That design must be destined for the Asian market- Gargoyles and Elephants are a big item there. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Not Photoshop... Made for the movie "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"... Captain Nemo's car... https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a20125/league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen-car-ebay/
Thats the car from the film 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' -Its Cpt Nemos car so makes sense it is overwrought.
This was on another thread where Blue Oval guys were arguing that the redesigned 2020 Explorer was uglier than the current version. Here is a video where Ford previews its dealers and highlights changes made. A lot of styling refinements such as cut lines and wheel placement have resulted in what I feel is a very handsome SUV. IMHO, Ford did a nice job (and I'm not necessarily a Blue Oval person).
James, this is your lucky day! Just in! Tuners are now making body kits, lowering kits, and stancing the wheels so your ride will be one in a million! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
IMO the front is the only part that's an improvement. The rest is pretty bad. That extra cut line in the C pillar vs. the outgoing model stinks...makes the whole area look like an afterthought. And the back suffers from the lack of the full-width brightwork.
A friend of mine from Seattle, Kazuyuki Shibuya is in Turin and caught this photoshoot. Also visited the National Automobile Museum. Their automobile museums are like our national aerospace museums. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I would like to see them replace the 500L with this concept. Try not to change anything FIAT, it is nice the way it is, for what it is, a cool looking kitchen appliance with wheels!!
Why Clay-Modeling Car Designers Love Getting Their Hands Dirty Image Unavailable, Please Login StudioAtGawker for Mazda 3/23/16 12:00pm 11.4K 213 Image Unavailable, Please Login Model-making has been a tool for designers for thousands of years. You try something out, tweak it, scrap it, and try again. It turns the imagined into the real, and lets the idea speak for itself. Computers haven’t changed this. No desktop design simulation, VR goggles, or even lush artistic rendering can change the value of having an actual thing in front of you to look at and touch. So it should come as no surprise that physical modeling still thrives in design studios around the world — particularly in the automotive industry. It’s the primary tool that designers use to craft their vision, and by far the easiest way for production teams and execs to fully grasp and evaluate the work, both aesthetically and practically. Mazda. “While making repeated slight changes, a perfect line gradually emerges. I think this is a sensuous beauty that is difficult to reproduce through digital technology.” Clay — or, more specifically, industrial plasticine — is the favored medium for design modeling because it’s easy to build with and easy to manipulate as the work evolves. Teams spend hours working with dozens of tool types (including metal rakes, loops, texture tools, wrinkle tools, and steel blades) to craft the perfect lines. The clay is usually built up from a smaller-scale foam structure supported by steel or wood. It’s thick enough to allow for removal and shaping of the clay, but not so thick that the model ends up weighing thousands of pounds. (A cubic foot of standard industrial plasticine weighs 90 pounds.) The clays come in an assortment of consistencies, colors, and textures to suit multiple applications; the same material also is employed by artists, special-effects crews, and sculptors. Critically, though, it’s not merely shape and design study that benefits from clay modeling. Terauchi notes that clay modeling also is important for evaluating how light interacts with the design. “As a modeler, I care particularly about [making] reflected light look beautiful,” he says. “If something is wrong with the surface, light doesn’t reflect back smoothly. I fine-tune the surface finish with aluminum film over and over again.” RX-VISION unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show last fall — is specially designed to be applied to clay models. It can give the final products a startlingly finished quality — so much so that observers may not even realize they’re looking at a model. The surfaces can be polished to a gloss and painted for a variety of finish options. Generally, cars represent perhaps the upper limits of the practicality of 1:1 modeling, and trying to model anything larger represents another tier of effort and space requirements. So, in the automotive world, companies tend to take it pretty seriously. Indeed, the big brown models sitting statically in design studios represent just a slice of the medium’s overall usefulness to car designers. The material holds fine details without cracking or drooping, so precision molds can be made from