The Continental: Drama at Villa d’Este, a Benz Recall, and GM Truck News

Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental. There was some drama surrounding this year's Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este in Northern Italy. Italdesign had planned to exhibit its Parcour concept, which debuted at the Geneva auto show earlier this year. The Italian design house has been a part of the Concorso, which is heavily sponsored and organized by BMW, for the past twelve years. But this year, the firm's application was not accepted; Giugiaro is not amused. In a news release, Italdesign says that "in the past few days [it had] received a lot of email from many of you fans, telling [it] how happy they were to have the chance to take a close look to the Parcour." Perhaps they were hoping for a repeat of their 2002 performance? Back then, Italdesign won the event's design award, as well as the BMW Group Design Award, with the Alfa Romeo Brera Concept. In 2002, of course, Italdesign was an independent design house, and it has since become a full subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group—its main focus being on prototyping, not design. The firm does not work for clients outside the Volkswagen Group anymore. Nevertheless, the Concorso d'Eleganza is all about heritage, and it would have been nice to see the designer of the legendary BMW M1 there anyway—even if the Parcour can't hold a candle to that classic supercar. No Green GT in Le Mans Disappointing news for the Green GT racing Team: The French-based innovation house had to withdraw its Green GT H2 race car from the upcoming 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race "due to insufficient preparation," according to an announcement made by the organizer of the race, dryly. And that is a shame: The Green GT H2 is fueled by hydrogen and driven by two electric motors with a combined output of 544 horsepower, and it would have been interesting to see the futuristic racer perform in the world's most awesome race. Development continues, and hopefully we will see the Green GT H2 on the track in the future. On the rapidly approaching race date, the vacated number 56 box will now be filled by a less extraordinary vehicle, a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR campaigned by the Belgian Pro Speed Competition team. Passing the Wretches on the Bus Lane Drama of a less glamorous kind is unfolding in Germany as the association of bus owners attempts to defend its coveted bus lanes, which allow the noisy mass movers to smoke and rumble past cars and bikes. In some cities, the privilege even includes traffic lights manipulated to give an advantage to approaching buses, aggravating the chaos for everyone else. The German government has now floated the idea of opening the bus lanes up to electrics (as is done in a few other countries) to jump-start the stalled effort to bring one million EVs onto the road in the next seven years. But the bus owners' association is fighting back tooth and nail, claiming there is simply no room for electrics in its "exclusive" lanes. It will be interesting to see this saga unfold, and I believe the impact on EV sales could be considerable. Opening up bus lanes to electrics will make them a lot more attractive for potential buyers—like me. I have my own garage with an electrical outlet, and I am certainly tired of traffic chaos. Moreover, there are enough conventionally powered cars in the garage for high-speed, long-distance trips. I would certainly appreciate the bus-lane perk. I'll take a Cadillac ELR. Mercedes Recalls the A-class Mercedes-Benz is recalling exactly 6174 A-class hatchbacks manufactured between July and December of last year. Deployment of the passenger-side air bag can be hampered by poorly executed laser perforations in the dashboard. In some cases, the entire dashboard needs to be replaced. The recall is a pre-emptive measure; no one has been hurt due to the fault, says Mercedes. The U.S.-bound CLA-class, which is closely related to the A-class, is not affected. The recall comes at a bad time: Just weeks ago, the mediocre three-star Euro-NCAP safety performance of the Citan light commercial vehicle made headlines. That test, by the way, came as a surprise to Mercedes. The Citan is little more than a rebadged version on the Renault Kangoo, which received a four-star rating in 2008. Since the Renault has already been crashed, it wasn't necessary to re-test it with another badge—but Euro-NCAP elected to do so anyway. It has left a largely undeserved stain on Mercedes' reputation for safety, but at least it hasn't affected sales of the Citan. If the package is right, commercial vehicle customers are less easily swayed than buyers of family cars. GM Truck Tidbits At the recent launch of the Chevrolet Silverado, I learned—and have since written—about the full-size truck's engine strategy and a possible performance derivative. But there are a few further pieces of information: The large Tahoe, Suburban, and Yukon SUVs, which once shared much of their sheetmetal with the full-size pickup trucks, will be even further differentiated from the pickups in the future. They will share no major interior parts, including the dashboard. As to trim levels, I expect the High Country trim, which marks the top of the Silverado lineup, to be offered on the heavy-duty pickups, Tahoe, Suburban, and perhaps even the upcoming mid-size Colorado pickup. It would be Chevy's equivalent of GMC's Denali trim, but while the Denali comes with cold aluminum decor to emulate a contemporary look, the High Country embraces a warm, saddle-tone theme, complete with fake wood. Chevrolet designer Chris Hilts tells me that the brand is looking at two-tone color schemes, which were a popular option into the 1990s. What about a Stepside? Hardly. The market for a smaller pickup bed at a premium price has vanished. I also hear from GM that the Chevrolet Kodiak/GMC Topkick models of Transformers fame could get successors. Re-entering the segment is strongly considered. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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