2008 Year-End Wrap-Up
Another year, a few more blogs.
2008 has been a pretty groovy year for WordPress.com and the company behind it, Automattic. We doubled in size and brought new talent on board including some through the acquisition of two companies: Intense Debate and PollDaddy. This fine crew has helped bring new features to your dashboards, along with other goodies to be revealed in the new year. The growth has helped us to keep up with you guys in terms of service and new features.
Change
This year has been all about change — and, as always, listening to the WordPress community. We’ve introduced a ton of new features, some of which you’ve been asking for in the forums and comments: Snap previews, music and video uploads, identicons, captions, Turbo, sticky posts, HTTPS settings, polls, favicons, and lots more.
We also rolled out a few new themes: Monotone, Albeo, Journalist (revised), and DePo Masthead. That’s way too few though, and bringing more themes to you is going to be one of our top priorities for 2009.
Your dashboards have seen not one but two redesigns this year, and from the looks of your comments and other feedback, you’re pretty happy with the latest change. We’re glad, since this latest transformation will be the framework on which future features are built. (Also meaning we’re not planning to redesign again anytime soon!)
As is the case with any year, there were a couple rough days in 2008, but we survived a DOS attack or two with very minimal downtime, and learned a lot in the process that will have us better prepared in the future. We’re very proud to have been one of the most reliable online services this year with availability rivaling folks 100x our size.
Apps
The Open Source WordPress iPhone app was released earlier this year, and we’re now on our way to version 1.2. We’ve also partnered with LinkedIn by adding an app to their Applications feature, released through Open Social. Both of these are compatible with both WordPress.org and WordPress.com. (Don’t forget there’s also a Facebook application and a mobile site.)
Bloggers
We’ve spotlighted a number of new bloggers and WordPress converts this year over on our Publisher Blog. The breadth of talent and interests always amazes me. Folks from Martha Stewart to The Real Dan Lyons and organizations from the NFL to the UK Royal Navy use WordPress in all its flavors: WordPress.com, WordPress.com VIP, WordPress MU, and WordPress.org. More are being added to the Showcase every day.
WordCamps
The best representation of the WordPress community IRL is WordCamp. I’ve had a blast traveling the world and meeting you all at WordCamps this year. There were 29 WordCamps in all — from South Africa to Australia to Alabama — and I was able to attend and speak with you at about half. Attendance for all 2008 WordCamps combined was approximately 3,400, which is a number much higher than we could have drawn at just one big event in a single location per year. Thanks to all who organized WordCamps this year and helped bring the WordPress community together, worldwide.
Check out the list to see if there’s a WordCamp near you in 2009. If there isn’t, start your own! We’ll do what we can to help you make it happen.
Yearly Stats
Here are the stats in aggregate for the year!
2,906,086 blogs were created.
3,761,296 new users joined.
35,926,639 file uploads.
13.5 terabytes of new files.
161.1 terabytes of content transferred from our datacenters.
78,773,011 comments.
62,978,912 logins.
9,402,615,494 pageviews on WordPress.com, and another 6,467,996,032 on self-hosted blogs (15.8 billion total across all WordPress blogs we track).
3,132,606 active blogs and 44,027,035 active posts where “active” means they got a human visitor.
Plus a bit on languages:
About 66% of blogs on WordPress.com are in English, but there’s also:
8% Spanish
5% Indonesian
4% Portuguese
2% Italian
2% German
2% French
1.5% Turkish
and another 9.5% of other languages.
It’s exciting to see WordPress.com become a truly global community, and we plan to keep that in mind as we move forward with features in 2009.
(If you want to improve the translations for your language and help contribute to WordPress, please add your entry to the WordPress Translation Project.)
Thanks
Lastly, from all of us at Automattic, thank you. By itself WordPress.com is just a blank canvas, it’s what you bring to it that draws the world to our doorsteps.
Happy New Year!
source http://en.blog.wordpress.com
YOU DECIDE: What Is President Bush’s Legacy?
President Bush has delivered his farewell address to the nation on Thursday, January 15. The president told the nation that “it has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your president. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other: citizen of the United States of America. “
(AP Photo/Files)
Blitzer: An inside look at Air Force One
Watch Wolf Blitzer’s interview with Air Force One pilot Col. Mark Tillman today and tomorrow in The Situation Room at 6 pm ET.