the model. It’s also surprising to see the extent to which the physical world of clay modeling and the digital design universe co-mingle: Clay can be CNC-milled (allowing for a degree of quick and repetitive precision manufacturing as the designers progress with their work) and it can be digitally scanned, allowing the changes brought on by the model to be re-integrated into the virtual design workflow. Mazda is uniquely drawn to the use of clay modeling in its design work: Despite its relatively small size, “Mazda consumes more clay than any other manufacturer,” according to MX-5 Miata Chief Designer Masashi Nakayama. From the company’s earliest models like the beautiful, rotary-engined Cosmo Sport of the 1960s to the current MX-5 roadster and CX-5 crossover — among many others — all have benefited from the meticulous construction of clay models. Mazda’s design teams feel that the process results in higher-quality design, as adjustments can be made to both interiors and exteriors to attain degrees of design unity that can’t easily be duplicated by working just with digital models. The process at the carmaker is uniquely collaborative, with the clay modelers often using their expertise with physical realities to help influence a design’s direction. “Sometimes, the form envisioned by the designer can’t be created in the real world,” Terauchi says. “In such cases, I make an alternative proposal from my point of view as a clay modeler. That’s not at all unusual at Mazda. I can make those kinds of proposals because I am always thinking about what the design is intended to express.” At this heavily design-driven Japanese manufacturer, getting your hands dirty has many benefits. This post is a sponsored collaboration between Mazda and Studio@Gawker.
News being reported today is that FCA has proposed a merger to Renault. IF this turns into reality how the Design groups would be integrated and led would be interesting. FCA has not shown a lot of design leadership except for Jeep and trucks while Renault may be too French for the world market. Where or if Nissan and Mitsubishi fit into the proposed merger was not mentioned in the report I saw.
There are indeed a multitude of rumors about a merger. I would think the design functions of the respective companies Chrysler/Fiat/Alfa/Maserati/Renault/Nissan would remain autonomous regarding their nationalities. We'll have to wait and see what happens next.
CNN: Two of the world's biggest carmakers may soon join forces. Fiat Chrysler said Monday that it had submitted a merger proposal to French rival Renault. Each carmaker would control half of the merged entity, it added. Renault said in a statement that its board of directors would meet on Monday to discuss the proposal. The companies had been discussing ways to cooperate on products and new technologies, but Fiat Chrysler said more could be gained from a merger. "These discussions made clear that broader collaboration through a combination would substantially improve capital efficiency and the speed of product development," the company said. Fiat Chrysler owns brands including Jeep, Dodge, Alfa Romeo and Maserati. It said a merger would create a company with annual vehicle sales of 8.7 million. The proposal is the latest example of established automakers seeking partnerships to share the costs of developing new technologies including electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems.
No wonder that Nissan and Mitsubishi were not mentioned. From Automotive News: TOKYO -- Renault's looming "transformational" tie-up with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles potentially puts Nissan Motor Co. in a tight spot in terms of influence, management and even product planning. Indeed, at its surface, the partnership announced on Monday seems to sideline the Japanese automaker that has been the lynchpin of Renault's global auto alliance for two decades. FCA's proposed 50-50 merger with Renault is especially sensitive because it follows Nissan's repeated rebuffing of Renault's efforts to more closely integrate operations and management. It could marginalize Nissan's position in Renault's world or even make Nissan redundant in an important market like the United States, where FCA is much stronger in the important light truck segment. Finally, the combined Renault-FCA could weaken Nissan's bargaining power, if it ever wants to negotiate for more influence in a tie-up or reform its own existing alliance with Renault. The structure of the new company would also seem to dilute Nissan's managerial leverage. The new board would have 11 members, four each from Renault and FCA, but only one from Nissan. "It shows that Nissan isn't the only date in town," Christopher Richter, senior auto analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, said of the proposed merger. "Having been spurned a couple times, Renault is looking around for a new partner. This changes the dynamic for Nissan in several ways." FCA's description of the deal makes