Today simultaneously, Detroit and Los Angeles presented the pre-production/production version of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro to the press with actual production slated to start on February 16th 2009 at the Oshawa plant, Canada. The bright red camaro debuting in Detroit and fittingly, the bright yellow Camaro minus the black stripe, “bumblebee” from the Transformer Movie here in Los Angeles. Continue reading 2010 Camaro Sparkles in the Californian Sun →

February is a good month normally for the cupid types but for the auto industry this year, little love has been dished out. Of all the auto companies, only American Honda Motor Co, Daimler AG and Nissan North America have penciled in a gain in sales for this month, yet for the year only Honda and Daimler remain solvent so far.

This February has seen a dramatic drop in sales of SUVs as the bite of high gasoline prices rip into the family budget but Porsche beg to differ with their truck sales exploding to a 109.7% over the same period last year. This anomaly is at the expense of their car division which dropped 40.3% over last year leaving the sports-car company down 12.8% for the month of February.

With every auto manufacturer feeling the economic pinch, total sales in North America for the year are down by a 120,000 units or 5.3% so far, so what does this all mean for us the clay modeler. Continue reading February Sees Further Decline in Vehicle Sales →

Mallory McMorrow from South Bend, IN, bettered the stiff competition to land the prestigious award of grand winner and the chance to bring her design to fruition at the Greater Los Angeles Motor Show. Mallory an industrial design student from the University of Notre Dame based her vision on creating a car that belonged to no current category, neither sedan nor hatchback, but something different. She wanted a functional car without being box shaped, a car that screamed excitement and speed and yet could be used to cart her belongings to and thro’ and at the same time turn heads.

With the aid of Jacques Flynn, a full time Mazda designer she was able to express her needs to capture the essence and vision of a vehicle that could well be the next Mazda3. Design lines that screamed Mazda DNA and yet still fresh enough to capture ones imagination.

If you are a budding designer and have your own views on what a car should look like, then maybe this is the sort of design assignment you are looking for. The Mazda Design Challenge has been launched and they are looking for members of “Facebook” to bring a whole new freshness to the 2018 Mazda3. This competition which is already running, is open only to residents of the United States and will conclude on November 7th 2007. Continue reading Live Clay Modeling Extravaganza in LA →

As most clay modelers have probably noticed through their own networking, job opportunities have been picking up over the last couple of months. With this in mind I will condense this information into one post and will try and create an overview of this months offerings so as to give everyone an indication on how bouyant the industry is at the moment.

Most of this information has been gathered by my own contacts and frequenting notice boards such as ClayChat for regular updates.

• Clay positions available in Holland, offered by Assystem UK (formerly known as International Automotive Design IAD) please contact Nicola, nrobinson@assystemuk.com Tel: +44 (0) 1903-703221
• Southern California clay modeling positions offered by Phoenix USA. All candidates should submit their Curriculum Vitae to phoenixusa2005@msn.com or phoenixdesigneuro@btinternet.com

  Ideally people with 10 years experience would be preferred. Point of contact Norman Astbury.

• Allegro requires experienced clay modelers for Southern California, immediate openings for the right person, short based contracts in the Long Beach/Torrance, Los Angeles and Orange County. Point of contact John Grafman, please send supporting resume to info@allegro1.com

Continue reading Contract Clay Modeling Positions for July →

The saying déjà vu is French for “already seen” or describes an experience or feeling that one has witnessed or experienced. In this case I am referring to the demise of the British car industry in which I was fully entrenched and experienced from the mid 80’s to the mid 90’s.

During those years I was working for small independent companies that took on the overspill from the major OEMs, commisioned properties to compete against their in-house models or show vehicles that had to be completed in a short time frame. Years of working long hours with great satisfaction to a sudden uncertainty, then nothing. That was the experience that many tradesmen suffered, being told in no uncertain terms to “get on your bike” to secure work.

During those troubled years, British Leyland, created in 1968 as a nationalized company which incorporated most of the British owned car industry, British Motor Holdings and Leyland Motor Corporation would undergo numerous name changes such as the Rover Group in 1986, then the MG Rover Group, which would eventually go bankrupt in 2005. This essentially ended the reign of mass produced automobiles by a British owned manufacturer. You may well ask, why did this happened and the long and the short of it is, competing against itself at all levels in the same market, badge engineering and craftsmanship that could not compete with other manufacturers. Continue reading Déjà vu →

I frequently read publications such as Automotive News, Car and Driver etc, etc, and when I find a headline that states that a 2007 model year vehicle has the distinction of gaining a mere one star for the side impact rating, I have to read it again to see if it’s a misprint.

Many people who are in the position of buying a new vehicle these days have so much more in the way of researching especially when it’s at your finger tips i.e. computers. This instant access to information takes a lot of guess work out of the equation that may have been the norm some thirty years ago, when word of mouth determined the next purchase. Now you can select your top choice of vehicles and see how they stack up against each other and ultimately this may sway any potential purchaser who is sitting on the fence, especially if it comes down to safety. Continue reading How Do You Research Your Next Vehicle? →

The price of increased market share for the Japanese juggernauts Toyota and Honda is becoming more apparent these days as they advance even further into the domestic automotive market, that is, more recalls. The demand for the most popular vehicles, demands more output from the factories, often leading to a lapse in stringent quality control checks or batches of sub-par components that often never become apparent until years later. This malign which often plagues the home turf manufacturers such as GM, Ford and DamlierChrysler is now becoming a more frequent visitor to their doorstep making for a small chink in what once was, ironclad armor. Continue reading Toyota, Honda, more Recalls →