Showing posts with label Truck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Truck. Show all posts
Monday, 6 January 2014
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
EXCLUSIVE: Tesla Is Planning To Make A Pickup Truck
Business Insider / Will Wei
The truck will likely be the same type of vehicle as Ford's F-Series pickup trucks. The Ford F-150 is the best-selling vehicle of any kind in the United States.
Musk said Tesla might make the truck in 5 years.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke at Business Insider's IGNITION event in New York yesterday. He made his remarks about the pickup truck during a post-interview Q&A session at the side of the stage. After he descended the stage, Musk was surrounded by a crowd of conference attendees, and he answered questions about Tesla and his rocket company, SpaceX, for about half an hour.
Musk's comments about the truck came after he was asked whether Tesla would ever make a fleet truck for the likes of FedEx or UPS. He said that, yes, Tesla was planning to make a truck, but not a commercial one, because the market opportunity for commercial trucks is much smaller. Musk said the Tesla truck would be modeled on Ford's F-Series in part because of that truck's remarkable popularity.
60,000 F-150s were sold in the month of September.
(On a related note, I drove a Tesla Model S for the first time yesterday. It was as remarkable an experience as people say. Stomping on the "gas" produces a burst of acceleration that is both breathtaking and silent. I'm not a luxury-sedan guy, and I can't run a charge cord out my window in the city, so the S isn't for me. But I quickly put in the first pre-order for the Tesla pickup truck.)
(On another related note, don't miss this clip in which Musk describes how both Tesla and SpaceX almost went bankrupt at the same time in 2008. In a desperate attempt to save the companies, Musk split his remaining assets between them. But by the end of the year, they were both days away from death. Musk said he nearly had a nervous breakdown. WATCH >)
http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-pickup-truck-2013-11?utm_content=buffere5765&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-pickup-truck-2013-11#ixzz2l15rXuhh
Monday, 18 November 2013
Jean Claude Van Damme, Enya, and Volvo's Dynamic Steering System
The latest Volvo commercial is going viral for good reason. Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme takes his 53 year-old body to the next level to showcase Volvo's Dynamic Steering System. The stunt is in fact real. A Volvo rep confirmed that the spot was done in just one take, and if the actor had gotten a leg cramp while filming, he would have been protected by plenty of safety lines that were not visible in the final video. He also was aided by small platforms on the trucks' side mirrors that helped prop up his feet. But none of this takes away from the badassery of doing a perfect split between two massive moving vehicles.
http://distractify.com/people/amazing/the-epic-split-featuring-van-damme/
The latest Volvo commercial is going viral for good reason. Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme takes his 53 year-old body to the next level to showcase Volvo's Dynamic Steering System. The stunt is in fact real. A Volvo rep confirmed that the spot was done in just one take, and if the actor had gotten a leg cramp while filming, he would have been protected by plenty of safety lines that were not visible in the final video. He also was aided by small platforms on the trucks' side mirrors that helped prop up his feet. But none of this takes away from the badassery of doing a perfect split between two massive moving vehicles.
http://distractify.com/people/amazing/the-epic-split-featuring-van-damme/
Friday, 13 September 2013
GM shows 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL
http://www.freep.com/article/20130912/BUSINESS0101/309120118/GM-SUVs-Tahoe-Suburban-Yukon-Chevrolet-GMC-General-MotorsThe 2015 GMC Yukon Denali. / General Motors
The 2015 GMC Yukon Denali, selected by 60% of Yukon buyers, will get a 6.2-liter engine. / General Motors
The 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe is shown in Crystal Claret. / John Roe/General Motors
The 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe showcases an all-new interior featuring functional technology and creature comforts. / General Motors
The 2015 Chevrolet Suburban is shown from the side. / Tom Roche/General Motors
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General Motors revealed today redesigned large sport-utility vehicles — Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL — which are among the company’s most profitable vehicles.
The 2015 model-year SUVs, which will hit showrooms between January and April 2014, share the same vehicle architecture with GM’s recently redesigned full-size pickup trucks.
Separately, GM is expected to reveal the redesigned Cadillac Escalade on Oct. 7 in New York.
All three Detroit automakers are capitalizing on American’s rekindled affection for big trucks, both pickups and SUVs. Through the first eight months of 2013, light trucks, which include vans, crossovers and smaller SUVs, accounted for two-thirds of Chrysler’s U.S. sales, 65% of Ford’s and 61% of GM’s.
Japanese automakers, conversely, are relying much more on selling midsize and compact cars, and smaller crossover vehicles. Light trucks accounted for 45% of Honda’s sales this year through August, 43% of Toyota’s and 39% of Nissan’s.
“Because of our dominant market share performance, we’re going to continue to invest in this segment,” said John Schwegman, GM’s executive director of U.S. product and pricing for trucks.
While consumers care more about fuel economy than they did before the 2008 financial crisis, these hulking titans of the roadway remain status symbols among high-income customers.
The 2013 Suburban has sold for an average of $54,028, while the Tahoe sold for an average of $49,543, according to Kelley Blue Book.
GM sold 124,507 units of the four SUVs through August, up 18% from a year earlier.
