Ford Vignale – Driven To Write

Lead Us To The Fifth Empire, Oh Sovereign Sebastian

Extremely recently I noticed a Renault Grand Scenic. It’s a big and imposing car. So is the Espace. Is there any real difference between them apart from the price tag and the Espace’s motorized glove drawer?

Maybe the Espace is simply an advanced form of brougham, much like the poor old Opel Senator: a Rekord with a different nose and tail. If the similarity of the Megane Scenic to the Espace is too small maybe people simply must Continue reading “Lead Us To The Fifth Empire, Oh Sovereign Sebastian”

Untether the Ewes and Sing Your Song, Euan.

The only way forwards is back, according to an old dictum. BMW thinks so too.

In a recent article at Autocropley, Richard Bremner presented without criticism BMW’s plans to “go upmarket”. Firstly, one has to say, aren’t they already supposed to be upmarket?

Well, the answer is no apparently. As we showed here, BMW’s price spectrum has dropped somewhat in the last twenty years. The price of the cheapest cars fell well into territory that was long the preserve of the hum-drum, mass-market brands as BMW traded on its name. Further, the price of its most expensive cars fell too. Altogether this means that as BMW has managed to Continue reading “Untether the Ewes and Sing Your Song, Euan.”

Up-selling Henry

With news that Ford’s upmarket Vignale line is falling below expectations, are the wheels already coming off the Blue Oval’s last chance saloon?

The key to viability in the European car market is finding ways to encourage customers to pay more. Easier said than done. According to a report last week in Automotive News, a JATO Dynamics analysis states the average UK customer pays £25, 400 for a mainstream brand D-segment car. By contrast, the average spend on a premium branded car of similar size was 36% higher. Continue reading “Up-selling Henry”

DS – The Final Frontier (Revisited)

A lot can happen in two years, and since we’re examining the fortunes of PSA’s Distinctive Series, it might be useful to revisit this piece from Driven to Write’s early days to see what we thought then.

A study in pointlessness – the DS4. Image via citroen.md

Is Citroën’s ‘Distinctive Series’ the final frontier for the legendary French automaker? [First published 16 January 2014].

Lately, France’s PSA group became the automotive Blanche DuBois – lurching with mounting desperation from one apparent suitor to another following the collapse of their core market. Yet amidst the gloom, a hitherto unimaginable success story seems to have unfolded, involving the marque most analysts had written off as beyond saving. Could Citroën, PSA’s trouble child since 1976, belatedly, and against all odds, find itself at the forefront of a marketing coup?

Continue reading “DS – The Final Frontier (Revisited)”