Creative people find creative solutions to hurdles that are placed their way. What do automakers do when the hurdles are being set up by the government? Opel/Vauxhall design chief Mark Adams has some opinions on the matter.
“In the last five to 10 years designing cars has gotten a hell of a lot tougher,” Adams told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Brussels. Demands for tougher carbon dioxide and pedestrian protection rules mean General Motors must design vehicles with better aerodynamics and reduced weight, among other things.
Inspiration for future Opel products comes from Formula One, whose rules constantly are changing to limit the speed of their cars, yet the engineers constantly find a way to make their cars faster. Adams wants his team to have the same problem-solving attitude when facing regulatory challenges.
Adams feels the Monza concept car is the perfect example how Opel/Vauxhall uses creativity to counteract those regulatory hurdles without compromising design and styling. “The Monza is the vision for five, six, seven years ahead … I like the challenge of bringing as much of the Monza into production as I can.”
Adams told the Congress that the first models to show Monza influence will arrive within the next couple of years.
Comments
This is what I have been tell you here for a while. This is why all the new cars have tall hoods and flat grills.
The Opel Monza has taken the new rules and hidden the tall hood with a well sculpted front nose. It is much higher than it looks but it is disguised well.
I think the Malibu being an older platform has to work with the hard points they has and that is why the nose is not in the flow of the rest of the car. Note GM wrapped the top of the grill to better hide the height.
This is also why all the automakers want the regulations globally to align and make it cheaper and easier to build cars vs. a new or different nose for different markets as well as mirrors and other features.
This is why I say there are more factors many times than we will ever know.
Keep an eye on Mark Adams, he is a very talented designer and team leader for Vauxhall / Opel’s design department, he could be the first non US person to head GM Worldwide Design when the rather conservative lacklustre Ed Welburn retires. Adams would be a true successor to Wayne Cherry who was by far the best head of GM design (and not just because most of his career was with Vauxhall!!)
Perhaps the truth is Opel/Vauxhall designers are just not as good as the competition.
What a load of horse s..t
David, bottom line is “EU Regulations” are not the reason(s) consumers are not buying Opel Vauxhall vehicles. Nor do regulations hamper the creative ability of designers and to say regulations makes design more difficult only means the designers are not up to the task.
Consumers know what they like and they don’t care much for excuses.
Utter rubbish, and Vauxhall do not have a problem selling cars either