Daily News: Thursday 8/24/17

Maserati Shows First Images of New Ghibli GranLusso Maserati has released images which show the newly updated Ghibli, dubbed the Ghibli GranLusso, and announced the car will make its debut at the Chengdu Motorshow, in China, on August 25^th. As the car has been on the market for four years now, this mid-life refresh is expected and mild in nature. Changes are mostly visual, with a new front bumper, rear bumper, and exterior badging. Maserati claims improved aerodynamics from the changes, although whether customers will notice is questionable. The GranLusso also updates the safety technology of the car with the introduction of Adaptive full LED Headlights with glare free Matrix High-Beam and new optional (unspecified) autonomous driving capability.

The Ghibli has been extraordinarily successful for the company in the Chinese market, as demonstrated by the choice of reveal, the Chengdu Motorshow, in China. Styling choices such as “dedicated chrome inserts and new front grille with chrome bars” also signify the target market, as chrome is sliding out of fashion in almost all markets except the Chinese market. Look for more news on Monday, after the auto show reveal.

Audi Working on Solar Cell-Equipped Glass Roofs Audi has announced a partnership with Alta Devices, a subsidiary of Chinese solar company Hanergy, to put thin-film solar cells in glass roofs. While both Toyota and Karma offer solar roofs, they are not integrated into the glass, nor do they actually do much of anything.  As Audi hasn’t said how much electricity these solar sunroofs will potentially be able to generate or how much sunlight will be required to run something like the air conditioning, this may prove to be the case with this option as well, going the route of the gimmick.

As a gimmick though, solar roofs for my electric car is a pretty neat gimmick.