By Nicolle Keogh April showers aside, there are many reasons why we love this month— Earth Day being one of them. Though the mention of Earth Day reminds us of sticky blue and green arts and crafts projects from elementary school, now that we’re all grown up, we can celeb…
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Henrik Fisker, the co-founder of EV maker Fisker Automotive, has resigned his post as executive chairman. The move is not uncommon, especially in the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) industry. Fisker joins Martin Eberhard of Tesla, Kevin Czinger of CODA, and Shai Agassi of Better Place as founders of next-generation automakers who are no longer part of the company they created. The departure of the founder is often a necessary function of the company’s growth, as visionary perspectives of the market and the product must eventually give way to more market-driven and realistic outlooks. Little information concerning the specific differences Henrik Fisker had with management is available; however, the circumstances that led to the split are well documented. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
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Traditionally, it takes a decade or more for a new car to find its footing, but China‘s Qoros is doing its damnedest to run before it walks. Founded in 2007, Qoros is a joint-venture between Chery and Israel Corporation, a company best-known in automotive circles for helping to fund Better Place.
With an impressively sized display said to be modeled on the Silk Road, Qoros unveiled its production 3 Sedan, as well as its 3 Cross Hybrid concept and 3 Estate concept. We had the chance to sit in the 3 Sedan, and it looks and feels surprisingly accomplished considering its brief development time. In particular, the cabin has a pronounced Volkswagen aesthetic about it – so much so that we were half-tempted to ask whether Wolfsburg provided some of the switchgear and styling help. The interior is dominated by a unique eight-inch capacitive touchscreen system, whose functionality is divided into quadrants (where have we heard that before?), accessible with a two-finger swipe.
The Qoros 3 will be available at launch with either a naturally aspirated or turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine tied to either a manual gearbox or a dual-clutch transmission. Qoros also showed a pair of showcars, the Qoros 3 Estate Concept and Qoros 3 Cross Hybrid Concept. At a glance, both look like production-ready vehicles.
Qoros plans to launch later this year in its home market of China, pushing westward into Europe early next year. While there were originally plans for North American sales, Autoblog has learned that the combination of a mature market and economic malaise has proven to be enough to keep the company’s US and Canadian ambitions at bay for the foreseeable future.
And what of the Chinese auto industry’s traditional blind spot, quality? The company is touting its executives and engineers‘ histories at other, more established automakers as proof that it will build a robust product. What companies have their execs worked at? BMW, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Saab and Volvo. Hmmm…
Continue reading Qoros brand debuts, hits the ground running with 3 Sedan
Qoros brand debuts, hits the ground running with 3 Sedan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
By Todd Woody, Forbes Staff Electric car infrastructure startup Better Place has ousted its second chief executive in three months. The company said that CEO Evan Thornley has left Better Place just months after the board of directors tapped him for the top spot after they fired founder Shai Agassi in September. Thornley formerly ran Better Place‘s Australian operations. Better Place chairman Idan Ofer, whose Israel Corp. is the company’s largest shareholder, will assume the post of executive chairman. In a statement the company said Ofer, Israel‘s richest person, will “manage external relationships and alliances for Better Place, while Alan Gelman, Global CFO for Better Place, will manage day-to-day operations.” The latest shakeup comes as Better Place struggles to gain traction in Israel and Denmark for its network of battery switch stations. Subscribers buy electric Renault Fluence Z.E. sedans but Better Place owns the batteries and charges a monthly fee for the kilometers driven. Better Place has raised $850 million from General Electric, Morgan Stanley, HSBC and other investors – including a recent $100 million round – but has lost more than $500 million since its founding. When I interviewed Thornley in October he indicated that he would pursue a strategy to offer Better Place services to all electric car drivers, not just those with vehicles compatible with the company’s switch stations. “We’re here to serve everyone with a plug,” he said.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
