thoughts on automotive design

It’s 2010, I’m still alive and so it seems is Saab despite GMs continued efforts to kill it over the past few years. So I’ve been rather slack with my blogging, virtually no posts all year. I’m writing this on the wordpress iPhone app, so maybe that will help. Also I bought a new car, which I quite like so perhaps a post about that is due. It’s a new Nissan Qashqai, the popular crossover vehicle. Frankly it’s a design I have admired since it’s introduction in 2006 or was it 2007? Nissan were extremely foward thinking with their replacement for the underwhelming Almera. The idea was not to compete with Golf/Focus, but to offer something that for all intents seems to be from a much more expensive class- the soft roader, but us priced directly alonside other Golf class cars. The Qashqai was essentially similar in concept to Honda’s CR-V, but with much less overtly utilitarian design cues. Definitely worth exploring in a later post- once I’ve driven and assesed it’s qualities further!