only glancing mention of Renault's existing alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Combined with the alliance's existing volume, the new group would have global sales of more than 15 million vehicles, making it the world's biggest, FCA said. Nissan and Mitsubishi, meanwhile, could expect to reap an additional $1.12 billion of annual synergies through the addition of FCA to the sprawling global partnership, the release said. "FCA looks forward -- as part of a combined enterprise with Groupe Renault -- to working with Groupe Renault's Alliance partner companies on ways to create additional value for all Alliance members," FCA said. "FCA recognizes the standing and achievements of Groupe Renault's partners and sees significant expected benefits to all parties from the expanded partnership." Nissan declined to officially comment on the Renault-FCA deal. Not involved People familiar with the situation say Nissan was not involved in the discussions and was not privy to the many of its details. Indeed, when rumors of a possible tie-up first surfaced in March, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa said he was "not at all" aware of such talks. Indeed, one apparent rationale for the Renault-FCA agreement -- the pursuit of scale to spread costs over greater volume -- flies in the face of Nissan's latest business strategy. Saikawa has largely abandoned the quest for scale long championed by Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance now indicted of alleged financial misconduct in Japan. Saikawa's mantra is sustainable growth, even if that means lower volume. Saikawa has also insisted on streamlining joint product development with Renault -- all while maintaining Nissan's managerial independence from its French partner. While the FCA deal could alleviate some pressure on Nissan to accede to a full-out merger with Renault, it also threatens to complicate these two business objectives of Saikawa's. New questions For starters, there is the question of how to integrate a company such as FCA -- with much of its own financial baggage -- when integrating Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi is still a work in progress. "How many times did Carlos Ghosn say no one could manage the alliance but him because it was too complex?" said Kurt Sanger, lead auto analyst at Deutsche Securities Japan in Tokyo. "It gets more complicated from an integration and management perspective." It is unclear what the new structure means for Nissan governance. But it would seem to give Nissan a smaller voice at the seat of power. Nissan would get only one nominee on the joint board. Following the Nov. 19 arrest of Ghosn and Ghosn's removal as chairman of all three partner companies -- Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, Nissan painstakingly renegotiated a new alliance structure with a four-member Alliance Operating Board to make decisions on a consensus basis. Sitting on that board are Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, Renault CEO Thierry Bollore, Nissan CEO Saikawa and Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko. It is unclear how that board would operate in conjunction with an FCA-Renault board. Board terms Under the proposed FCA deal, shareholders in FCA and Renault would receive an equivalent equity stake in the combined company. The French government, the largest shareholder in Renault, however, would not carry over its double voting rights into the new entity. FCA's statement outlining the merger proposal does not mention how Nissan and Renault's mutual holdings might affected. Nissan has a 15 percent, non-voting stake in Renault. It was unclear if this would be carried over as voting stake in the new company. Analysts say a big risk to Nissan is being undermined in the all-important North American market, a key battle ground for both Nissan and FCA's Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge brands. It is traditionally Nissan's most important market, but Nissan has been struggling there against slumping sales and eroding profit margins. Part of the problems is pickup trucks. Nissan spent considerable energy and cost redesigning its Titan full-sized pickup, which has landed with a thud. FCA's Ram pickup, by contrast, recently surpassed the Chevrolet Silverado to become the No. 2 best-selling light truck and second-best selling overall vehicle in the U.S. FCA potentially offers a lifeline of new product that could be rebadged for Nissan. Or, alternatively, Renault could decide that Nissan is not competitive enough in those segments. At the same time, Nissan could preserve a place of relevance by leveraging its strengths in electrified vehicles and autonomous driving, areas where FCA is often deemed weaker. "This makes Nissan look a whole less important to Renault now," Richter said. "It creates a lot of uncertainties for Nissan."
You only looking at the US and maybe Europe? Nissan and Mitsu are huge in China. Renault and FCA hardly register there...
