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Press Centre > CAPtivate > CAP Blog
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Author: |
Martin Ward |
Created: |
Friday, March 07, 2008 |
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Welcome to Martin's Blog |
By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
25th February 2009 - This weeks manufacturer news
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
We first saw a very early pre-production Soul at the Kia R&D centre in Frankfurt about a year ago and the first impression, like most others, was disappointment, disbelief and why had Kia signed off the design? It was just not appealing. However, after seeing the car numerous times over the past twelve months it has really grown on me and I can now see the sense in it. I have to admit that there will be many people who won’t like the styling when they first see it and it will never appeal to them. There will be those much like myself, who don’t like it at first and then do like it and there will be those who will think it is fantastic from day one. It really is a love it or hate it car. It is a brave designer who dreams up the design and an even braver board of directors who sign it off but being brave and bold sometimes works and in the case of the Soul, it is likely to pay off for them.
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Hyundai chose their brand new factory to show us their new SUV concept for the first time which will be the replacement for the Tucson. We went to Nosovice on the Czech/Polish border and 90km north of the Kia Plant in Zilina. The new plant in Nosovice was just a field 18 months ago but is now a fully working car production facility. It employs 1,800 staff who work just one shift at the moment. Around 95% of them are local to the plant and 25% are women who earn on average 850 euros per month.
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
18th February 2009 - This weeks manufacturer news
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Abarth name was re-launched last year with the Grande Punto Abarth and now the second model in the form of a 500, has gone on sale. Abarth is a subsidiary of the Fiat Group and like Alfa Romeo and Lancia, it is a stand alone brand. In essence the Abarth Grande Punto and 500 are still Fiat models but they have been given a sporty look and advanced handling. These differences have allowed the Abarth name to be reborn.
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
11th February 2009 - This weeks manufacturer news
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Most other manufacturers have been creative and imaginative with the naming and badging of their ‘green’ cars. Ford have ‘ECOnetic’, Vauxhall have ‘ECOflex’, BMW have ‘Efficient Dynamics’, Peugeot have ‘BlueLion’, Mercedes have ‘BlueEFFICIENCY’, Seat have ‘Ecomotive’, Volkswagen have ‘BlueMotion’, Mazda have ‘i-stop’ and so on. All of these are new names and all are effective. Skoda though has revamped an old name and one I remember well as Greenline was a bus company that used old routemasters. Greenline is also a large taxi company in Leeds who incidentally have many Skoda models on their fleet. It seems that not much thought was put into the name by the people in the Czech Republic but does the name matter? It is certainly now recognisable though in my mind it still conjures up that big old green bus.
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The all new Golf is, as we’ve said before, an evolution and not a revolution and this follows Volkswagen’s strategy throughout the Golf’s history. Every new model has just been a bit different to the last one and each is easily recognisable as a Golf.
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
4th February 2009 - This weeks manufacturer news
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By Martin Ward on
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
The last time I drove a Q5 was a few weeks ago in southern Spain near Granada on a nice warm sunny day, and what a great drive we had. This past couple of days I have been driving a Q5 in some of the worst weather for years. Snow, blizzards and ice; very different to the Costa Del Sol.
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