wanted

There was a day that Volkswagen wanted to have “the Bentley of the town.” It went wrong

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If something has shown us the history of the car is that it is completely irrational, extremely competitive and very conservative. The electric car is demonstrating it clearly. The number of brands has triggered and China wants to make a foothold on European soil. The reality is that Only Tesla seems to have found the way Correct and China is moving in Europe … but with Combustion engines. That conservatism is not new. Raising a brand from scratch is only possible with a huge economic effortsustained and almost blind for years and years (like Tesla)with the help of state media (as Xiaomi and its association with one of the national Chinese car companies). But it is also almost impossible to change the perception that the client has of you. Winning to the client and ascending on the ranks of the market can take decades. A good example is Hyundai and Kia that have some of the best -selling cars In our country but they had to start earning market share selling cars much cheaper than those of the competition. But rapid movements, those who want to position a brand in a higher segment almost from nowhere or those that seek to compete with premium brands with a model that equals features but also in price is generally a call to failure. There is a good handful of examples and the Volkswagen Phaeton is undoubtedly one of the most representative. History of a failure Luckily for those who like cars and unfortunately from manufacturers, the purchase of a car is irrational. It has an inevitable part of aesthetic taste but also for quality perception, affinity with the brand and construction of an image and a history based on the past. That makes, for example, Renault fails with Vel satisf either Avantime Although they were very good vehicles that tried position yourself above the generalists. Nor has Stellantis (and before PSA) achieved return to DS to your luxury past Despite the multiple attempts. And something similar happened to Volkswagen Phaeton. By order of Ferdinand Piëch, then president of the Volkswagen Group, the Germans wanted to assault the premium market with a Berlina that was called “The Bentley of the People”. The intention was to stick with the Mercedes S, BMW 7 series and, curiously for being part of the group, with the Audi A8. The bet was so strong that the possibility to match (or improve) in equipment and materials to its rivals with a more adjusted price was not even tan. It was directly to resemble all fronts (also in price) and in the executives of Volkswagen they took a tortazo. In fact, the Volkswagen Phaeton Not even was a version of Audi A8. Yes, he shared some aluminum panels with the Berlina of the four hoops, as explained in Km77 In the early 2000s, but for development it departed from a blank sheet and even The Volkswagen Dresde factory was builtknown for their Glass structure and for being the one that, discontinued the Phaeton, covers the complete electrical models of the company. In that assault on the heavens, the Phaeton was sold above 66,000 euros for what the German triad looked from you. A Audi A8 It was sold at that time slightly below 69,000 euros. A BMW 7 series It started from 67,500 euros. He Mercedes S Yes it was significantly more expensive, starting from more than 71,000 euros. In those early years of the new century, all German luxury Berlins shared two things: they all had versions above 120,000 euros. And they all had gigantic engines. And the Volkswagen Phaeton was not going to be less. Its most “small” engine was already a V6 in diesel and gasoline versions. From there, it could only be dreaming. Volkswagen’s bet was also sold with a V8 4.2 gasoline, the famous V10 5.0 TDI and an endless W12 6.0 of gasoline that was sold with 420 and 450 hp versions. The average consumption of the latter was around (with the homologations of that time) 14.5 liters/100 km on average. And of equipment, the Phaeton was not badly served: heating seats, electric with memory and massage, bi-xenon headlights, four-zone heshlyzizer, indoor in the skin topped with wood and the possibility of replacing the rear seats with two sidewalks to improve comfort. Developing the car, therefore, was not going to be easy. At least this is attesting to 1,100 million euros that, according to Autoweekthe Germans invested in their development. From Automotive NewsHowever, they raise the figure to 2,000 million euros. But despite the expensive development and the good of the product, selling the Phaeton was not simple either. To the point that, according to this last medium, the Germans lost 28,101 euros for each unit sold. Keep in mind that the company had made a effort huge in machinery, employees and a new factory (The Dresden crystal plant) To launch a car that would meet the quality of a vehicle of its price range. It is said that Ferdinand Piëch delivered a series of unnegotiable requirements to put the car on the street among which was the ability to maintain the interior temperature at 22ºC circulating in a sustained way at 300 km/h with an exterior temperature of 50ºC. And all despite the car was limited to 250 km/h. Only for overestimating the capabilities of the car and that there was no open door to the client’s disappointment. But the market did not respond despite the fact that Volkswagen reached up to 100 patents during its development. Estimates that aimed at 20,000 units sold a year were impossible to meet. Even as the years passed. Because during the decade and a half that the car was on sale only 84,253 units were sold. Volkswagen’s most optimistic forecasts, collect in DiariomotorThey could exceed 35,000 units sold. And, as exceed, the 50,000 cars sold. Seeing one of those people’s bentley was not as complicated as seeing a true Bentley but of course it … Read more

