Latest news with #carDesign
Daily Telegraph
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Telegraph
2025 Kia Tasman ute review
Don't miss out on the headlines from New Cars. Followed categories will be added to My News. In a divided world, it's a rare and wonderful thing when people on the internet reach a consensus. Unfortunately for Kia, that consensus is its much-awaited ute – the Tasman – is very, very ugly. On any forum, video or article talking about the car, it's the first thing people mention. It's been described as a Lego car, a Ram bought from Temu, a Korean Mahindra, and a half-eaten cabbage. But like every parent of an ugly baby, Kia doesn't see the problem. MORE: First impressions of Kia's Tasman ute The Kia Tasman has divisive styling. Picture: Supplied 'Road presence will dilute the angst surrounding how it looks,' Australian chief executive Damien Meredith said at the launch press conference. They'd better hope so. Kia has big ambitions for the Tasman, they want it to be the fourth best-selling ute in Australia, behind the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, and the Isuzu D-Max. To pull that off, they'll need to sell around 20,000 units and outperform the BYD's critically acclaimed plug-in hybrid ute, the Shark. MORE: Why sports stars went into bat for Kia Kia's pick-up borrows its engine from the Carnival and Sorento. Picture: Supplied It's a big ask for a car that's late to the game, entering a crowded market, and made by a brand better known for family-friendly SUVs. To succeed, Kia need to quickly build credibility as a maker of rugged, blokey vehicles. That's why their ads are packed with sporting legends pretending to be tradies. Kia are also heavily promoting the Tasman's origin story: that it's a ute designed specifically for Australian roads and drivers. MORE: Full prices and specifications for the Kia Tasman The Tasman's cabin is practical and impressive. Picture: Supplied But in reality, the Australian team didn't have total free range. The original name of 'Tanami' was scuppered in Korea, and the controversial final design, I'm told, was a captain's call from inside the head office. Internal politics and smashed-crab aesthetics aside, the Tasman is a reasonably competitive, somewhat unimaginative car that stands up to its rivals. There are 10 Tasman variants coming into the market, starting with a paired-down 2x4 single cab chassis. At the top of the line is the 4x4 X-Pro, which is $75,000 before on-road costs. If you're considering any trail driving, this is Kia's most-compelling option. MORE: Kia defends Tasman ute styling The Tasman shines off-road. Picture: Supplied The Tasman is a big car – marginally wider, taller and longer than its Ranger and Hilux rivals, giving it considerable presence on the road. But it's a different story under the bonnet. All variants are powered by a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine. That's fairly modest, especially compared to the larger V6 options offered by the likes of Ford and Volkswagen. To Kia's credit, the Tasman doesn't feel particularly underpowered on the road. With an empty tray, it was responsive and comfortable, with enough guts to easily overtake slower cars. While the Tasman was smooth on the highway, it is worth noting the ride was noticeably harder at slower speeds. MORE: The ute war set to erupt Kia worked hard on the Tasman's off-road performance. Picture: Supplied But the X-Pro really shines when it gets off the tarmac. The top-of-the-line Tasman has a full suite of off-road technology, including ground view cameras, terrain options, low-range modes, rear diff-lock, and an 'X-Trek' setting which crawls the car at a slow, constant speed in both drive and reverse. It's the traction control which sets this car apart, though. Even an inexperienced off-roader will have a good chance of managing hostile conditions, thanks to technology which does a lot of the thinking for you. But how many owners are actually going take the Tasman off road? Only about 15-20 per cent, according to Kia's market research. Sophisticated electronics shine on slippery surfaces. Picture: Supplied But, for the people who are more likely to use their utes for shopping trips and school runs, the Tasman is well-suited there, too. The cabin is impressively quiet and comfortable. In the X-Pro, the seats are supportive, heated, and offer generous recline in both the front and rear rows. It also has the kinds of features you'd expect to see in a family sedan, including a large infotainment screen, sunroof, wireless charging dual climate zones, and a heated steering wheel. The back row particularly stands out for its design and ride quality. The Kia Tasman is on sale now. Picture: Supplied It feels much more like a regular passenger vehicle than most dual-cab utes on the market. But this car doesn't answer the fundamental question of whether Australia needs, or can support, another pretty-good diesel ute. It's hard to shake the feeling that the Tasman would have been a hit three or four years ago, but now it might be too little, too late. It's lucky the Tasman does well off-road, because it's facing a big uphill battle. Originally published as 2025 Kia Tasman ute review
