"The Renault 5 is a brilliant all-rounder that proves you don't need to spend big money to go electric. In fact it's so good we named it our 2025 Car of the Year."

"More than that it feels very solidly built from premium materials. This is Renault as we haven’t seen it before, and it’s very impressive."

"The Renault 5 is one of the best small electric cars you can buy. The modern reinvention of an iconic hatchback from the 1980s, it successfully blends everyday usability with a reasonably long range, fun driving character and a massive dose of retro charm. In fact, the dinky Renault is so accomplished a city car that it won the Urban Living category of the 2026 Carwow Car of the Year Awards."

"The Volvo C30 mixes coupé and small hatchback elements, failing to truly succeed in either field but proving a intriguing compromise."

"The frameless glass hatch is pure styling genius, all the better for its echo of Volvo's P1800 ES of 1971-73."

"In 1980, Plymouth had 3 percent of market share in the United States, and it sold 335,465 vehicles. Fast-forward to 1986 and the company’s market share jumped to 3.35 percent, and the company had a good year, selling 537,151 vehicles. Two years later, in 1988, Plymouth sold 529,020 cars and had 3.42 percent market share. However, after 1988, things started going downhill and Plymouth sold fewer cars and lost market share. According to Car Sales Base, Plymouth sold only 322,120 vehicles in 1990, with the market share shrinking to 2.34 percent. In 1998, the American automaker sold only 296,641 cars and had 1.91 percent market share, while in 1999, 264,624 Plymouth cars ended with customers and the market share felt to 1.57 percent. It’s fair to say that poor sales have brought the end of the brand. Furthermore, the new car models flopped and customers lost faith in the company. In 1999, CNN published an article that had insights from industry experts and marketers who pointed towards “the lack of support” which “doomed the once-proud name.” “To a great extent, the brand has become a non-brand,” Britt Beemer, the former chairman of America's Research Group told CNN. “It has not been nurtured or built upon for the last few years. They won't necessarily save money, but they'll consolidate their advertising dollars to a limited number of brands and do it better.” But it wasn’t just the lack of marketing and branding efforts that killed Plymouth. In fact, audiences believed that Plymouth also suffered from a lack of innovation and a focus on research and development."

"Back in 1928 when Chrysler inaugurated Plymouth, consumers loved it. The success of the brand continued even after World War II, when the cars became known for their affordable prices and conventional design. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, when Chrysler started experiencing financial woes, the Plymouth brand started suffering because of a lack of innovation and a clear product placement strategy. Many consumers thought Dodge and Plymouth cars resembled each other too closely, so the latter didn’t have a distinct identity. And while Chrysler rebranded the Dodge as the cooler and sportier automaker, Plymouth remained the car associated with senior citizens. Basically, Plymouth suffered from outdated branding and no clear brand strategy. Ultimately, consumers couldn’t even identify the core values of Plymouth and this limited the growth of the business. In 1995, management attempted to revitalize the brand by replacing all of its models—all but the Acclaim and minivans—with the front-engine, front-wheel drive compact vehicle, the Neon. One year later, in 1996, Plymouth released the four-door sedan, the Breeze, however by this time, the brand had lost its appeal and popularity. In 1999, when Chrysler pulled the plug on Plymouth, it announced in Las Vegas that it intendeds “to concentrate resources on its other brands.” “We have made the decision to broaden and further strengthen the Chrysler brand with new, exciting cars. This eliminates often overlapping Plymouth brand models, and further focuses all our brands,” said a statement from James Holden."