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Maryland (CNN) — Driving to this sprawling base just outside Washington, D.C. this week brought back lots of memories. Covering a president often means traveling with a president aboard this extraordinary aircraft, and as CNN’s Senior White House Correspondent during the Clinton administration, I used to come here all the time to board Air Force One.
This week, I had a rare chance to catch up with Col. Mark Tillman, who’s been flying the giant Boeing 747 since 1992, the final year of George H.W. Bush’s presidency. He continued to fly for President Clinton’s full eight years, and became the chief pilot when President George W. Bush took office in 2001. Col. Tillman, who is now getting ready to retire, agreed to sit down with me and reflect on those years.
I interviewed him in the cockpit, where he told me some amazing stories of the presidents and the plane. He recalled flying around the country and the Gulf of Mexico on September 11, 2001, trying to come up with a safe place to land. He was emotional in recalling the heartbreak of flying over New Orleans and the Gulf coast right after Katrina hit. And he told me the story of that secret and dangerous landing in the Baghdad war zone on Thanksgiving 2003.
“It was still a very, very hot zone, was flying into Baghdad, especially without a whole lot of advance notice, was pretty dangerous,” he told me. “The challenge wasn’t so much to get him in there because we easily fooled everyone and got him in there. The challenge was once he was on the ground and everybody knew he was there to get him back out again.”
He also took me on a tour of the plane — all the way from the cockpit and secure communications areas upstairs and the presidential bedroom downstairs in the front of the plane, though the conference room, the “hospital” on board, the senior staff and guest areas — ending with the Secret Service and press seats in the back of the plane. He also shared some largely unknown details about the aircraft. His bottom line: don’t believe everything you saw in the Harrison Ford movie “Air Force One.”
“Whatever the president can do in the White House, we can do at 45,000 feet,” he said. “…Whatever he needs, we’ll take care of it.
“…As one of the presidential pilots said years ago, he knows he’s going to get the president home safely because he’s got a wife and kids that he’s going back home safe to,” he said. “So it’s the same mentality. I don’t think about the president being downstairs. I know — similar to an airline pilot, I’ve got a lot of cherished people in the back, so I go out of my way to make sure I do everything perfectly.”
Watch my interview with Tillman today and tomorrow in The Situation Room at 6 pm ET.
Watch Wolf Blitzer’s interview with Air Force One pilot Col. Mark Tillman today and tomorrow in The Situation Room at 6 pm ET.
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Maryland (CNN) — Driving to this sprawling base just outside Washington, D.C. this week brought back lots of memories. Covering a president often means traveling with a president aboard this extraordinary aircraft, and as CNN’s Senior White House Correspondent during the Clinton administration, I used to come here all the time to board Air Force One.
This week, I had a rare chance to catch up with Col. Mark Tillman, who’s been flying the giant Boeing 747 since 1992, the final year of George H.W. Bush’s presidency. He continued to fly for President Clinton’s full eight years, and became the chief pilot when President George W. Bush took office in 2001. Col. Tillman, who is now getting ready to retire, agreed to sit down with me and reflect on those years.
I interviewed him in the cockpit, where he told me some amazing stories of the presidents and the plane. He recalled flying around the country and the Gulf of Mexico on September 11, 2001, trying to come up with a safe place to land. He was emotional in recalling the heartbreak of flying over New Orleans and the Gulf coast right after Katrina hit. And he told me the story of that secret and dangerous landing in the Baghdad war zone on Thanksgiving 2003.
“It was still a very, very hot zone, was flying into Baghdad, especially without a whole lot of advance notice, was pretty dangerous,” he told me. “The challenge wasn’t so much to get him in there because we easily fooled everyone and got him in there. The challenge was once he was on the ground and everybody knew he was there to get him back out again.”
He also took me on a tour of the plane — all the way from the cockpit and secure communications areas upstairs and the presidential bedroom downstairs in the front of the plane, though the conference room, the “hospital” on board, the senior staff and guest areas — ending with the Secret Service and press seats in the back of the plane. He also shared some largely unknown details about the aircraft. His bottom line: don’t believe everything you saw in the Harrison Ford movie “Air Force One.”
“Whatever the president can do in the White House, we can do at 45,000 feet,” he said. “…Whatever he needs, we’ll take care of it.
“…As one of the presidential pilots said years ago, he knows he’s going to get the president home safely because he’s got a wife and kids that he’s going back home safe to,” he said. “So it’s the same mentality. I don’t think about the president being downstairs. I know — similar to an airline pilot, I’ve got a lot of cherished people in the back, so I go out of my way to make sure I do everything perfectly.”