The Herald
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
2025 Audi A3 soldiers on with minor revisions
It marked a radical departure from the third-generation car in terms of styling, taking on a more aggressive persona. This extended to the cabin too, which featured Lamborghini-esque flavours, in the angular layout and shapes of the air-ventilation slots. The Italian firm, like Audi, is a part of the Volkswagen Group. The changes to the enhanced A3 are subtle. You wonder if they could have done more. Look closely to spot the flatter, wider single-frame grille, larger intake sections, and refreshed headlamp design with pixel elements. An updated rear bumper execution incorporates a diffuser-like element, contributing to a sportier feel. Our test unit wore a decal package, with black inserts depicting the Audi logo. The updates inside are similarly modest. And in some respects, unwelcomed — like the smaller, cheaper-looking gear selector nib, replacing the elegant metallic unit previously deployed. Look out for new decorative inlays, additional lighting and the option of microfibre upholstery material designed to look like suede, complementing the leatherette seat covering. Our test unit had fabric inlays instead, with a racy, red checkered pattern. We should also note the rollout of the new Audi emblem: gone is the chrome-faced, 3D device previously used. Again, it looks much cheaper and probably brings a cost saving across the board. We observed the same when Volkswagen went the route of flat 2D emblems on its cars. Audi has rationalised the A3 model line, simplifying trim lines and adding more in terms of standard fare. The basic iterations have fallen away completely, leaving the S-Line as the default model in both sedan and Sportback versions, with a single engine choice on offer. That is the 35 TFSI, which uses the familiar 1.4l, four-cylinder, turbocharged-petrol unit. This is linked to an eight-speed automatic. Above the S-Line is a Black Edition trim which, as the name implies, adds a darker aesthetic theme to the mix. The S3 derivative has been culled.
New York Times
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Adrian Newey's Path to Aston Martin
For two months last year, Adrian Newey, renowned in Formula 1 as a master of car design, contemplated his next move. After 19 seasons, Red Bull announced last May that Newey, the chief technical officer, was leaving. At the time, cars designed by Newey for the team had won seven drivers' titles, six constructors' championships and 118 Grands Prix. Adding his earlier time with Williams and McLaren, his cars have won 12 constructors' championships and 14 drivers' titles. 'You have to be honest with yourself, to keep yourself fresh, and I felt as if I needed a new challenge,' Newey said during a news conference in September. 'But I genuinely had no idea what would be next. I just wanted to have a blank mind, take stock, enjoy a bit of a break and hope that, standing in the shower somewhere, the spark would come. 'I spent lots of time with Mandy, my wife, discussing what's next, what do we do. Do we go off and sail around the world? Do I do something different, like the America's Cup or whatever? So we took a bit of time out, although I think she was worried I would probably drive her a bit mad if I was at home too much.' Newey, 66, stepped away from Formula 1, but he said that by late June last year, he knew where he was headed. He would join Aston Martin as managing technical partner and as a shareholder. A few months later, the car he designed for Red Bull added to his legacy when Max Verstappen won a fourth consecutive drivers' championship. Before joining Aston Martin, he was in demand. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Auto Car
01-07-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
From Renault 5 to Panda: How François Leboine saved small cars
