I love the Automobile. I love cars, the smell of oil, factory canteens, design o ce linoleum, race track paddocks, industrial design, wrenches. I like to drive Shelbys and electric vehicles. Even more so, I love people who live for Automobile, the discussions with engineers or the parking lot custodian, the thoughts of the environmentalists, tutorials from a craftsman, the skills of the mechanics, the surprises om the Japanese designers or the confidence of the Germans, the artists’ critiques, and the ideas that arrive om the chidren that like to create word games with motorway signs.

What is the logical outcome of an economic model based on overequipped cars?
Prices are rising (the average price of new vehicles sold in France (1) is €22,800 in 2011, 15% higher than the previous year), buying power is decreasing (consumer buying power doesn't follow the same curve), cars are becoming obese (body mass of small French cars has ballooned 50% in 25 years, affecting road grip, braking, acceleration, shock absorption in case of accident, fuel consumption, pollution emissions).

Petrol price is low, electric and hybrid cars are selling well, car manufacturers are optimistic again, new markets, new technologies, new actors… This is the best time to prepare the Car Of The Future. Motor City is the place.

On May 28, 2014, Google presented their car, an historic turning point in the automobile Industry (or at least, in the history of mass transit).

Not that removing the steering wheel represents, strictly speaking, a new automobile sector. The Google Car isn't 'new' in the sense of autonomizing the driver as opposed to making the machine itself autonomous. An automobileis identified by its range of motion and flexibility to easily maneuver in and out of regularly encountered situations, while taking into account our respective responsibilities. Otherwise, it would be a bicycle.

This year, the 3D printer and the driverless car are as modern as it gets. We won't dwell on the 3D printer here, a delusional marketing ploy to essentially refit consumer's living rooms as a supermarket (and factory).
However, we can ask if the removal of the steering wheel is one giant leap for mankind, or, at least, for the automobile industry.

Car designers are in the habit of surfing the wave of concept cars sporting exotic fins or frothy coach trim, while advertising beckons us with awesome hair, leave-in conditioner and crop tops. It might be entertaining to expose their motives but would hardly elucidate us in seeking solutions to the economic, ecologic, social or political crises confronting the automobile.

...or rather, who better than the French to solve the problem with French cars.

Even though societies have gone global, the contemporary French automobile has not had the same history as its competitors nor does it enjoy the same advantages for cutting a quick exit out of the current global traffic jam.