Watch my interview with Tillman today and tomorrow in The Situation Room at 6 pm ET.
Watch Wolf Blitzer’s interview with Air Force One pilot Col. Mark Tillman today and tomorrow in The Situation Room at 6 pm ET.
Credit card or debit card
A credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. The issuer of the card grants a line of credit to the consumer (or the user) from which the user can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance to the user. A credit card is different from a charge card, where a charge card requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, credit cards allow the consumers to ‘revolve’ their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are issued by local banks or credit unions, and are the same shape and size as specified by the ISO 7810 standard.
A debit card (also known as a bank card or check card) is a plastic card which provides an alternative payment method to cash when making purchases. Functionally, it can be called an electronic check, as the funds are withdrawn directly from either the bank account (often referred to as a check card), or from the remaining balance on the card. In some cases, the cards are designed exclusively for use on the Internet, and so there is no physical card.[1][2]
The use of debit cards has become widespread in many countries and has overtaken the cheque, and in some instances cash transactions by volume. Like credit cards, debit cards are used widely for telephone and Internet purchases.
Debit cards can also allow for instant withdrawal of cash, acting as the ATM card for withdrawing cash and as a cheque guarantee card. Merchants can also offer “cashback”/”cashout” facilities to customers, where a customer can withdraw cash along with their purchase.
For consumers, the difference between a “debit card” and a “credit card” is that the debit card deducts the balance from a deposit account, like a checking account, whereas the credit card allows the consumer to spend money on credit to the issuing bank. In other words, a debit card uses the money you have and a credit card uses the money you don’t have.
In some countries: When a merchant asks “credit or debit?” the answer determines whether they will use a merchant account affiliated with one or more traditional credit card associations (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express) or an interbank network typically used for debit and ATM cards, like Plus, Pulse, Cirrus, or Maestro.
In other countries: When a merchant asks “credit or debit?” the answer determines whether the transaction will be handled as a credit transaction or as a debit transaction. In the former case, the merchant is more likely than in the latter case to have to pay a fee defined by fixed percentage to the merchant’s bank. In both cases, the merchant may have to pay a fixed amount to the bank. In either case, the transaction will go through a major credit/debit network (such as Visa, MasterCard, Visa Electron or Maestro). In either case, the transaction may be conducted in either online or offline mode, although the card issuing bank may choose to block transactions made in offline mode. This is always the case with Visa Electron transactions, usually the case with Maestro transactions and rarely the case with Visa or MasterCard transactions.
In yet other countries: A merchant will only ask for “credit or debit?” if the card is a combined credit+debit card. If the payee chooses “credit”, the credit balance will be debited the amount of the purchase; if the payee chooses “debit”, the bank account balance will be debited the amount of the purchase.
This may be confusing because “debit cards” which are linked directly to a checking account are sometimes dual-purpose, so that they can be used seamlessly in place of a credit card, and can be charged by merchants using the traditional credit networks. There are also “pre-paid credit cards” which act like a debit card but can only be charged using the traditional “credit” networks. The card itself does not necessarily indicate whether it is connected to an existing pile of money, or merely represents a promise to pay later.
In some countries: The “debit” networks typically require that purchases be made in person and that a personal identification number be supplied. The “credit” networks allow cards to be charged with only a signature, and/or picture ID.
In other countries: Identification typically requires the entering of a personal identification number or signing a piece of paper. This is regardless of whether the card network in use mostly is used for credit transactions or for debit transactions. In the event of an offline transaction (regardless of whether the offline transaction is a credit transaction or a debit transaction), identification using a PIN is impossible, so only signatures on pieces of paper work.
In some countries: Consumer protections also vary, depending on the network used. Visa and MasterCard, for instance, prohibit minimum and maximum purchase sizes, surcharges, and arbitrary security procedures on the part of merchants. Merchants are usually charged higher transaction fees for credit transactions, since debit network transactions are less likely to be fraudulent. This may lead them to “steer” customers to debit transactions. Consumers disputing charges may find it easier to do so with a credit card, since the money will not immediately leave their control. Fraudulent charges on a debit card can also cause problems with a checking account because the money is withdrawn immediately and may thus result in an overdraft or bounced checks. In some cases debit card-issuing banks will promptly refund any disputed charges until the matter can be settled, and in some jurisdictions the consumer liability for unauthorized charges is the same for both debit and credit cards.