It's vanishingly rare that a new car is so well-received it actually shifts perceptions of the company that created it, even before anyone has sat behind the wheel. That's the sort of instant impact of which car designers dream but precious few will ever achieve. Yet two of François Leboine's recent creations have done just that, for two different firms. Which is why he's a worthy winner of our Design Hero award. In his current role as Fiat's design chief, the Frenchman led the creation of the new Grande Panda hybrid, which combined knowing nods to the 1980s Panda with a fresh design infused with intricate details. It created new possibilities for a firm overdependent on the Fiat 500, while proving affordable cars could still be stunningly stylish. 'I knew we had to make a new icon,' says Leboine. 'Fiat is a great brand, but when I arrived four years ago, too much depended on the 500; that was clear for everyone, but it's not easy to tackle. There was a question about whether all the projects should be related to the 500 [in terms of design], because that was our hero car. My answer was that we needed to create a second hero. Of course, that's not easy to do.' We will return to the Grande Panda, but Leboine's story predates his arrival at Fiat's Centro Stile in Turin. The bulk of his automotive career so far has been spent at Renault. As the French firm's concept car design boss, he was tasked with creating a fresh version of a classic model. But after two years of work, the project stalled in 2020 because 'nobody was interested'. Until, that is, new Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo walked into the design studio on his first day on the job, looked at Leboine's vision of an electric Renault 5 and said 'let's make that'.
Motor 1
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
Could Pop-Up Headlights Make a Comeback?
They say everything is cyclical—fashion, music, pop culture. The same is true with car design. Hyundai popularized the retro-fantastic ' 8-bit ' styling on its modern EVs, while Honda is on a mission to revive the long-lost wedge . One thing we haven't seen return, though, are pop-up headlights. The once-ubiquitous design element quickly faded into the background as automakers moved to sleeker, simpler light fixtures focused more on aerodynamic efficiency. What a shame. With so many other retro elements returning to modern cars, though, why can't pop-up headlights also make a comeback? First, some history. The first pop-up headlights date back to 1935. Cord debuted the 810 prototype at the New York Auto Show, touting a technology never before seen. Hidden on either of the exterior fenders were headlight fixtures that "popped up" with a few vigorous twists of a dashboard-mounted crank. Alfa Romeo would introduce pop-up headlights on the production 8C 2900A Berlinetta just a year later in 1936, and the Buick Y-Job concept would follow in 1938. But it wasn't until 1962 that pop-up headlights made their way into the mainstream on the Lotus Elan, which ditched the manually operated crank for the first vacuum-operated pop-ups. The 1938 Buick Y-Job Concept Photo by: Buick Automakers would adopt the technology quickly thereafter, and pop-up headlights boomed in popularity in the US throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Sadly, the last production cars to have pop-up headlights in the US were the Lotus Esprit, ironically enough, and the Chevrolet C5 Corvette. Both of which ended production in 2005, taking pop-ups with them. As with anything good and fun, government regulations all but put a stop to pop-ups. But they weren't necessarily banned. Instead, regulators approved more aerodynamic headlight designs as opposed to the classic round, sealed beams, which meant automakers could save time and money by affixing sleeker, smaller fixtures to the front ends of their vehicles as opposed to fussy, often-complex pop-up units. Pedestrian protection laws globally also meant that anything protruding from the top of a vehicle's hood was a big no-no. Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 Photo by: Chevrolet But in the US, at least, pop-up headlights aren't explicitly banned. So why don't we see more of them? Especially if there's a burgeoning demand for the good ol' days of car design. Audi has been at the forefront of lighting technology for more than a decade. They pioneered the adaptive Matrix LED headlight for Europe in 2013 and continue to evolve the technology. Just recently, Audi debuted the new Q3 SUV with updated Digital Matrix LED headlights featuring micro-LEDs with semiconductors that are thinner than a hair. The man behind the implementation of that technology is Dr. Michael Kruppa, who's been the head of headlight development at Audi for a number of years. Even though Audi has never made a single production car with pop-up headlights (almost unbelievably), Kruppa knows as much as anyone about modern lighting technology. 