'Adult Social Vehicle,' Anyone?
A spring snow storm hit New York last week as auto industry executives descended on the city to show off their wares in advance of the big New York International Auto Show. The chilly weather framed the mood for a business that's struggling to shake off the blahs.
The main distraction for the press was the big trouble surrounding General Motors. But there were a few new vehicles and concepts worthy of attention. Here's a look at some of them:
Adult social vehicles test the waters.
You may be wondering, what's an adult social vehicle, or ASV? I just made that term up, because among industry executives there doesn't seem to be any more compelling phrase to capture the emerging new class of vehicles that are designed to carry five to six people and their stuff in business-class comfort but aren't exactly sport-utility vehicles, minivans, station wagons or even crossover utility vehicles, the way that term is commonly used.
Check out Consumer Reports' reviews of the Ford Fusion, Pontiac Torrent and more new models for 2005 and 2006, and get a preview of hybrid vehicles. Also, see the best new cars under $25,000.
DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz brand is using New York as the official debut for the production version of its U.S.-assembled R-Class ASV. The R-Class is a big vehicle, as long as a large SUV with 75 to 80 cubic feet of cargo room. But it rides low to the ground like a big Mercedes sedan. The rear door is super-sized for easy access, but it doesn't slide like rear doors do on most minivans. The R Class seats six in three rows of seats. The third row is roomy enough for a small adult to sit comfortably for a short ride. The second row offers two roomy seats that reminded me of the accommodations on a corporate jet. Indeed, that's exactly what Mercedes intends.
"The first row is first class, the second and third row are business class," says Ron Mueller, product manager for luxury SUVs and touring vehicles for Mercedes-Benz USA.
The closest thing to an R-Class on the American road today is probably the Chrysler Pacifica . The two vehicles share a functional purpose -- offering an alternative to the conventional minivan or SUV -- but little else. Skeptics wonder whether consumers will cross-shop the two, given that the R-Class's starting price of "under $50,000" will make it considerably more expensive than the Pacifica . Daimler executives pooh-pooh that notion.
In any case, it appears likely that both the R-Class and the Pacifica will soon have competition from, among others, BMW. Helmut Panke, chairman of the German company, says BMW is developing two concepts aimed at offering groups of adult friends a stylish, comfortable way to get around. One is currently known inside the company's Munich headquarters as the "RFK," or, using English, the space-functional concept. Another, Mr. Panke says, will likely be built at BMW's U.S. factory in South Carolina and will aim at offering a roomy vehicle for four people to drive to the beach, and then head to a nice restaurant in town. Mr. Panke said BMW is still trying to settle on a name for this concept. I call it the BeachBimmer. I assume BMW marketers will do better.
These vehicles, and others, including a concept "activity vehicle" Ford has shown in Europe and possibly a production version of the Ford Fairlane concept people carrier shown last January in Detroit, all spring from the same premise: As boomers age, they are still going to want roomy, utilitarian vehicles for their active lives. But they will want them for different reasons than they did during the Minivan '80s and the SUV '90s.
Mercedes-Benz's Mr. Mueller calls this target market, "socialite empty-nesters." It's not kids they're hauling around. It's each other. For example, there's the concept of "hosting," a term used to describe what happens when adult friends decide to go out to dinner. Rather than everyone driving to the restaurant separately, one couple could offer to chauffeur the group. (With tougher anti-drunk-driving laws in place, this sort of arrangement is bound to become more common as groups rely on a designated driver.)
What kind of vehicle would you want to have to be a host on such an occasion? Certainly you wouldn't want a small car, but maybe you wouldn't want a large SUV with a rough ride or a high step up to the cabin.
The R-Class goes on sale in the fall. Its success or failure will be watched carefully as upscale brands try to gauge what wealthy, socially active boomers want next.
Embracing the iPod
Auto makers are scrambling to embrace the iPod, as it becomes increasingly clear that Apple's nifty little music machines are the way millions of consumers want to store, carry and enjoy their music. The current crop of devices for piping the music from an iPod into a car's sound system are mostly clunky and inelegant, involving wires dangling out of the radio face, cassette player interfaces and other compromises.