In other countries: In India and Sweden, the consumer protection is the same regardless of the network used. Some banks set minimum and maximum purchase sizes, mostly for online-only cards. However, this has nothing to do with the card networks, but rather with the bank’s judgement of the person’s age and credit records. Any fees that the customers have to pay to the bank are the same regardless of whether the transaction is conducted as a credit or as a debit transaction, so there is no advantage for the customers to choose one transaction mode over another. Shops may add surcharges to the price of the goods or services in accordance with laws allowing them to do so. Banks consider the purchases as having been made at the moment when the card was swiped, regardless of when the purchase settlement was made. Regardless of which transaction type was used, the purchase may result in an overdraft because the money is considered to have left the account at the moment of the card swiping.
from wikipedia
The Race To Build Really Cheap Cars
How cheap is cheap? Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn is betting that for autos, the magic number is under $3,000. At a plant-opening ceremony in India Apr. 4, he was already talking up the industry’s next challenge: a future model that would sport a sticker price as low as $2,500—about 40% less than the least expensive subcompact currently on the market. Renault-Nissan is the first global automaker to take up the gauntlet thrown down in 2003 by India’s Tata Motors, which plans to launch a $2,500 car next year. Both are leading a race to the bottom that could affect the business every bit as much as Henry Ford’s Model T did a century ago.
After years of making their mass-market cars more expensive, the world’s automakers have abruptly shifted into reverse. With stagnant growth in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, they are now eyeing emerging markets for new opportunities. That means redesigning the car for buyers who might otherwise be able to afford only a motorcycle. And outdated, stripped-down models won’t do. Demand is surging for basic cars that combine modern comfort with safety at a fraction of today’s cost. The rush to build a modern, no-frills car could do for autos what airlines like Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV ) and JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU ) have done for travel, and H&M and Zara have done for fashion. Low-cost cars are “the single most important trend in the automotive industry today,” says Vikas Tibrewala, the Paris-based executive director of the Monitor Group consultancy.
Whatever the lowest sticker price turns out to be, the discounting trend will hit cars across the board, from minis to SUVs. Renault already has a runaway hit with its bare-bones Logan sedan. The automaker began offering the roomy Logan in Europe for just $7,200 in 2004—some 40% less than rival sedans—and has since sold 450,000 of the cars in 51 countries. Workers at its sprawling Dacia plant near the Romanian city of Pitesti and a newer plant in Russia toil in round-the-clock shifts but still can’t meet demand. “With the Logan we have the product and we have the lead,” says Ghosn.
A $3,000 car for Asian markets, built in low-cost India with a local partner, is the next logical step. “The main weakness of today’s global automakers is that they are incapable of delivering a car that fulfills basic needs at a very low price,” says Ghosn. “The people who have these skills are in India and China.”
CUTTING COSTS TO THE BONE
That realization is now dawning on the industry’s giants. When Tata made its vow to build a $2,500 car, many Western auto executives ridiculed the project, dubbing it a four-wheel bicycle. They aren’t laughing anymore. Tata’s model is a real car with four doors, a 33-horsepower engine, and a top speed of around 80 mph. The automaker claims it will even pass a crash test. And while the car probably won’t win any beauty contests, it’s no ugly duckling either, according to the handful of industry insiders who have been given a glimpse. The rest is top secret, but Tata engineers are already testing a prototype as the clock ticks toward a late 2008 launch. The key is India’s low-cost engineers and their prodigious ability to trim needless spending to the bone, a skill developed by years of selling to the bottom of the pyramid. “You have to cut costs on everything—seats, materials, components—the whole package,” says Tata Group Chairman Ratan N. Tata.
There’s no lack of potential customers: Hundreds of millions of Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, Russians, and others will likely join the middle class in the coming decade, and cars are sure to be at the top of their shopping lists. As a result, the global car market is polarizing: The luxury segment continues to grow, cheap cars boom, and everything else gets squeezed. By 2012, the market for vehicles priced under $10,000 is likely to reach 18 million cars, or a fifth of world auto sales, according to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. That’s up from 12 million today.
