Post by Michael D. Nicola on Mar 3, 2005 8:56:49 GMT -5
From the Toronto Star, March 3, 2005
Designer dreams up a car just for Canada
Tony Wong
Business Reporter, Toronto Star
No one's talking about installing Moose radar detectors or a Tim Hortons coffee machine, but what would happen if one of the world's top car designers created a ride just for Canadians?
Yesterday, General Motors Canada announced it would invest $2.5 billion in its Canadian operations, with a good portion of that money going into research and development. With the new investment, the possibility of designing a Canadian car from the ground up may soon be a reality.
Ken Okuyama is excited at the thought. As the creative director of Italy's legendary design house Pininfarina, Okuyama is considered the most influential sports car designer in the world.
"This is the beginning of an identity search to design a car that will be uniquely Canadian," Okuyuma said in an interview from Switzerland where he was attending an auto show.
Okuyama is the man responsible for the $1 million Enzo Ferrari, the world's most expensive sports car. His latest designs, the new four-seater Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Maserati Quattroporte, make their debut in Canadian showrooms this year.
While Ferraris with their extreme brio scream Italian, and Volvos look like moving bank vaults — a tribute to Swedish values of safety and reliability — creating a car that says "Canadian" may prove an even bigger challenge, says Okuyama.
"You have to take into account the cultural heritage, which is incredibly diverse, and then you have to look at the geography of the nation, the terrain which is also very different. And then Canadians are also very European as well as North American. This is a good challenge," he says.
Another challenge, perhaps not as immediate, will be naming the ultimate Canadian car.
"Whatever you do, don't call the car the Niagara ... or the Loonie," says Naseem Javed, chief executive of ABC Namebank. "(The name) should demonstrate the technology and power that Canada can embody."
Javed, the consultant behind Canadian brand names such as Telus, Celestica and Omni TV, says car executives frequently end up creating a good product with a poor name.
"At some point in time, car companies ran out of Zodiac signs, so then they went after wild animals, then they went after deserts, forests, trees and finally ended up with reptiles. This is a great opportunity if they do build a car to create a terrific trademark."
Javed says he's not sure what he would call the car yet, since it would depend on the type of car ultimately to be built.
Andrew Bardwell, product strategist for the automotive consultancy arm of Toronto's Maritz Research, says it typically boils down to value when Canadians purchase a car.
"The number one thing Canadians look for is value, followed by reliability and dependability, then price and fuel economy," says Bardwell.
Much of that has to do with the economics of living in Canada.
"It's a question of need versus want. We have higher taxes, less disposable income, and higher gas prices, so the economics forces us to be much more realistic in our choices," says Bardwell.
Canadians also tend to be less brand and status conscious and more pragmatic than Americans in their car choices, so small cars and minivans are still hot in Canada, while Americans gravitate to SUVs and mid- to large-sized cars.
Meanwhile, automobile manufacturers are already targeting Canada as a niche market, as seen in DaimlerChrysler Canada's decision to bring the Smart Car here before the United States. Honda's Acura division several years ago re-badged a Honda Civic, the perennial Canadian bestseller, as an Acura that would be available only in Canada.
"This is a great car for the Canadian market, because it gives a little bit of luxury, but it's still practical and fuel efficient, and doesn't upset Canadian core values," says Bardwell.
This kind of mass customization will increasingly be a part of the automakers' strategy in the future, Bardwell adds.
The Quebec market, for example, contains 25 per cent of the population, but covets very different cars than buyers in Vancouver or Ontario.
"Quebecers like hatchbacks, smaller cars, manual transmissions, and they are even more price sensitive than other parts of Canada," says Bardwell. "What you could do is create a hatchback-only version for Quebec."
Auto-industry insiders are hoping the GM move will herald a new wave of interest in Canadian design.
Okuyama says it makes sense that other manufacturers will follow.
"It's important for car designers to be close to the production process, so you know the physical characteristics and properties of the plant so you can push the design envelope," says Okuyama.
As a bonus, if other car companies decide to locate their design facilities in Canada, then a critical mass of design talent will develop, which can only be good news in the long run, he says.
Ultimately, Okuyama sees the GM investment as the start of an important debate over Canadian heritage and design.
A starting point for Canadians may be to embrace the technology already in place.
Canadians are leaders in fuel cell technology, for instance, and are also environmentally conscious, Okuyama points out.
"The functional requirements for Canadians are also very different than Americans because you have so much diversity, so the challenge is to define what the Canadian identity may be and to put it into practice."
The designer says it took the Korean car industry more than 15 years to develop its own, non-derivative style, and now Korean designers are hot commodities in the car industry.
"The same thing is happening with Chinese design, as Chinese car manufacturers move out of their own local markets on to a global market, they must develop their own language," says Okuyama.
"The great thing about Canada is that you have a lot of very powerful, positive things going for you, the only problem is how do you incorporate that into a car that will translate as Canadian, no matter what country you're driving in. I think this is an exciting time to be a Canadian car designer."