Felipe II wanted to build an XXL channel from Madrid to Lisbon. Now the city has recovered it inspired by ancient Egypt

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When the workers are excavated in a city with the solera and patrimonial wealth of Madrid the ground can become a box of surprises. The team in charge of the expansion of Metro Line 11, which during its excavations at the future Madrid Rio station recently proved it. He found himself With a wall of the Real Canal del Manzanares, the Gran river path dreamed by Felipe II. The structure has value, that was clear from the beginning, but it was so delicate and was in such a complicated area that a doubt arose: how to rescue it? Simple: ‘Looking’ to Ancient Egypt. Underground Award. If Spanish architects know something, it is that when you hurt a shovel in a city and excavas enough it is not strange that archaeological remains begin to emerge. It has happened in the works of Expansion of line 11 of the Madrid Metro. A few months ago The operators who are responsible for horating the ground for the future underground network and the Madrid Rio station found more than rocks: they located remains of the Real Canal del Manzanares. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Curious yes, surprising no. The finding is interesting and will help us know better The old channeling who aspired to connect Madrid and Lisbon with barges, but did not catch off experts. “It has been no surprise to meet this section of the channel here,” I commented In spring a The country Archaeologist Esther Andreu. It is not the first finding in the environment and experts have been in charge of keeping tables and examining the area with laser scanners. What is the real channel? Maybe The craziest dream From Felipe II, that one day, back in the 16th century, he wondered why he could not have Madrid his own port with the Atlantic. Sounds macarronic, but what the monarch had in mind was to imitate the model of locks and channels he had seen In Flanders and create a river route that connected Madrid with Aranjuez and then continue through the Tagus to Lisbon … and America. The project, huge, required a 600 km navigable route capable of saving 650 m slope, as Pedro Gargantilla requires in ABC. With honey on the lips. The project advanced and In 1584 Felipe II himself came to travel from Madrid to Aranjuez to verify in situ the progress of the company. However, neither its real effort, nor that of the engineer behind the project, Juan Bautista AntonelliNor the implication of the monarchs that followed Felipe II on the throne (especially Carlos III) served to make the structure reach the size with which the Austria dreamed. Stayed in a channel of 22 kilometers of extension (far from the initial objective), 14 meters wide and three of draft, with ten locks, header, jetty and houses for workers. Against the project they played several factors, in addition to their considerable technical complexity. The first varapalo was the death of Antonelli in 1588, which happened complications with financing, the distancing Politician with Portugal and, already advanced time, in the 19th century, the growing competition of the railroad, which caused the infrastructure Stay in disuse. That did not prevent the Royal Channel from remembered as an emblematic project whose remains, as Metro has verified, continue to rest under the feet of Madrid. What to do with the remains? The million dollar question. The wall has a heritage and historical value, that is clear, so it would not be unreasonable to do the same as in other stations and expose the vestiges in Madrid Río itself. But one thing is to remove and handle wood remains, small stones or metal parts and a very different manipulate a structure of several tons. How to move it? How to get it out of its original site without destroying it? The questions are brought because, like Andreu explains in ABCin the unearthed section the Royal Channel was about nine meters wide and 1.5 deep. “It was not very deep, it passed parallel to the Manzanares channel. The water flowed because it was built at the same water table of the river,” he recalls. Before the Brete of having to move that huge structure without deteriorating it, those responsible for the project made a curious decision: ‘look’ to ancient Egypt. “A very complicated order”. The company perhaps scared other archaeologists, but not Miguel Ángel López Marcoswith extensive experience in the recovery of the colossi of Amenophis III in Luxor and that it has already been involved in the ‘rescue’ of other pieces of the Madrid heritage, such as The last vestiges from the San Gil barracks. That callus and previous knowledge have helped him to face the Real Canal project, a task that admits, it was not simple. “The commission was very complicated by the situation of the wall embedded in the tunnel and the characteristics of the fragile and mechanical resistance,” account. Metal cage and steel rollers. How did he solve it? The first conclusion reached by López Marcos is that “the extraction should be in block.” “Disassembly would cause the disintegration of the wall, which does not have the necessary consistency,” Clarify The expert before pointing out that conventional engineering lacks resources to “guarantee” the conservation of that kind of structures. It is nothing new. The same challenge has already been found in Egypt, where he can often resort to heavy machinery that facilitates the task. To solve it López Marcos and his companions had to pull ingenuity. The team designed a protective cage, a shield that allowed it to dig under the structure and dispose of a base with steel bars. Everything firm enough to endure a 14 tons structure. Hydraulic beams and cats allowed them to advance the operation and descend the remains of the wall at a sufficient height to move it to a crane truck. To facilitate the movement of the cage with the stones the team also handled steel rollers. Objective: … Read more

