This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode, and derived from its transcript. I keep coming back to Volkswagen (VW). Not because I want to, but because I can’t help it. I love the brand, and that’s exactly why watching it during the last decade has been so frustrating. So here we
The Decisions That Changed Volkswagen Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. This is the second half of a topic discussed on the last post. The first half was about manufacturers who built things for other brands and eventually decided to build their own. This half is different. This is about brands that actually died, but
Back From the Dead: How Enthusiast Brands Get Resurrected Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. This topic made sense for a single podcast episode but not for a single website article. This is one half of it: manufacturers who spent decades building things for somebody else’s name, then decided they wanted their name on the dial, the hood, or
Tractors to Supercars, From OEM To Full Fledge Brands Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. Ferrari’s Luce has been the topic of the car enthusiast community for weeks, and most of that conversation has stopped at “it’s ugly.” That reaction is fair enough, but it’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is what Ferrari is actually doing with
The Ferrari Luce, What is Ferrari Doing? Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. Two headlines landed in the same news cycle this month, and on the surface they have nothing to do with each other. Porsche said it’s cutting production to protect margins. Leica is reportedly in talks to be acquired by a Chinese firm. One story
What Can Porsche Learn From Leica? Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. This was supposed to be a Collective Horology weekend. I had the trip planned with my wife, hotel booked and everything, and Sunday morning was going to be Morning Motors, the Cars and Coffee that Driving While Awesome puts together. Instead I spent the
Kodak, Jaguar, Zenith: Brands That Had Every Ingredient For Higher Success Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. Audi’s CEO, Gernot Dolner, went to an auto show in China in late May and came back with a declaration: the era of the global product is over. That’s a bold statement to make when you run one of the biggest automotive brands on
The Death of the Global Product? Not So Fast. Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. The camera started as a precision artifact. German. Exclusive. Built by hand in the same tradition as Swiss watchmaking, meaning it was expensive, it was serious, and most people couldn’t touch it. Leica, Zeiss, Rollei. That was the holy trinity. And like a fine
The Globalization of the Camera industry: It Became Everybody’s Business Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. I got one of those LinkedIn digest emails. You know the ones: “what people are talking about today.” Usually I delete it. This one caught my eye: Honda reports its worst year ever. My first instinct, as a car person, was the obvious stuff.
Honda’s Worst Year Ever. Really? Read More »
This post is a companion to the latest 3DLANES podcast episode. Cosworth started in London in October 1958 by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, both former Lotus men, the company name is literally just their surnames stapled together. COStin. DuckWORTH. Cosworth. Duckworth apparently did not enjoy working at Lotus very much. He left after two
Cosworth: The Engine Company That Refuses to Die Read More »