This will start to change as more car makers engineer iPod connections into their sound systems. Ford'sVolvo brand, for example, plans to adapt all its 2005 models to offer systems that will pipe music from an iPod to the stereo. In some models, such as the V70 wagon and S60 and S80 sedans, the iPod will plug into a white wire inside the storage bin under the center armrest.
A Volvo wagon with this system is on display at the New York Show. Once plugged in, you will be able to select tunes or playlists using the radio controls. Volvo also plans to offer a different system that will give the driver an iPod docking cradle on the dash that beams the tunes to the radio using an FM transmitter. For now, Volvo says these are dealer-installed options. Other brands are following suit, and snuggling up close to Apple in their advertising and promotions.
Hybrids Roll
Gas-electric vehicle technology leader Toyota is using the New York Show to make its most explicit statement yet about how it plans to market hybrid-propulsion systems. At the Lexus stand, Toyota is showing off not only the long-awaited RX400h gas-electric hybrid SUV, but also a gas-electric version of its recently launched GS sedan. Both of these vehicles use hybrid propulsion to achieve V-8 performance with V-6 or better fuel economy. Toyota's bet is that luxury customers, who keep buying more and more horsepower despite higher fuel prices, will be drawn to hybrid technology for guilt-free performance. In the Toyota brand, Toyota will push fuel economy.
Rivals are watching. At Ford, Mark Fields, executive vice president in charge of the auto maker's luxury brands, calls the Volvo brand a logical place for Ford to expand its own gas-electric hybrid offerings. "We're working on a plan to see if we can get that done," he says.
Meanwhile, Volvo will promote its 315-horsepower XC90 V-8 model with ads showing Richard Branson blasting off into space.
别出心裁的“成人社交”车
上周，初春时节的纽约，暴风雪却不期而降，同时降临这座城市的还有准备在2005国际车展开展前抢先给新车型亮相的汽车业人士。汽车业眼下正试图摆脱低迷状态，寒冷的天气或许正衬托出他们此时的心境。
媒体主要关注的还是通用汽车(General Motors)遇到的麻烦。不过此外也有一些新款车型和概念车值得一看。让我们也来一睹为快吧：
“成人社交概念车”试水
你可能会感到疑惑：什么是成人社交车(ASV)啊？我也是刚刚才勉强搞清楚这个术语，看来汽车界人士似乎觉得没有什么更能让人为之一振的词儿能有助于这种新型汽车抓住人们的视线。说白了，这种车适合5、6个人旅行用，有充足空间容纳他们携带的物品，乘坐舒适，内部配置相当于商务级，与运动型多用途车(SUV)、客货两用车、旅行车甚至混合式多用途车(CUV)都不一样。
