action policies to build ethnic Malay industry captains. Prior to this, the industry was dominated ethnic Chinese businessmen like the Tan Chong family (Datsun, then Nissan), Chia family (UMW, before it was taken over by the government), Foo Wan Kien (City Motors - Alfa Romeo and Asia Motors - Mazda), Chua brothers (Cycle and Carriage - Mercedes-Benz), Loh Boon Siew (Kah Motor - Honda). The government sees this as unequal distribution of wealth and decided to embark on a "social engineering" program. To debate on success of these affirmative action policies in achieving their goals is beyond the scope of this blog but readers can read further here.


From left : Second brother Nasarudin, PM Najib, youngest brother Faliq, eldest brother Faisal.

An acquittance at the Naza Group shared that the Nasimuddin family have been expecting this. It is a common family knowledge but there is little that they can do. Legally, there is nothing to stop them from claiming their share of the property. The fact that a will is not present further plays things to their advantage.

This is why some call it the resource curse, why work so hard when you can get rich by fighting to control the source of wealth. This why oil rich African and some Middle Eastern countries are often at the bottom of human development index. Other than the oil rich Norway that has a very prudent resource management policy, HDI is dominated largely by countries with very little natural resource. It's the same thing with families. Why work so hard to develop yourself when you can live off the wealth built by the hardworking previous generation? Which is why the Chinese have a proverb - "Family inheritance wealth rarely stretches pass the 3rd generation". There is also another Chinese proverb - "If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people." And that last part, growing people, really is the key to sustainable success. And may I add, the "growing" here means education and not government hand outs. If there was any particularly major mistake made by the late Tan Sri Nasimuddin, it was that he failed to realise the wisdom of having one wife is enough, two is one too many. Get it?

The richest man in the world, Warren Buffett, willed for most of his wealth to be donated to charity, with only a very small portion left for his children. He believes that too much inherited wealth is bad for his children and would only make them stupid and lazy. He planned his children's trust fund in such a way that his children are left with just enough so that they don't need to work for money, but to be free to pursue their own interest. That they can work on something they truly enjoy and not just working for money. But they would still have to work. Wise thinking indeed.

Surely the principals of Kia Motors and Peugeot as well as GM will be watching this closely. Little is known about the children of Nasimuddin's second wife. At least, Nasarudin, the second son of the late Nasimuddin have brought both the Kia and Peugeot brand to greater heights. Insiders say that amongst all his 3 brothers, Nasarudin is said to be the most hardworking.

Green is the new trendy colour?

Noticed that there has been an increasing trend of concept cars / new cars launched with green as their signature colour. Possibly due to influence from those eco-tree hugging brigade. A couple of years white was the rage - most notably was launch of BMW M3 and 1-series Tii Concept, Lamborghini Gallardo LP-560, maybe also the Audi A4, Toyota iQ.

Below are some notable new cars / concept cars launched with green as the signature colours. But not all of these models use green as their signature colour because their eco-credentials. Some are purely out of historical reasons - like Lotus and Porsche's RS series cars.

Mazda2

Chevy Spark


Ford Focus RS

Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4

Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus

MTM tuned Audi R8

The tuner crowd have long embraced green colour, remember Paul Walker's Mitsubishi Eclipse in the first Fast and Furious installment?


VW Scirocco

and the IROC Concept that previewed the production Scirocco.



Ferrari 599 GTB KERS-Hybrid Concept


Electric powered Ruf Greenster Concept

Remember at one time, a very popular colour for the Perodua Myvi was olive green? But the colour has since been discontinued, presumably due to a drop in popularity against other more conventional hues / tones of silver, gray, black and white?

Statistically, green is far from displacing the traditional favorites of silver, black, gray, and white. Globally, green only accounts for 1% of all passenger carrying vehicles sold. But in developed markets with a higher level of eco-consciousness like North America and Europe, the share of green coloured cars sold is slightly higher than the global average. Below are statistics from the 2009 Dupont Colour Popularity Report.




Interestingly, the market share of white have dropped about 5% between year 2009 and 2008.


There is nothing new in promoting green colour or using green as a trendy colour associated with fast cars. Back in the glory days grand prix racing and European road racing, the famous British Racing Green - a certain dark hue of green used to adorn all British racing cars from Jaguars to Lotuses to Bentleys and Aston Martins as well as classic British F1 teams like Vanwall and Cooper. While the French racing cars were blue, German's silver (at one time they were white too)  and Italian's red.

Britain vs Italy!

An example of a classic Vanwall GP car, seen during Goodwood Festival of Speed


Related link : DuPont 2008 Automotive Colour Popularity Report