When an engineer wanted to cross Africa by car, he invented a wooden. It would be the beginning of its end

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In one of his picturesque life, Tony Howarth had a revolutionary vision: Create a perfect car for Africa. A cheap, resistant, easy to repair and that could be made locally with sustainable materials. His project, baptized as ‘Africar’, promised to change transportation in the African continent forever. However, what began as an altruistic dream It ended up becoming a legal nightmare which led its creator directly to prison. From a filmmaker to engineer with a mission: to manufacture the perfect car for Africa Image: Silodrome Howarth was not any businessman. Graduated in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, had developed since childhood A passion for mechanics which led him to build his own fuel injection system for his motorcycle when he was barely ten years old. However, it was his recognized career as a photographer and filmmaker that led him to devote himself to this peculiar project. And is that Howarth has traveled more than 130 countries, experiencing in the first person the difficulties of African land roads. During his trips through Africa in the 70s, Howarth realized that Western vehicles were not designed for the extreme conditions of the continent. Earth tracks, deep potholes and the lack of specialized workshops turned any breakdown into a capital problem. In addition, the programmed obsolescence of the Western car industry made the spare parts more and more difficult to achieve. An inspiration of the Ford Model T Image: Silodrome The concept of Africar was inspired by the legendary Ford Model T, a vehicle that had been designed precisely for the roads without asphalting from Rural America of the early twentieth century. Howarth understood that what Africa needed was something similar: A simple, durable and that could be repaired by local mechanics No need for sophisticated equipment. Its design was revolutionary for its simplicity. The chassis was built with stainless steel tubes to avoid corrosion, while body panels could be manufactured with local materials such as laminated wood impregnated in resin, aluminum or even plastic. The chosen engine was the Citroën GSA Boxer Propulor Refrigated by air that offered reliability and ease of maintenance. An expedition that changed everything Image: Lancslive In 1984, Howarth built three prototypes of Africar for an ambitious expedition that would be documented by Channel 4: A journey from the Arctic Circle to the African Ecuador. The three vehicles-a ranchera, a pick-up and a six-wheel model-demonstrated their worth crossing thousands of kilometers of extreme land. During the journey, Africar exceeded evidence that left a Land Rover Series III that accompanied them. Their long -running independent suspension and their high distance to the ground allowed them to overcome obstacles that stuck more conventional vehicles. The fatal error Image: Lancslive The success of the expedition opened the doors to investment. In 1986, Howarth founded Africar International Limited in LancasterEngland, and began to capture capital of private investors. However, He made a mistake that would end his project and, later, in prison. Concerned about the dependence of the Citroën engines, which could be obsolete at any time, Howarth decided to invest the money of investors in developing their own engine. It was a logical decision from the technical point of view, but catastrophic since the financial. The funds were exhausted before completing the development, and the clients who had paid in advance did not receive their vehicles. The situation became unsustainable when investors discovered that the prototype shown in a Christmas presentation of 1987 was actually an empty shell: without engine, with the doors stuck and still wet paint. A bitter ending and a legacy that endures Image: Silodrome In July 1988, the Police intervened and Africar International Limited ceased its operations. Howarth fled to the United States in a desperate attempt to get the financing that saved the project, but it was useless. In 1994 he returned to the United Kingdom, where He was arrested immediately. Tony Howarth declared himself guilty of a fraudulent crime and five to obtain goods through deception. Was sentenced to 15 months in prison. In his own words, the prison experience “was like being in a British boarding school.” Although Africar never manufactured in series (it is estimated that only one and six specimens of production were built), Howarth’s idea did not die with him. His concept has inspired other African entrepreneurs, such as the creators of the Mobius in Kenyathat resumed the vision of a car designed for the region, despite Its economic difficulties. Cover image | Silodrome In Xataka | The list of 2025 most reliable cars has left us the most unexpected surprise: the best car does not have Toyota or Honda

Ouigo wanted to enter the Madrid-Galicia AVE but he already sees it impossible before 2030