戴姆勒克莱斯勒(DaimlerChrysler)将利用这次纽约车展为其在美国组装的奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)品牌R级的ASV首次正式亮相。R级车车体庞大，车身长度与后备厢有75-80立方英尺的SUV可有一比。但其底盘像大奔驰卧车一样很低。
车的后侧门很宽敞，进出方便，但它没有像多数客货两用车那样采用滑动门。R级车有3排6个座位。第三排座位很宽敞，可以让一个块头不大的成年人很舒服地享受一段旅程。第二排有两个宽大的座椅，让我想起公司专机上的那种座位。是啊，这正是奔驰想给人们营造的感觉。
专门生产豪华型SUV和旅行车的梅塞德斯-奔驰美国分部(Mercedes-Benz USA)产品经理缪勒(Ron Mueller)说，第一排座位相当于头等舱级别，第二和第三排相当于商务舱。
目前美国市面上跟R级最接近的或许是克莱斯勒(Chrysler)旗下的Chrysler Pacifica。这两种车的一个共同点是可为传统的客货两用车或SUV提供又一种替代性选择，但恐怕也仅此而已。有些持怀疑态度的人表示，鉴于R级车起价接近50,000美元，比Pacifica贵出不少，有了Pacifica的消费者恐怕不会再买奔驰的这款了。戴姆勒克莱斯勒的人士对这种想法很不以为然。
不过不管怎样，很可能R级和Pacifica很快会招致其他品牌的挑战，比如宝马(BMW)等。宝马公司董事长潘克(Helmut Panke)说，宝马正在开发两款新式概念车，目标是给成年人提供一个时尚而舒适的驾乘环境，比如在朋友相聚、同行的场合。其中一款目前在公司内部的名称是RFK，意思是强调空间和功能的概念。
潘克说，另一款可能会在宝马位于美国南卡罗来纳的工厂生产，这款车的设计思想是针对到海滨地区旅行、随后会到附近镇上餐馆小憩的小团体(4个人)。潘克说，这款概念车的名字还没想好。如果让我想，没准儿可以叫“海滨美妞”(BeachBimmer)。不过宝马的营销人员没准儿会有更好的主意。
上面所有这些车还有其他一些车型（包括福特的一款“活力”概念的车）都来自这样一种假设：婴儿潮前后出生的那代人虽然年龄逐渐增大，但他们仍希望拥有宽敞、实用的驾乘空间，充分享受生命的活力。但是，希望拥有这些车的理由与他们上世纪八十年代喜欢两用车和九十年代喜欢SUV的理由可不大一样。
梅塞德斯-奔驰的缪勒称，这一目标市场是家庭生活空巢化的社交名流。他们很在意与外界的交往。他们中间流行“做东“的概念，比如安排与老朋友一起外出就餐等。这时他们不会各自分头到餐馆碰头，而会由“做东”的夫妇开车接其他人一起去。（随著禁止酒后驾车的法律越来越严格，这种安排必定会越来越流行，这样那个不喝酒的人就可以负起驾车的责任，让其他人开怀畅饮。）
这种场合，如果你做东，你会喜欢什么样的车呢？你肯定不喜欢小车，但你可能也不喜欢开起来震动很大或者车门踏板很高的SUV。
R级车今年秋季将上市销售。它的成功与否将受到市场的广泛关注，因为许多品牌的车商都想知道这些富有的且在社交方面很活跃的人士下一步希望开什么样的车。
iPod大受追捧
汽车生产商对iPod趋之若鹜，因为苹果公司(Apple)出产的这种小巧玲珑的玩意儿将成为数百万消费者储存、携带和欣赏音乐时的首选。目前已有的将iPod里的音乐输出到车载音响系统所用的设备大多很难看而且音质也很差。
随著iPod在汽车上的推广，这种情况必将有所改变。比如福特公司旗下的沃尔沃(Volvo)品牌计划在其所有2005款车型上都安装iPod输出设备。在某些车型上，比如V70旅行车和S60、S80轿车上，可以将iPod插到座位扶手中间藏著的小盒里。
沃尔沃的一款已安装这种系统的旅行车正在纽约车展上展出。将iPod插好后，可以用无线控制板调试声音、选择曲目。沃尔沃还计划提供一种可以将iPod里的音乐输出到调频播放机的配置。不过目前来说，这些配置还属于选择性项目。其他品牌对沃尔沃的做法群起而仿效之，并且在广告和促销活动里也跟苹果公司贴得很近。
混合动力车
在这次纽约车展上，在油、电混合动力车技术上遥遥领先的丰田汽车(Toyota)对其混合燃料车的营销计划作出了迄今为止最明确的声明。在雷克萨斯(Lexus)品牌的展台上，丰田不仅展出了市场期待已久的RX400h混合动力SUV，还推出了近期上市的GS轿车的混合动力型车。这两款采用混合动力的车型燃料效率良好，V-6发动机能达到相当于V-8发动机的马力性能。
丰田这一战略的思路是，那些不在乎油价上涨、对大马力车型情有独衷的豪华车买主也会看好混合动力车，因为这样既不必为浪费能源内疚、又能享受大马力的快感。
丰田的对手都在虎视眈眈。福特汽车主管、豪华车品牌的执行副总裁菲尔茨(Mark Fields)说，沃尔沃品牌是福特扩大自己的混合动力车型的合理选择。他说，公司正在制定这方面的计划。
与此同时，沃尔沃将对其315马力的XC90 V-8车型展开促销攻势。在配合此次活动的广告里，维京航空创始人布莱松(Richard Branson)在车里打著发动机后，汽车一下子飞上了天空。