2026 Audi Q3 Photo by: Audi "The most important point to understand is that everything we do is function-driven," Kruppa tells me. "[The headlights] always come from a very emotional perspective. They want to give the whole car a unique appearance, even if the light isn't illuminated." At Audi, engineers work hand-in-hand with designers to create light fixtures that are as functional as they are beautiful, he says. But with innovation comes roadblocks; getting some specific lighting elements to market is no easy task. It took years for regulators to approve Audi's use of adaptive matrix lighting technology in Europe and other markets. In the US, meanwhile, similar technology is only now hitting the road. Rivian is among the first automakers to get its adaptive lighting technology approved. "[We] had to prove that [matrix LEDs] were robust enough," Kruppa says of regulators. "It was very important to convince the regulators that there is no glare for upcoming traffic… We went for test drives with them to show how the systems worked on the road. Based on this feedback, we were also able to understand their fears, because regulation is quite old-fashioned." Photo by: Audi That's all to say: lighting technology is extremely complicated. Pop-up headlights would undoubtedly further complicate the matter. "If you really want to make [the headlights] disappear completely, it's quite difficult," Kruppa says. "Because in the end, you need them to have a free, open perspective for use at night. At the moment, the big problem is the mechanics and all the additional parts you would have to integrate. So you make the headlamps even bigger, you make them heavier, and our focus, really… is not really having additional mechanical movements." It makes sense. Adding a mechanical function to a feature that doesn't already require one would be a step backward. Not to mention the added costs associated with slapping a piece of sheet metal or carbon fiber to the front of a bumper, and the potential interference with the many safety systems required on modern cars. Plus, there isn't even much room for a pop-up function at all. "The space in front of the car is really limited," he says, "so you don't have a lot of empty space where you can move a lid or where you can put a mechanical part that completely disappears. So that's the reason why we are not focusing on that at the moment." 'If you really want to make [the headlights] disappear completely, it's quite difficult.' But that's not to say companies haven't tried hiding their headlights. We just haven't noticed. A big, modern trend is the split headlight—that is, a two-piece light fixture with an LED running light near the hood line and a larger headlight lower down on the bumper. The new Q3 has it, as do so many modern SUVs. As Kruppa notes, the split headlight was developed, in large part, as a way of 'hiding' the main headlight housing so that the focus is drawn to the upper LED. And you can see that on the latest Q3. "The main focus [with split headlights] really is aesthetics," he says. "Designers focus on the daytime conditions; You're only using the daytime running light… You still have to fulfill legal requirements, though, which means you need a low-beam and a high-beam." "The bezels and polymer pieces surrounding the lower headlights were created so that if they're not on, you don't see them, because you're attracted to the daytime running light." Mazda Iconic SP Concept Love them or hate them, split headlights are, largely, an evolution of the pop-up. But for the most part, the dream of a new car with pop-up headlights is largely dashed. There are some outliers, like the coachbuilt Ares Panther and the Mazda Iconic SP concept . Unfortunately, it's unlikely that we'll ever see another mass-produced modern vehicle with old-school light fixtures. For Audi specifically, the distinct lighting signature of its Matrix LEDs does offer shades of nostalgia. The shape and function harken back, in some ways, to the original R8 and TT. But for Kruppa, he's more focused on the future of lighting design, not necessarily the past. "I think the biggest contribution we will see in the future from lighting is taking over more responsibilities in terms of communication," he says, pointing specifically to things like autonomous driving and pedestrian safety. "Light will create some kind of touch point from the exterior… creating a sense of safety. This is what we strongly believe will happen in the future, whether we need 10 years, I don't know. But this is definitely the outlook." More Design Trends Chrysler Has Its Own Design Studio. That Could Be a Game-Changer America's Beautiful, Forgotten Hypercars Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