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“We have no problem in competing (…) but whoever wants to come, to make the investments that it has to do and that competes on equal terms” Thus, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, in the past Executive Forum where the manager approached the open door for the competitors of the trains company in Spain to take the first steps to reach Galicia, has sounded. Galicia. Renfe has entered the line between Madrid and Galicia. Although the company has had to face criticism for Do not meet the expected times and skip some stops in Zamora To reduce travel times, the Madrid-Galicia axis is working very well to the company. Only a few days ago we knew that Renfe was taking more travelers than ever. A semester of record in which this line has been key, where the train has begun to make shadow even the plane because it has better time connections if you want to travel in the day or make night and return to the origin early in the morning. The competition. A few months ago, Adif launched the Second package in liberalization of high -speed tracks. The runners are Madrid-Galicia, Madrid-Asturias/Cantabria and Madrid-Cádiz/Huelva where Ouigo, Iryo or any other company can present Renfe battle. However, this It is not expected until the next decade Because there are no trains available. Talgo has already compromised all its production of the Avril trains that work there and is aware of which roads the new owners of the company will take. This has caused a bottleneck impossible to solve if it is not renting the company’s rolling material. According to The reasonOuigo would have contacted Caf and Talgo to buy the trains but they are already committed. The only solution is to rent Renfe’s rolling material. “And if possible”. This possibility has been completely denied by Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, with the words mentioned above. But not only that, the manager has launched a dart to his competitors, although he has not mentioned them directly, emphasizing that the one who enters the corridor will have to “compete in equal terms. And if possible, not to losses“ Public Service. Renfe’s dart is not causal. The company has long accused Ouigo of operating at losses in Spain and although the French company ensures that it is the usual strategy when entering a market and that they foresee short -term profits, the government has reached Threatening to report to the French before the European Commission. Renfe, unlike the French or Iryo, have the obligation to operate in some lines as a public service, which he weighs his results account. A good example is the Oscar Puente lamentMinister of Transportation, following his obligation to pass through Extremadura, emphasizing that this way of acting does not guarantee clean competition. More liberalizations. Renfe, for the moment, seems to be insured by the Galician corridor. The problem of the lack of trains is that anyone is worth it. Vehicles are needed that can change between Iberian and international width. This peculiarity leaves Renfe as a competitive advantage because he has some Avril who, Although not exempt from problemsnobody has. But also, Spain has to face new liberalizations very soon. Among them that of Cercanías, a very controversial area because these services are of public obligation. Only in its public services (nearby, medium distance, metric width and Avant), Renfe moved in the first semester of 2025 to 259.5 million passengers. Photo | Jose Luis Cernadas Iglesias and Patrick Janicek In Xataka | As Spain, China has built its high speed network in record time. Now face the same problem: keep it

China wanted to turn a village into a great tourist resort. Did not have the numantine resistance of a neighbor

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For a while to this part, the Guizhou area, in downtown China, has become the stage of impossible architectures. In fact, there is a imposing mountain chainbut a bridge so high has been raised that they fit Two Eiffel towers Under him. Not far from there, one person is raising another titanic work: a kind of street castle. A challenge to demolition. I told the weekend The New York Times. In a high grass plain in the Chinese province of Guizhou, a structure that Challenge the laws of physicsurbanism and the very bureaucracy. Composed of eleven floors of reddish wooden rooms embedded by each other, supported by pulleys, water cubes and recycled columns, Chen Tianming’s house seems taken from an enlightened novel by Dr. Seuss or delighted world From El Castillo Ambulante of Ghibli. At first glance, it may seem like a fragile and improvised extravagance, but for its creator and inhabitant, 43, it represents a tenacious affirmation of freedomidentity and resistance to state power. From the ninth floor, to which I access homeless stairs without any railing, Chen observes the uniform apartment buildings where his old neighbors They were relocated. He chose another way: a vertical, personal and challenging. Architecture against forced uprooting. It all started In 2018when the Xingyi government announced the demolition of Chen’s hometown to build A resort. The compensation offer was considered ridiculous by his family, who refused to leave. When the excavators began to destroy, Chen left his messenger work in Hangzhou and returned to defend his parents’ house. Initially motivated by an economic logic (compensation depended on the built area), began adding floors with his brother using recycled materials. But what began as a pragmatic measure became a personal obsession. Apartment on floor, his house grew with him, as a physical extension of his determination to stay, resist, and transform a rural home into a work of inhabited art. And architecture as a manifesto. While officials They insisted in outlaw The structure and sent eviction notifications, Chen responded With nails, ropes and books. The man had studied mathematics before leaving the university, and worked as a calligraphy seller, insurance agent and delivery man, but found in the construction a form of expression that transcended the utility. Each floor had A function or a symbol: A reading corner in the fifth, an outdoor tea house in the sixth, hanging plants and suspended objects in the eighth, a bedroom always higher. Your tools: stairs, pulleys, old woods and their own body. The house became newspaper, shelter and trench. Chen, what He claims to feel “Guardian of the village,” he dedicated his mornings to inspect every corner and repair damage with such ingenious solutions as strategic buckets and columns elevated by the windows. A family history. Despite the skepticism of their neighbors, who accuse them of selfishness or foolishness, the Chen family He has joined Around this unlikely structure. Their parents, accustomed to receiving curious visitors on weekends, with stoic patience the decision of their child. Even his brother has suggested decorating the house With lanterns at night. Together they have chosen isolation against the contempt of the former neighbors who moved. Meanwhile, demolition threat seems have deflated: The resort project was frozen due to lack of funds, in a province marked by Pharaonic developments unfinished. Chen, however, continues to build, not by necessity or ambition, but because it says that each new floor is a personal challenge, an intimate conquest against time and entropy. Uncertain legacy. Obviously, Chen Tianming’s house is not intended to last, and he knows it. He acknowledges that, without its constant maintenance, he would collapse in a couple of years. But he also states that while he is standing, his house will be. He has invested little More than $ 20,000 in materials and about 4,000 in lawyers. His expenses, no doubt, are not those of a professional builder, but rather those of a stubborn artist. Although the government has placed a sign warning of Structural Dangersmany neighbors express admiration against originality and will embodied in the structure. Its construction violates known urban codes, but embodies a form of resistance that many feel their own. “If they demolished it, it would be a shame,” some counted to the Times. In a constant China Forced modernizationthe Chen tower is more than a nail: it is a declaration of intentions. Image | Azylber, YouTube In Xataka | This bridge built by China is so high that two Eiffel tower fit under it. And they have built it in just four years In Xataka | China has an imposing sacred mountain of 2,500 meters high with a surprise at its top: two temples