So far this year, every major carmaker has announced its own 21st century Model T project. Toyota (TM ), Volkswagen (VLKAY ), Fiat (FIA ), and Peugeot have all vowed to build cut-rate Logan-killers. General Motors Corp. (GM ) intends to use its Korean subsidiary, GM Daewoo, to design a model that will sell for about $7,000. Chrysler (DCX ) is developing low-cost cars with Chinese manufacturer Chery. Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. is making India its global hub for small-car production and expects to double its output to 600,000 cars annually by yearend, many of them destined for Europe. “Automakers will have to live with a trend of lower-cost vehicles. It is difficult but that’s where the demand is,” says David Nicholas (Nick) Reilly, president of GM Asia Pacific. The average retail price for many compacts will probably sink to $9,000, while minis will go for around $7,000, Reilly predicts. That’s about 15% below current model prices.
Car manufacturers, of course, have always sought to cut costs and pack more value into each new-model generation to stay competitive. But now, emerging markets like India offer cheap engineering, inexpensive parts-sourcing, and low-cost manufacturing. For its new car, for example, Tata should be able to slash the cost of the engine to about $700, or 50% lower than a Western-developed equivalent, says one consultant close to the company. Combine Indian brainpower with Western innovation in design, materials, and processes, and the potential exists for a quantum leap in cost-reduction without major sacrifices in quality. Tata and Renault’s Indian partner Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. are already doing engineering work for global automakers at cut-rate prices. Tata, for example, is working on a coupe for a major Western customer.
LESSONS FOR BIG CARS
Another new factor in the low-cost car segment is the possibility of huge volumes that can drive profits. Ultra-cheap cars historically have not sold in large numbers. In 2005, low-cost cars represented less than 1% of new-vehicle sales in the U.S., according to Roland Berger. By contrast, emerging markets, which held little appeal for the major car brands even 10 years ago, now offer a volume bonanza that can make even cheap cars profit spinners. In India alone, some 1.6 million motorcycle and scooter riders are likely to buy a car over the next five years, the Berger study estimates. India’s auto market is set to double to 3.3 million cars by 2014, while China’s will grow 140% over the same period, to 16.5 million cars, according to J.D. Power (MHP ) Automotive Forecasting. That kind of demand makes dirt-cheap cars viable. “The real trick and idea behind the low-cost segment is to increase volume as much as possible to bring costs down,” says Alfredo Altavilla, CEO for Fiat Powertrain Technologies. (Fiat signed a technical partnership with Tata Motors in February.)
What automakers learn from experimenting with discount cars may well shape how more expensive models are made. To make a success of the Logan, Renault manufactured in low-cost Romania. It developed a design that reduced the total number of parts and made assembly a cinch. It stripped out sophisticated electronics, dispensed with high-tech curved windshields, and even saved $3 per vehicle by using identical rear-view mirrors on each side. The biggest breakthrough: Renault was able to eliminate expensive prototypes and the pricey tooling involved in building them. As a result, it could move directly from digital mockup to production, an innovation that saved the French car company $40 million. Now Renault has figured out how to eliminate physical prototypes for all of its models.
Toyota is working on a bottom-of-the-line car with an expected sticker price of under $7,000 that could hit emerging markets such as India and Brazil by 2009. Toyota’s management is banking on breakthroughs in new materials, manufacturing, and low-cost factories. If the Japanese company’s engineers do their job, the cost-saving strategies will be deployed in everything from Corollas to Lexus SUVs. “When I asked for the low-cost development project two years ago, I wanted to see technology that would be applied to other vehicles as well,” says Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe. A prototype is expected this spring. A successful Toyota venture in this segment could “scramble all the eggs in emerging markets,” says Fiat’s Altavilla.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
To automakers’ astonishment, cheap cars are also proving to be just as popular in established markets as they are in the developing world. Renault originally expected to sell the Logan only in Eastern Europe and other emerging markets. But in 2005, the automaker started offering it across Western Europe. Buyers have flooded showrooms to get behind the wheel of the no-frills model. Yesterday’s cheap cars (remember the laughably bad Yugo?) failed to take off in the West because of poor quality. The new generation of cheap cars will be sturdy and reliable and will appeal to Western consumers who want to spend money on things other than transport. “It’s all about price for performance,” says Frankfurt music teacher Elmar Kolle, who in November replaced his Ford (F ) Mondeo with a marine-blue Logan sedan. “I’d have to pay 5,000 euros [$6,500] more for a comparable car” from another manufacturer.
