Author: gradyb13

One of the areas constantly in the background of this econ of the auto industry course was car culture. In fact, it is important enough that we even spent time reading and discussing Tom Wolfe’s “The Kandy-Colored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” a collection of essays which delve into car culture in the U.S. during the early 1960’s.

Consumer Reports recently gave the Tesla Model S a score of 99 out of 100, and other media outlets immediately began proclaiming that the car…

Features which, in the past, were only found on premium models are now available on entry level models. From leather to feature rich infotainment systems, it is…

Automotive News is reporting that Infiniti has settled on producing a new “halo” vehicle. A halo vehicle is a flagship model which sells in low…

One of the many people our Economics of the Auto Industry class met with was J Mays, Ford’s Chief Creative Officer. Part of the conversation we had with Mr. Mays, along with our trip to the Detroit Institute of the Arts, had me thinking about the intersection of the art and automotive industries.

Design sells cars. A car can be a complete disaster in many ways, but if it is designed well, it might still sell. Take the MG MGB, which was unbelievably unreliable, but gorgeous: the design was a large part of why the car sold so well. Put simply, the design of the car is very important and creating that design is creating an artwork. Car designers are artists and can be successful, as with almost every Aston Martin ever produced, or unsuccessful, as with the Pontiac Aztek.

This past week Washington and Lee’s Economics of the Auto Industry class, the creators of many of the posts on this blog, took a class trip up…

Range Rover, the company famous – and infamous – for making massive, luxurious gas guzzlers is bringing a hybrid to Frankfurt. That such a company…

When it comes time to buy a car, one of the key decisions one has to make is whether to buy new or used. To me this is a no brainer. Cars tend to depreciate massively, so why not try to avoid some of that cost? Take the Volkswagen Phaeton, for instance. Albeit an extreme example, the 2002 Phaeton retailed in base trim for $94,600 and now can be had for about $18,000, a $75,000 drop. Are there any prohibitively bad downsides to purchasing used?  I can only think of three reasons and they are largely avoidable.

For those of us who do not have much of a business or even economics background, it is difficult to truly understand how large corporations…

The marketing “world” today is significantly different than that of 40 years ago, but motors shows today are remarkably similar to those of the 1960’s. As…