Mercedes touts future safety with research vehicle

In 1980, when several automakers began to use airbags, there were people who thought that cars couldn't possibly get any safer. Karl-Heinz Baumann, a safety researcher at Mercedes-Benz AG in Stuttgart, was not one of them. "We said, 'No, it cannot be all,' and we kept doing more research." The results of that research are presented on the company's most recent Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESV), on display now in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.

Jaguar SUV: The rendering begins

Jaguar SUV - two alternative views So we know that a Jaguar SUV is going to happen. We know because Adrian Hallmark – Jaguar’s vocal and opinionated Global Brand Director – said back in December that Jaguar “…need a crossover and we need to stop being a saloon-based company.” And although Adrian has sometimes managed to speak without engaging brain first, what he says should be taken seriously – even if there are perhaps those at JLR who would rather there was a 3 second live delay on Adrian’s musings at times. So the confirmation that an SUV or SAV or Crossover – or whatever you want to call a high-riding Jaguar – is going to happen means we can all speculate on what it will be and what it will look like.

2011 EyesOn Design Awards

The 2011 EyesOn Design Awards, held at the NAIAS in Detroit last week, commemorated the late Chuck Jordan, a Founding Chairman of the annual EyesOn Design event, which celebrates its 25th recurrence this summer. Dr. Philip Hessburg, President of the Detroit Institute of Ophalmology – a non-profit internationally recognized organization that presents the awards every year – opened the ceremony by stating that Jordan was the "unwavering internal advocate" at GM.