The shift to cut-rate wheels is jarring for an industry that has fixated for at least a decade on premium cars and their fat margins. BMW earns an estimated $3,300 per car on average, vs. Logan’s $400 per car, according to Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the German Center for Automotive Research. And when you get down to a sub-$3,000 sticker price, some experts say it’ll be tough to cover the cost of the parts involved. “Any way you look at it, it will be difficult to be profitable,” says David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
So why bother? Western automakers who don’t join the fray risk being shut out of the growth in emerging markets. Even worse, they could give ambitious challengers a dangerous foothold in the West—not unlike the one they gave the Japanese by ignoring their low-cost, fuel-efficient models in the 1970s. China’s Geely makes a model for $3,900 and it’s aiming to export a car to the U.S. by 2010. Suzuki Motor Corp. (SZKMF ), which sells cars starting at $4,400 in India, will launch a new compact in 2008 and export it to Europe. Tata’s $8,500 Indica compact sedan already sells in southern and eastern Europe. “The Chinese and Indians are coming,” says Patrick Pelata, chief of strategy and product planning at Renault. “If we don’t do our job, we will give them a huge slice of market share. We have to keep moving.”
The majority of low-cost cars will range from $5,000 to $10,000, depending on size and features. Analysts say adding equipment required for safety and emissions control in Western markets would automatically bring the price of a cheap Chinese or Indian car up to $6,000 to $7,000. Many cars in India, for example, are sold without airbags or antilock brakes, standard features in the West. “There is a huge cost element to safety,” says Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India, noting that crash-test facilities alone are a gigantic investment.
Still, India remains the chief test bed and battleground for really cheap cars. Hyundai uses its plant outside Chennai as a global hub for its small-car production. By tapping local suppliers and manufacturing, the Korean upstart is able to offer a popular entry-level subcompact, the Santro, at a starting price of $6,300 in India, while still making features such as air conditioning and power steering standard. Moving along the pristine, high-tech production lines of its Chennai plant are also cars for export to Europe, Russia, and Latin America. Outside the plant, a vast sea of new cars, some 65% of them earmarked for export markets, fills Hyundai’s orderly lots. “My only problem,” says Lheem Heung-Soo, managing director of Hyundai India, “is limited capacity.” He’s ramping up production fast: So are all his rivals.
from bussinessweek.com
LINCOLN C CONCEPT: BIG LUXURY IN SMALL PACKAGE
DETROIT, Jan. 12, 2009 – Lincoln is breaking new ground with the Lincoln C concept, a new big idea for a small luxury car.
Designed with today’s upscale, urban consumer in mind, the Lincoln C concept brings the presence and elegance of a large Lincoln to a smaller, more efficient C-sized car.
“Modern luxury buyers who live and work in large, urban areas want to play their part in helping the environment by moving to a smaller vehicle, but they still want to enjoy the luxuries of life,” said Peter Horbury, executive director of Design, The Americas. “The Lincoln C offers sensible indulgence.”
According to Horbury, younger contemporary consumers with slim iPods and pocket-sized cameras have already grown accustomed to the notion of premium quality in a small package.
“During the past decade, people have gotten used to the idea that you could pay more money for a smaller version of the real thing,” said Horbury, citing the evolution of music players from tapes to CDs to MP3 players as an example.
“The same philosophy can be applied to the automobile,” he added. “People will be happy to buy a smaller car that is better for the environment and more maneuverable in the city as long as the vehicle has all the attributes they want.”
The concept’s unique size, lightweight construction and use of sustainable materials make the Lincoln C stand out – along with its fuel economy.
Featuring a 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine and Ford’s all-new dry, dual-clutch PowerShift six-speed transmission, the Lincoln C concept achieves 43 mpg on the highway, while offering up an impressive 180 horsepower and 180 ft.-lbs. of torque. PowerShift and outstanding driving dynamics make the Lincoln C concept fun for the driver.
Plus, a sophisticated human machine interface (HMI) and forward-thinking in-car connectivity technologies bring a whole new dimension to social networking, an important facet of modern customers’ active lifestyles.
“Connectivity is as much a luxury for today’s younger car buyer as are the traditional luxuries of wood, leather and a comfortable ride,” said Horbury. “It means being able to continue your lifestyle seamlessly while you’re on the move.”
Sporty, Elegant Exterior Design
When designers developed the Lincoln C concept, their goal was to create a C-sized automobile with both presence and elegance. Their vision: a smaller, more fuel-efficient car that could maneuver easily in congested urban areas and compact parking spaces, yet still provide driver and passengers with levels of luxury and comfort usually reserved for larger sedans.
