From one state car manufacturer to another: in a rather surprise move, Rolls-Royce’s head of design, Giles Taylor, has announced he’s off to work for Chinese carmaker Hongqi.
A bold move? Even the manufacturer’s English-translated brand name couldn’t dissuade him: that is Red Flag. But it’s certainly an abrupt left turn to a career built around penning monolithic shapes for Rolls-Royce and, before that, Jaguar.
Owned by the faceless FAW Group (China’s government-owned vehicle manufacturer), Red Flag has been the Chinese state car de jour for decades; Mao himself rode in one. Traditionally Red Flag limousines have been Chinese versions of the imposing ZiL, as used by Soviet ministers.
And according to people who pay attention to this sort of stuff, Red Flag’s overarching vehicle design hasn’t really moved on much from the era of the Iron Curtain.
Search out an image of the company’s most recent model, the L7, and you’ll be greeted with a slab-sided stretched beast that mixes the silhouette of a Rolls-Royce Phantom with that of a Hillman Hunter and boasts the front fenders and grille of a 1950s GAZ 21 Volga.
So far, so awkwardly outdated. But things could be about to change for Hongqi/Red Flag. Well, as much as the inevitable governmental think-tank will let things change.
Taylor has been with Rolls-Royce as its director of design since 2012.
He has overseen the development of the latest Phantom, the Dawn and the Cullinan SUV and — it could be argued — has been present for the most active, lucrative period in the pedigree marque’s history.
The wooing of Taylor from Goodwood to Guangzhou is quite a coup. Not that Taylor will be packing his bags for China. Instead, Red Flag has initially tasked him with relocating to Munich, to establish a new FAW Design Centre there. As Hongqi’s new Global Vice-President of Design and Chief Creative Officer, first Taylor must design the building in which his team will design the cars.
Talk about a blank canvas approach. It’ll be needed, apparently, as Hongqi is no longer content to simply make cars destined to ferry dour-faced cabinet ministers about. It wants some of that sweet, sweet export dollar. So, a massive product expansion is planned.
Hongqi aims to boost annual production to 100,000 vehicles a year by 2020 and to 300,000 by 2025. It wants to electrify and hybridise its output by 2020.
Weirdly, Taylor — with his Savile Row suit and pocket-square style — could be just what a would-be luxury Chinese car company needs right now.
51 Ferraris destroyed as Typhoon Jebi hit Japan
Ferrari fans, look away now.
When Typhoon Jebi blew into the southern shores of Japan’s main island of Honshu last week it caused plenty of coastal flooding, especially through the city of Kobe in the Hyogo Prefecture.
Among the worst-hit areas was Rokko Island, a large man-made pontoon jutting into Osaka Bay, upon which a variety of large commercial entities sit, including the local Ferrari dealership. Despite desperate sandbagging, the strength of the storm surge proved too much, and the dealership was flooded.
According to Yahoo Japan, 51 out of 53 new and used Ferraris on the showroom floor were damaged. The dealership’s owner estimates total losses to be in the region of $14 million.
Does that mean we’ll see a boat-load of used import Portofinos and GTC4Lussos arriving at Auckland’s wharf in the coming weeks?
No, probably not. Because the cars spent several days sitting in a metre of salt water, no amount of vacuuming down at the grooming bay will ever bring the desirable supercars back to a roadworthy condition.
And that’s before you contemplate the effect that lengthy submerging would have had on the, er, Italian electronics.
Tesla’s Saudi benefactors back both horses with investment in rival brand
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) appears to be double-dipping.
It’s the investment fund behind recent efforts to take Tesla private. But now, according to Reuters, the PIF has gone all gaga for one of Tesla’s main rivals, Lucid Motors.
We’re not talking pocket change here either.
According to sources, the PIF is looking to invest US$500 million initially, with a total US$1 billion spend on the cards over time.
That has to sting Tesla.
After all, Lucid Motors was founded in part by a former Tesla executive and has already proven to be catnip to venture capitalists; most recently the Chinese Government-owned BAIC corporation has tipped money in.
Still very much selling thin air, Lucid Motors nonetheless has as its calling card an attractive concept EV called the Air, which will reportedly enter production next year.
The company reckons its 290kW rear-wheel drive electric fastback sedan will have a range of 390km and cost about $90,000 in base-spec form.
Its main market competitor? The Tesla Model S, of course.