"Financial woes affect most companies, but automakers are even more exposed to bankruptcies and economic troubles because of a drop in consumer spending and the high costs associated with designing and building vehicles. Furthermore, car companies also have to invest enormous sums in research and development, patents, marketing and branding campaigns, and innovative technologies. All these costs can quickly spiral out of control, and at one point, even restructuring and reducing operating costs won’t save the company anymore. Unfortunately, during the past decades, many successful automakers went out of business, like Ford Mercury and General Motors-owned Pontiac, Saturn, and Oldsmobile. Even after receiving unprecedented bailouts totaling $80 billion in taxpayer funds in 2009, General Motors and Chrysler didn't become more competitive. But the 2000s decade was hardly the only moment in history when General Motors and Chrysler were experiencing significant financial setbacks. In fact, Chrysler’s financial troubles impacted the Plymouth brand back in the late 1970s. And even though the company struggled to stay in business until 2001, Chrysler shattered the brand when its difficulties grew beyond control. In November 1999, DaimlerChrysler announced the end of the legendary brand to the media. “Chrysler has great momentum right now that we intend to keep going. As we move forward with our global growth strategy, Plymouth, as a U.S. brand only, did not contribute to that growth,” the former Chrysler President Jim Holden said in a statement in 1999. “This was an emotional decision because Plymouth will always be an important part of our heritage.”"

"One of the hardest-to-down myths about the evolution of mass production at Ford is one which credits much of the accomplishment to 'scientific management.' No one at Ford—not Mr. Ford, Couzens, Flanders, Wills, Pete Martin, nor I—was acquainted with the theories of the 'father of scientific management,' Frederick W. Taylor. Years later I ran across a quotation from a two-volume book about Taylor by Frank Barkley Copley, who reports a visit Taylor made to Detroit late in 1914, nearly a year after the moving assembly line had been installed at our Highland Park plant. Taylor expressed surprise to find that Detroit industrialists 'had undertaken to install the principles of scientific management without the aid of experts.' To my mind this unconscious admission by an expert is expert testimony on the futility of too great reliance on experts and should forever dispose of the legend that Taylor's ideas had any influence at Ford."

"It was at the microeconomic level, however, that the output war was really won. For the biggest wartime advances in mass production and management were made in vast factories like Ford's mile-long bomber assembly line at Willow Run, Boeing's B-29 plant at Seattle or General Motors' aero-engine factory at Allison. At peak, Boeing Seattle was churning out sixteen B-17S a day and employing 40,000 men and women on round-the-clock shifts. Never had ships been built so rapidly as the Liberty ships, 2,700 of which slid down the slipways during the war years. It was at wartime General Motors that Peter Drucker saw the birth of the modern 'concept of the corporation', with its decentralized system of management. And it was during the war that the American military-industrial complex was born; over half of all prime government contracts went to just thirty-three corporations. Boeing's net wartime profits for the years 1941 to 1945 amounted to $27.6 million; in the preceding five years the company had lost nearly $3 million. General Motors Corporation employed half a million people and supplied one-tenth of all American war production. Ford alone produced more military equipment during the war than Italy. Small wonder some more-cerebral soldiers felt they were risking their necks not in a 'real war . . . but . . . in a regulated business venture', as James Jones put it in The Thin Red Line. It was strange indeed that the recovery of the American economy from the Depression should owe so much to the business of flattening other peoples' cities."

"Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black."

"The period immediately following the 1970s oil crises wasn't nicknamed the "Malaise Era" for no reason. Many American car brands were forced to undergo radical changes in their manufacturing processes. This led to various experiments to try and keep companies afloat, with this era giving rise to some bizarre creative decisions from American automakers. For instance, Oldsmobile tried to repurpose a diesel engine in its Cutlass model, which ultimately flopped. Then there's the infamous Chevette, which was essentially created when GM was in full-blown panic mode and needed something that could sell like hotcakes."

"Today, the only thing most people remember about Oldsmobile is that it's a defunct brand which enjoyed a good degree of success in the last century, but gradually declined into obscurity before disappearing at the turn of the millenium. While that may be true, there is plenty more to this historic marque, including several important firsts."