“Lincoln C is about efficiency without compromise,” said Freeman Thomas, director of Ford’s Strategic Concepts Group, who led the Lincoln C design team – David Woodhouse, Jeremy Leng, Andrei Markevich and Matt Edwards.
One of the most distinctive features of the Lincoln C is its unique silhouette. The visual mass of the car is very low to the road. A low-slung shoulder line with a wheel-at-each-corner stance supports a dynamic, slightly formal cabin. The aim was “go kart” visual stability combined with elegant lines and surfaces.
At first glance, the silhouette is immediately distinguished by a bold front profile, low shoulder, high beltline, wide C-pillar and compact bustle back.
The modern appearance of the Lincoln C reflects the timeless, iconic elements of the Lincoln DNA: sheer surfaces bounded by defined creases; a cantilevered roof extending from a strong C-pillar; a confident double-wing chrome grille; full-width tail lamps and rocker brightwork.
The front end of the concept is unmistakably Lincoln. The signature grille encapsulates LED headlamps that – like the taillights – are made with prismatic optical elements that create depth and visual sophistication. A sculpted groove in the top of the front hood – which derives its shape from the Lincoln badge – adds a finishing touch to the grille of the car.
A low shoulder line combines with a strong, high belt line to create a sense of safety and privacy inside and outside of the vehicle.
An aluminum cantrail adds elegance to the concept by extending the beltline to the rear glass and breaking up the otherwise tall C-pillar. Aluminum is also visible inside the door apertures.
The Lincoln C is absent of a B-pillar or center post. The center-opening doors – a classic Lincoln trait that rekindles memories of the 1961 Continental – allow effortless access to first- and second-row bench seats and give the vehicle a limousine-like quality.
Sleek side mirrors house both advanced rear-view camera and blind spot detection technologies. Slit-like LED turn signal indicators are integrated into the mirrors, allowing slim, efficient light.
LED taillamps span the full-width of the Lincoln C’s rear, featuring turn signal indicators that fade toward the center of the car stretch from side to side.
An all-glass roof provides a modern, futuristic look. The expansive opening illuminates the cabin and enhances the sense of spaciousness inside the car.
Designers reinterpreted the presentation of the Lincoln badge throughout the exterior of the Lincoln C in a subtle way, giving it a contemporary “race track” theme. The Lincoln star sits proudly at the center of the front end, and the rear badge is slightly morphed to suit its placement above the taillights.
A more in-depth look at various details of the Lincoln C reveals that the badge motif is repeated in discreet ways in the design of the front lower intake mesh; the shape of the glass roof and structure; the implied illuminated keyholes on the door handles; the shape of the rear-view camera that sits on the back of the roof; the design of the wheels and the pattern in the tire treads.
The exterior of the Lincoln C is bathed in a light, exterior clear coat that hints of yellow metallic.
Modern, Timeless Interior Design
Inside, the Lincoln C concept welcomes driver and passengers to a space that looks more like the living room of a contemporary urban loft than the inside of a car.
Elements of classic Lincoln DNA permeate the cabin, including: a bright, clean, light color palette; authentic materials such as wood and metal; ambient lighting; jewel-like chrome details; bench seating; and the symmetrical design of the instrument panel, which thoughtfully serves both driver and passengers.
The interior’s all-white color palette — from roof to seats to floor — is stunning. Subtle chrome accents on the seats, instrument panel, door panels and floor glimmer like fine jewelry. A light gray wood veneer – made from recycled wood – provides a striking contrast against the white leather on the instrument panel and door panels. The headliner is white Alcantara suede.
Because the Lincoln C concept is two inches wider than conventional C-class vehicles, it offers the roominess of a 1961 Continental at almost half the length. In modern terms, the vehicle has the overall length of a Ford Focus and the overall width of a Lincoln MKZ.
Designers took full advantage of the extra space in the interior of the Lincoln C by incorporating luxurious bench seating in the front and back rows. They are crafted from luxurious, chromium-free leather and filled with soy foam. The seats are thin and lightweight, but because they were designed to an ergonomic comfort curve, they are extremely comfortable.
There is a single headrest on the left and a double headrest on the right for passengers in both rows. All the headrests automatically retract without occupants for optimized driver vision. Convenience trays are housed compactly behind the front bench. In the closed position, they are flush with the leather and feature chrome release handles.
One of the most eye-catching elements of the seating is the laser-engraved floral etching on the passenger side seats and floor and on the back of the driver’s seat. It is a light, airy pattern that gives the interior a refined, sophisticated look.
