Looking Out #33
Auto Didakt on the W124 and Kei cars in Europe, better suburbia with golf buggies, Craig Mod and the value of design, and Dolly Parton, Lana del Ray, and Bobby Doherty.
6th December, 2023
Welcome to Looking Out, a newsletter about the auto industry, mobility, design, and the cultures that surround us. Looking Out is brought to you by Joe Simpson and Drew Smith of The Automobility Group. If you like what you see, tell your friends!
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Auto
ACEA calls for Europe to create own kei car law for small, urban EVs
Why it’s interesting: In news that will delight Continental fans of tiny cars, ACEA, a European automotive lobby group, is calling for regulations to allow for the sale of Kei-type vehicles — like the Nissan Sakura and Honda N-Box — in Europe.
What the hell happened to vehicle affordability in the US?
Why it’s interesting: In 2017, 50% of the US new car market was priced at $30,000 or less, and 80% was under $40,000. Now, it’s 15% and approximately 35% respectively. As Chinese OEMs make significant inroads into the Mexican market, North American manufacturers might want to consider how to better serve the low end.
More on autobesity - or more specifically, blunt front ends
Why it’s interesting: the on-going debate about spiralling vehicle weight and size known as ‘autobesity’ is fleshed out by this piece, in the aftermath of a Land Rover Defender killing two school children in south London. But the most interesting aspect is the analysis of front end height and blunt-ness, and the associated risk to pedestrians.
Auto Didakt on the W124
Why it’s interesting: Christopher Butt eloquently and expertly reviews the design of the Mercedes W124. The significance of this video - which we hope is the first of many – is that it weaves together a captivating story about the people, company and cultural context behind the W124, explains the significance of the design and ultimately in Drew’s words “puts words to a mode of being in the world, as manifest in the W124. And this is a triumph in itself.” A must watch.
Mobility
Children, left behind by suburbia, need better community design
Why it’s interesting: The American model of suburbia is making for miserable childhoods. Without a car to get around (more parents are working multiple jobs and drivers’ licences among 16 year olds has fallen almost 50% between 1983 and 2020), young people find themselves far away from the people they want to hang out with, and the places they want to hang out. At least there’s Instagram… Pair with this superb video from Not Just Bikes called Why American Cities Are Broke.
Meanwhile: In This Atlanta Suburb, Teens Taste Freedom at 10 M.P.H.
Why it’s interesting: If only there were alternatives to cars… oh, wait. There are. Drew recently stayed on Hamilton Island where the only choice each day was at which restaurant, bar, pool, or beach to point his golf buggy. Needless to say, it was a deliciously low-stress way to spend a week, helped by the low-speed and highly social nature of the buggies themselves. In Peachtree City, teenagers are getting in on the act.
Rivian accidentally ‘soft bricking’ cars
Why it’s interesting: If the future of mobility is the software enabled vehicle, perhaps pushing ‘fixes’ to a flakey update which brick cars – over the Thanksgiving Weekend – isn’t the best advert for the future we’ve seen.
Design
Things Become Other Things (1st ed.)
Why it’s interesting: Craig Mod has been Drew’s inspiration for creative practice for well over a decade. To return the favour, Drew supports Craig’s work through his Special Projects membership program. The output? Stunningly-crafted and beautifully-written and illustrated books like Things Become Other Things, a meditation on 10 years of walking in Japan. If you’re looking for a Christmas gift to warm the soul and set the mind free to wander, you could do little better than this marvel.
Job losses likely at VW as the people’s car brand becomes uncompetitive
Why it’s interesting: High costs and low productivity are a problem, say management. To say nothing of the underwhelming market reception of limpid designs slumped on unfortunately-proportioned packages undermined by woeful user experience which VW promised to fix and then didn’t. If anyone asks about the cost implications of poor design, simply point to Volkswagen’s €10 billion cost-cutting plan.
Ford’s futurist
Why it’s interesting: Interview with Ford’s Chief Futurist, Jennifer Brace tells an interesting story about how Ford uses foresight, and scenario planning - a way of approaching future products and directions that opens up far more creative opportunities than being purely ‘data driven’.
Culture
Dolly Parton sings Purple Rain and Lana del Ray sings Take Me Home, Country Roads
Why it’s interesting: Because they’re just beautiful reimagining of cracking classics. And because when everything feels upside down, the warm cloak of nostalgia reimagined is there to remind us of a better time. See also: New Beetle, New Hummer, New Mustang, et al. Pair with: this incredible love letter to the suspension of the E39 BMW 5-Series.
EVs have 79% more reliability problems than gas cars, says Consumer Reports
Why it’s interesting: What might look like something for the Automotive heading, I suspect, is better posed as a question in the Culture section. Because how many of these reliability problems are caused by a hardware culture trying to create a software-defined car?
Elon vs Swedish unions
Why it’s interesting: cultural because, unions and the culture of Musk don’t really mix. But Elon’s famously anti-union stance is butting up against heavily unionised Sweden, where delivery, service and - well - just about anything to do with Tesla has ground to a halt because several unions have come out in support of Tesla service workers, who are striking in an effort to be included in a collective agreement.
Bobby Doherty’s beauty of the everyday
Why it’s interesting: a story framing Doherty’s interest in photography from a young age, and the way he has used it to explore his curiosity in the every day and how mundane can be beautiful.
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That's it for this issue. We love feedback (positive and negative), and to answer any questions you have. So email Joe or Drew and we’ll get back to you.