"By the 1980s, Oldsmobile was sharing GM's lackluster image and had garnered a reputation for being — bluntly — cars for the elderly. They weren't particularly bad cars, per se, but they were viewed as cookie-cutter, badge-engineered, and boring. The brand was on the verge of losing its audience because its main demographic was aging, and its appeal to younger buyers was nonexistent. In a desperate effort to curb plummeting sales, GM launched the "Not Your Father's Oldsmobile" campaign in 1988. This featured several commercials showcasing new models that were meant to appeal to a younger generation. However, it was far too little, far too late to alter Oldsmobile's fate. Ultimately, it may have even hastened its demise."

"General Motors’ decisions to discontinue Oldsmobile and Pontiac while retaining Buick were driven by a combination of brand performance, market dynamics, and strategic foresight. Oldsmobile’s identity crisis and declining sales, coupled with Pontiac’s profitability issues and brand overlap, made them less viable in a challenging economic climate. Conversely, Buick’s Chinese connection kept it alive. Still, the loss of Oldsmobile and Pontiac brands are like missing family members, and the GM decision to kill them off was horrific."

"Oldsmobile attempted to draw in new buyers through a self-deprecating ad campaign that featured past-their-prime celebrities and their largely unknown children, neither of which rang any bells with the target demographic. In the commercial for the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass, for example, viewers watched Mission Impossible star Peter Graves drive the car through explosions in a chase scene. After the driver makes it to safety, he pulls off a mask to reveal that it was actually Graves' daughter, Amanda, behind the wheel the whole time. A choir then sings, "This is not your father's Oldsmobile," and promotes the vehicle as part of the "New Generation of Oldsmobile." These commercials were so bizarre that they failed to connect with both younger and older audiences. Nevertheless, Oldsmobile held onto this advertising campaign all the way until its dying days in the late 1990s. However, it was purely delaying the inevitable: Oldsmobile eventually flopped, closing up shop after its last ever production car, the Alero, left the factory on April 29, 2004."

"Our car was an Oldsmobile, delivered to our home by Mr. Olds himself. I recall how our family went out to the street curb to look at it. Mr. Olds worked quite a while cranking it, muttering something about each car having an individuality of its own. But after we began to make motors for him, father took the individuality out of them. After our own little Oldsmobile was properly equipped, it acted in quite an exemplary fashion."

"Four kids can sure fill up a big back seat They used to stop and get us something sweet Now Mamma says: "Let's pray for one good meal." Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile"

"The discontinuation of Oldsmobile and Pontiac elicited strong reactions from car enthusiasts, many of whom had deep emotional connections to these brands. Enthusiasts mourned the loss of iconic models synonymous with American automotive culture. Vehicles like the Oldsmobile 442 and Pontiac Trans Am represented eras of performance and style that many felt were irreplaceable. The discontinuation marked the end of an era for muscle car aficionados. Some enthusiasts criticized GM’s management strategies, arguing that better brand differentiation and innovation could have preserved Oldsmobile and Pontiac. They contended that internal competition and lack of clear brand identities led to the brands’ downfalls, suggesting that with proper positioning, these marques could have thrived. While sentimental about the discontinued brands, many enthusiasts acknowledged the harsh economic realities that influenced GM’s decisions. The need for financial viability and market consolidation during the economic downturn made such tough choices inevitable. This pragmatic view recognized that preserving the company’s overall health sometimes necessitates difficult sacrifices."

"Did China play a major role in killing of the beloved GM Oldsmobile and Pontiac brands? Are they the reason American got stuck with the stodygy old Buick brand? It looks that way. In the early 2000s, the automotive landscape witnessed significant shifts as General Motors (GM) made the controversial decision to discontinue two of its iconic brands, Oldsmobile and Pontiac, while retaining Buick—a brand often perceived as lacking youthful appeal. This move left many car enthusiasts and industry analysts questioning the rationale behind GM’s brand strategy during a tumultuous economic period. Both Oldsmobile and Pontiac had storied histories within the GM family, each contributing uniquely to the automotive world. However, several factors led to their eventual discontinuation."