Because of their unique shape and the imperceptible way that they are mounted to the floor, the benches appear to be floating inside the cabin.
The steering wheel and instrument panel also seem to be suspended in air. All of these elements combine to enhance the concept’s futuristic look, openness, and give the impression of dynamic space within the vehicle.
The steering wheel is hubless, lending the driver an unobstructed view of the instrument panel. The glossy white rim rotates around a stationary chrome ring with chrome shifter paddles on both sides. Simple toggles embedded into the left and right sides of the wheel control the vehicle’s navigation system and menu selection.
The instrument panel is leather-wrapped with a chrome bezel. The light, gray wood veneer forms a symmetrical shape that surrounds the center-mounted touch screen and extends out to the right and left sides. Above the center screen is the Lincoln nomenclature and badge, finished tastefully in chrome.
The panoramic instrument panel is divided into three sections and designed with a mixture of digital and analog components. The left side contains Lincoln’s signature HMI menus and driver-related information. The center portion displays a multi-functional screen displaying navigation, SYNC details and a life-like custom avatar to help make everyday journeys more seamless and other helpful, driver-oriented options.
Soft, white ambient lighting creates a relaxing atmosphere inside the cabin. The lighting is integrated into the C-pillar with a front face that displays the Lincoln badge.
The roof also features an integrated rearview mirror and a chrome-trimmed Web camera that rotates to the right or left, depending on whether the driver or the passenger is communicating via the Internet. A chrome air vent follows the shape of the glass roof.
“While the most luxurious and indulgent products often come in the smallest packages, unfortunately this hasn’t been true of most small cars recently,” said J Mays, Ford’s group vice president of Design. “With the Lincoln C, we’ve remixed the traditional small car formula, taking the most engaging technologies and wrapping them in a design fit for today’s urban luxury customer – without sacrificing style or substance.”
copy from www.ford.com
Toyota commits to F1 despite loss
Toyota has vowed to continue running its Formula One team despite forecasting an annual loss of £1.1bn.
Following Honda’s shock departure from the sport in December because of the global economic crisis, it had been feared Toyota could follow suit.
But Toyota Motor Corporation president Katsuaki Watanabe insisted: “We will continue F1 and other motorsport activities while cutting costs.
“To keep [spending] up at the current level is extremely difficult.”
Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, announced on Monday that it was bracing itself for its first annual loss in 71 years because of plummeting sales and a surge in the value of the yen.
Watanabe added: “The change in the world economy is of a magnitude that comes once every hundred years.
“We are facing an unprecedented emergency.”
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606: DEBATE
Rufus McDufus
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But Toyota, who made their F1 debut in 2002, insist they do not plan to follow fellow Japanese teams Honda, Subaru and Suzuki out of motorsport.
Honda, which spent more than £300m a year on F1, withdrew from the sport on 5 December blaming the contraction of the global economy.
Last week Subaru, whose cars are made by Fuji Heavy Industries, and Suzuki pulled out of the World Rally Championship for the same reason.
Toyota plans to continue operating in F1 but warned the team would have to scale back costs.
This month F1’s teams and the governing body, the FIA, agreed key cost-cutting measures for the next two seasons to help guarantee the future of the sport.
Those measures include doubling engine life, reducing engine revs and cutting the cost of engines to independent teams.
copyfrom bbc.co.uk
Cheap car…Ford Model-T and the First Moving Assembly Line
Have you seen the inner workings of a auto manufacturing plant? The mechanical operations of these modern production facilities are amazing to watch as cars travel along and parts get added as they move along. Other manufacturing firms have adopted similar processes for their products to speed up the assembly and to make it easier for the work teams.
Introduced by Ford manufacturing on this day in 1914, was the first moving assembly line when car bodies were pulled along past the work teams. The original system involved the parts and the work teams moving down the lines of stationary autos. The Model T car was the first to be adapted to this new system where the car bodies were moved to the workers, thus the assembly time was cut from 17 hours to 90 minutes per car. To improve the work flow, it was arranged in such a way that as one task was finished, another would begin within a few minutes, with minimal amount of down time for setup. The assembly of the Model T was broken down into 84 steps, with each worker being trained to do just one of these steps.
Ford was inspired by the meat-packing houses and a grain mill conveyer system he had seen in Chicago. He thought that if he brought the work to the workers, they’d spend less time moving about and this would increase the production, thus, the invention of the moving assembly line.
copyright from sciencefun.today.com
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