Designer dreams up a car just for Canada
Tony Wong
Business Reporter, Toronto Star
No one's talking about installing Moose radar detectors or a Tim Hortons coffee machine, but what would happen if one of the world's top car designers created a ride just for Canadians?
Yesterday, General Motors Canada announced it would invest $2.5 billion in its Canadian operations, with a good portion of that money going into research and development. With the new investment, the possibility of designing a Canadian car from the ground up may soon be a reality.
Ken Okuyama is excited at the thought. As the creative director of Italy's legendary design house Pininfarina, Okuyama is considered the most influential sports car designer in the world.
"This is the beginning of an identity search to design a car that will be uniquely Canadian," Okuyuma said in an interview from Switzerland where he was attending an auto show.
Okuyama is the man responsible for the $1 million Enzo Ferrari, the world's most expensive sports car. His latest designs, the new four-seater Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Maserati Quattroporte, make their debut in Canadian showrooms this year.
While Ferraris with their extreme brio scream Italian, and Volvos look like moving bank vaults — a tribute to Swedish values of safety and reliability — creating a car that says "Canadian" may prove an even bigger challenge, says Okuyama.
"You have to take into account the cultural heritage, which is incredibly diverse, and then you have to look at the geography of the nation, the terrain which is also very different. And then Canadians are also very European as well as North American. This is a good challenge," he says.
Another challenge, perhaps not as immediate, will be naming the ultimate Canadian car.
"Whatever you do, don't call the car the Niagara ... or the Loonie," says Naseem Javed, chief executive of ABC Namebank. "(The name) should demonstrate the technology and power that Canada can embody."
Javed, the consultant behind Canadian brand names such as Telus, Celestica and Omni TV, says car executives frequently end up creating a good product with a poor name.
"At some point in time, car companies ran out of Zodiac signs, so then they went after wild animals, then they went after deserts, forests, trees and finally ended up with reptiles. This is a great opportunity if they do build a car to create a terrific trademark."
Javed says he's not sure what he would call the car yet, since it would depend on the type of car ultimately to be built.
Andrew Bardwell, product strategist for the automotive consultancy arm of Toronto's Maritz Research, says it typically boils down to value when Canadians purchase a car.
"The number one thing Canadians look for is value, followed by reliability and dependability, then price and fuel economy," says Bardwell.
Much of that has to do with the economics of living in Canada.
"It's a question of need versus want. We have higher taxes, less disposable income, and higher gas prices, so the economics forces us to be much more realistic in our choices," says Bardwell.
Canadians also tend to be less brand and status conscious and more pragmatic than Americans in their car choices, so small cars and minivans are still hot in Canada, while Americans gravitate to SUVs and mid- to large-sized cars.
Meanwhile, automobile manufacturers are already targeting Canada as a niche market, as seen in DaimlerChrysler Canada's decision to bring the Smart Car here before the United States. Honda's Acura division several years ago re-badged a Honda Civic, the perennial Canadian bestseller, as an Acura that would be available only in Canada.
"This is a great car for the Canadian market, because it gives a little bit of luxury, but it's still practical and fuel efficient, and doesn't upset Canadian core values," says Bardwell.
This kind of mass customization will increasingly be a part of the automakers' strategy in the future, Bardwell adds.
The Quebec market, for example, contains 25 per cent of the population, but covets very different cars than buyers in Vancouver or Ontario.
"Quebecers like hatchbacks, smaller cars, manual transmissions, and they are even more price sensitive than other parts of Canada," says Bardwell. "What you could do is create a hatchback-only version for Quebec."
Auto-industry insiders are hoping the GM move will herald a new wave of interest in Canadian design.
Okuyama says it makes sense that other manufacturers will follow.
"It's important for car designers to be close to the production process, so you know the physical characteristics and properties of the plant so you can push the design envelope," says Okuyama.
As a bonus, if other car companies decide to locate their design facilities in Canada, then a critical mass of design talent will develop, which can only be good news in the long run, he says.
Ultimately, Okuyama sees the GM investment as the start of an important debate over Canadian heritage and design.
A starting point for Canadians may be to embrace the technology already in place.
Canadians are leaders in fuel cell technology, for instance, and are also environmentally conscious, Okuyama points out.
"The functional requirements for Canadians are also very different than Americans because you have so much diversity, so the challenge is to define what the Canadian identity may be and to put it into practice."
The designer says it took the Korean car industry more than 15 years to develop its own, non-derivative style, and now Korean designers are hot commodities in the car industry.
"The same thing is happening with Chinese design, as Chinese car manufacturers move out of their own local markets on to a global market, they must develop their own language," says Okuyama.
"The great thing about Canada is that you have a lot of very powerful, positive things going for you, the only problem is how do you incorporate that into a car that will translate as Canadian, no matter what country you're driving in. I think this is an exciting time to be a Canadian car designer."