"My daddy bought this car before I was born Sure like the radio, I love the horn I love the great big shiny steerin' wheel Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile"

"Established in 1897, Oldsmobile was one of America’s oldest automobile brands. By the late 20th century, however, it faced a significant identity crisis. Although they turned out some pretty cool cars in the 60s and 70s, the brand struggled to differentiate itself within GM’s lineup, leading to a diluted image that failed to resonate with consumers. This lack of a clear brand identity resulted in declining sales figures, making Oldsmobile less viable in GM’s portfolio. Consequently, GM made the difficult decision to discontinue Oldsmobile in 2004, channeling its efforts toward revitalizing other brands within its lineup. Did GM [do] a good job of revitalizing other brands? Many [auto] enthusiasts would dispute that."

"Mama kisses us goodnight Daddy reads his paper in the dashboard light Crushes out his cigarette, says: "Don't cry, honey, we ain't beat yet.""

"It's the reason I'm ahead of the pack It's the reason I left them back It's the reason all the people say My '98 Olds blows 'em all away"

"The Power Of Intelligent Engineering"

"Once the largest division of General Motors, the Oldsmobile dream was killed off at 107 years old, on April 29, 2004, a full 20 years ago today. While the brand was largely seen as a stodgy, outdated, and unprofitable liability by the time GM ended it, the automaker was responsible for some pretty impressive engineering in its century of crafting cars. The General diluted the brand until it stood for nothing, but it has a history of doing cool shit, and for that it should be remembered fondly. Rest well, ye beast. We miss you."

"Come away with me, Lucille In my merry Oldsmobile Down the road of life we'll fly Automobubbling, you and I To the church we'll swiftly steal Then our wedding bells will peal You can go as far as you like with me In my merry Oldsmobile."

"Some men are Baptists, others Catholics. My father was an Oldsmobile man."

"At the time Oldsmobile closed its doors in 2004 it was the oldest surviving American car brand at 107 years old. It was a fate that was first announced on this day in 2000 when General Motors (GM) stated its plans to phase out Oldsmobile. Ransom E. Olds founded the company in 1897 as the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan. It soon became the first high output manufacturer of gas-powered automobiles. The company produced 4,000 units in 1903 at a time when other automakers averaged just 1,272. The numbers grew with the introduction of the first automotive assembly line, which churned out the Olds Curved Dash. Henry Ford would later enhance automobile production using first the moving assembly line in the industry. GM cited profitability as its primary reason for shutting down Oldsmobile. After its initial announcement, Olds survived another four years. On April 29, 2004 the last Oldsmobile, an Alero GLS sedan, rolled out of the factory. As it moved along the assembly line each worker that had a hand in it signed the vehicle."

"Sidewalk suckers wanted to spill me So I got my crew and posse Took the girls and got them to thrill me Stepped outside, got in my ride Drove 'em around and I looked around town Caught 'em out there cold, ran 'em over and down They didn't get me and that's the truth ('Cause my '98-O is bullet proof)"

"You Can Always Count On Oldsmobile"

"The Car That Has Everything"

"Escape From The Ordinary"

"There Is A Special Feel, In An Oldsmobile"

"The New Generation Of Oldsmobile"

"It's Your Money, Demand Better"

"Start Something"

"Another mornin' and we're up and gone Daddy says there's work in San Antone Two days of ridin', it ain't no big deal Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile"

"The Best Thing On Wheels"

"Can We Build One For You?"