Jeff Luke, GM’s executive chief engineer for trucks, said the automaker never seriously considered eliminating large SUVs. But he acknowledged that GM will need to make significant fuel economy gains in the next generation of the steel-frame vehicles.
The Suburban and Yukon XL, which weigh nearly three tons, are about 224 inches long, while the Tahoe and Yukon are about 204 inches and a few hundred pounds lighter.
GM did not reveal fuel economy figures or pricing for the new vehicles.
The vehicles, which will be built in Arlington, Tex., will get the GM’s redesigned 5.3-liter, 8-cylinder engine with six-speed automatic transmission as the standard powertrain. The premium Yukon Denali, selected by 60% of Yukon buyers, will have a 6.2-liter engine. Like the redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, the SUVs boast direct injection, cylinder deactivation and continuously variable valve timing.
Still, some industry watchers might be surprised to see GM selling a six-speed transmission on a 2015 model, with competitors offering eight- and even nine-speed powertrains.
Luke hinted that the automaker would soon introduce more advanced technology.
On the outside, the SUVs didn’t change dramatically. They boast new hoods, grilles and fascias. Interior improvements include second- and third-row seats that fold flat for extra storage. There is more legroom, too.
The average household income of a Tahoe buyer is $120,000, while the average income of Suburban buyers is $135,000 and $112,000 for Yukon buyers.
Maria Rohrer, director of marketing for GM trucks, said Tahoe buyers typically come from a dual-income household, while Suburban buyers are more likely to come from a single-income household with teenage kids and a need to haul equipment, boats or trailers.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
From Virgil to John Cusack, Building the Modern Chevy Silverado Commercial
Leo Burnett's father-and-son tale
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/virgil-john-cusack-building-modern-chevy-silverado-commercial-152315
IDEA: This isn't your father's pickup truck. But then, you're not your father. "These guys are much more involved in their children's lives than their fathers were," Leo Burnett strategist Matt MacDonell said of today's truck owners. "The male role has expanded, and the pickup is deeply involved in that."
This is memorably illustrated in "Convert," the third ad in Burnett Detroit's first campaign for Chevrolet's Silverado. The protagonist isn't an anti-hero riding into the hills alone, à la '50s Westerns and '80s truck ads. He's a true hero—a family man whose pressing problem is a teenage son buried in his smartphone.
"In talking to truck owners, we weren't hearing stories about bravado or rebellion or cowboys. We were hearing about a code for living," said MacDonell. "A pickup is symbolic of a set of values and a really soulful purchase. It's an extremely soulful category that lacked a soulful narrative."
Quiet and poetic, "Convert" has plenty of soul, as the father opens his son's eyes to the world—contemporizing the Silverado for those who would do more than throw dry-cement bags into it.
COPYWRITING: At least 15 scripts were considered for the first batch of spots. The writing in "Convert" is spare and precise. The voiceover, by John Cusack, begins: "A man. A man and his truck. And his son, who would rather play computer games than go camping."
Over 60 seconds, the glum kid lets down his guard (and his hoodie), won over by the grandeur of nature while driving, fishing and hiking with his dad. Cusack slowly describes the scene: "And a mountain … and a valley … and a river … and a forest … and the stars." The boy is finally seen gazing upward in wonder, his face aglow in campfire light. "And a new convert."
The writers were inspired by Greek and Roman poetry, particularly Virgil's Aeneid. "The first line is, 'Arma virumque cano.' 'I sing of a man, and arms.' That kind of beat, that stately progression—rolling thunder—was just wonderful," said Burnett executive creative director Steve Silver.
They pared the copy back to mostly nouns. "We wanted the sentences like two-by-fours—posts driven into the ground," Silver said. Finally, they put their faith in the viewer to embrace the lines, which can sound like a riddle. "You take a little Virgil and a few two-by-fours and a helping of respect, and you end up with this," said Silver.
Cusack concludes: "The all-new Chevy Silverado. From one generation to the next. Strong. For all the roads ahead." The ad wraps with the Chevy logo and global positioning line, "Find new roads."
FILMING/ART DIRECTION: French director Frederic Planchon filmed the three spots on a nine-day shoot in Montana and Wyoming. Visually, the storytelling is nonlinear, moving around in time and offering fractured visions rather than a clearly sequential story, yet realizing the emotional arc from skepticism to belief. The lighting and color grade vary within the spot as well.
Planchon ran two cameras simultaneously. "The camera didn't sit still very often," said Burnett chief creative officer Steve Chavez. "I wouldn't call it a handheld approach. Each shot is beautifully art directed and well composed. But within the parameters of that, he always had energy and humanity in his shots."
TALENT/SOUND: Planchon found two actors who could carry the weight of the story while having no dialogue to work with. (He also convinced the agency that the boy should be older—he was originally written as pre-teen.)
Burnett had to use Cusack, who's the global voice of Chevy, though the agency was a bit skeptical at first. "We requested that he drink the night before and come in with a cigar in his mouth," Silver joked. "He brought the life into the scripts that we were looking for."
An atmospheric guitar track by Earhole Studios leaves plenty of room for the voiceover.
MEDIA: National broadcast and cable.
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