"Ultimately, the campaign created a paradox. Similar to Richard Nixon's "I am Not a Crook!" speech, vehemently denying something tends to paradoxically reinforce its opposite. In Oldsmobile's case, trying to say newer models were "not for your father" only aged them more. It isolated buyers who actually could afford newer models, without attracting the newer generation to take their place. This ultimately resulted in a car brand which appealed to no one, and sales figures started to reflect that. The 1980s regularly saw sales between 800,000 to 1 million units before those numbers started to drop. After 1990, Oldsmobile never again sold more than 500,000 units per year, no matter what campaigns it tried to enact to recoup losses. This can all be traced back to the late 1980s, when Oldsmobile unfortunately learned this lesson the hard way: Don't alienate your main source of income. It's a shame as well, considering the proud 100-plus year history of the company and the many important moments Oldsmobile enjoyed over that time."

"Bob Lutz, the vice-chairman of G.M. and the champion of its electric Chevy Volt, which will début next year, told me, “All the geniuses here at General Motors kept saying lithium-ion technology is ten years away, and Toyota agrees with us—and, boom, along comes Tesla. So I said, ‘How come some teeny little California start-up run by guys who know nothing about the car business can do this, and we can’t?’ That was the crowbar that helped break up the logjam.”"

"Last fall (2008), Tesla began making the only highway-capable E.V. now available: the Roadster, a $109,000 sports car that goes from zero to sixty in less than four seconds and has a range of two hundred and forty-four miles. Powered by a lithium-ion battery—the kind used in laptops and cell phones—the Roadster was designed to prove that E.V.s can not just compete but excel. (Lithium is lighter than lead and releases a lot more energy.) Having gained “first-mover advantage”—which is particularly prized in Silicon Valley—Musk plans to cut the price for each of Tesla’s succeeding models more or less in half and seize the market from the top down."

"Silicon Valley’s E.V. entrepreneurs portray their technology as a fundamental discontinuity, a break from Detroit’s hidebound traditions. Yet, at the turn of the twentieth century, electric vehicles outsold all other types of cars. “Electric Road Wagons” and “Electrobats” were popular with women, because, unlike gas-powered vehicles, they required no strenuous cranking to start."

"The one factor that you can’t find on a spreadsheet is the willingness of the people in government to lead change, And in Denmark every single one of them is engaged and willing to do whatever it takes to get Denmark to be a leader in electric vehicles."

"As new-car sales in America are expected to fall to ten million this year, down from sixteen million in recent years, and as Chrysler and G.M. struggle after sojourns in bankruptcy, the big automakers are, often reluctantly, developing E.V.s of their own. Ford plans to release the electric Focus in 2011, and Chrysler says it will have five hundred thousand electric cars on the road by 2013, under its new ENVI brand, aimed at “consumers who care about the planet’s future.” (For everyone else, there’s the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.) Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are soon to release electric models, and the Chinese government, in a bid for its manufacturers to dominate the market, is setting up battery-charging stations in some of its largest cities and offering fleet owners who buy E.V.s and hybrids subsidies of up to eighty-eight hundred dollars."

"Late last year, Formula E officials announced the specs for the third generation of all-electric race cars that will debut on the motorway in 2022. The new Formula E cars will be the first to use extremely fast charging stations that pack enough power to fully charge a Tesla Model S battery in about 10 minutes. Although the racers will only use the charging stations for brief pit stops, they’ll provide a glimpse of the future beyond the racetrack: EV batteries that charge in the same amount of time it takes to fill a gas tank. To be sure, fast EV chargers already exist. Tesla and Porsche have both recently deployed 250-kilowatt public charging stations, which can bring some EV battery packs close to full charge in around 40 minutes."

"The drumbeat of the electrical transportation is accelerating like nothing I've ever seen in my life."

"Research from a recent study shows the important role that e-bikes can play in reducing carbon emissions in cities... the study says that carbon emissions could be reduced by 12 percent if just 15 percent of urban transportation miles traveled were instead made by e-bike... The researchers chose to focus specifically on e-bikes instead of regular bikes because “e-bikes encourage users to cycle farther and more often than conventional bicycles.” Any carbon emissions related to e-bikes themselves, like the electricity that’s required to charge them, were accounted for in this recent study. It’s also noted that emission differences in how that electricity is produced is pretty negligible."