A Saudi prince wanted to spend his vacation sailing through Greece. There were so many who had to rent luxury cruise

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Nor the more opulent superyates They seem to be enough when it comes to the holidays of the Saudi royal family. Muqrin Bin Abdulazizancient heir prince of Saudi Arabia and brother of the current monarch Salman Bin Abdulaziz, has given what to talk after arriving with an entourage formed by more than 100 people to Greece to enjoy their summer vacations. Although the Saudi prince has his own superyte valued at more than 150 million dollars, the SOLANDGEthe boat does not have enough space to accommodate all the entourage that accompanied him, but that was not going to ruin his vacation. It was time to rent something bigger. Something like a floating luxury hotel with a crew of 250 people at your service. Spectacular deployment to receive the prince According to detailed Luxury launchesthe heir express of Saudi Arabia arrived in Greece earlier this week at the edge of the Boeing 747 that it uses as a private jet. But the prince did not travel alone. A delegation of almost 100 people was traveling next to him. According to the Greek media They captured The arrival of the Saudi Prince, at the time his plane landed, a convoy of luxury vehicles was waiting for him at the foot of the track ready to transfer his “intimate circle” to the coast of the Aegean. There the imposing luxury supereyate of more than 190 meters in length and 24 meters of manga owned by the hotel chain Ritz Carlton: he Evrima. This impressive luxury supery is part of the “floating hotels” fleet that the Hotel chain is expanding. The Evrima was the first luxury supereyate built by the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain that, as a curiosity, came out in 2022 of The viguese shipyards. Considered a five -star floating hotel, this boat was designed thinking about combining the privacy of a private yacht with the refinement and luxury of one of the hotels that the chain has distributed all over the world. The Evrima is much more than a yacht: with a weight of 25,000 tons and 190 meters in length, this sophisticated ship has 149 suites, all with private terraces and minimalist design finishes. Although the Evrima has capacity for 298 guests, Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz has reserved it in its entirety, so during his journey through the Greek waters “only” he will be accompanied by his large entourage. To serve the prince and his more than one hundred companions, the yach luxury nautical industry. According to Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection data, this proportion allows every detail to be carefully planned to guarantee a five-star experience in the high seas. A retirement in Greek waters The route chosen by Prince Muqrin has been the peaceful coast of the island of Corfú, in Greece, where the Evrima is currently navigating as the epicenter of his private vacations. The superyate has five gourmet restaurants, six exclusive rooms, a fully equipped gym, spa with full service and an infinite pool located in the stern. In addition, it has aquatic sports platform, private terraces to sunbathe and balineas beds distributed throughout the roof. Unlike other more active royalty members in social networks or in public appearances, Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz prefers to maintain a low profile, although the necessary deployments to mobilize their entourage make it unadverted to be complicated. For several days, the yacht will navigate under the Mediterranean sun without a single other host on board, with all the services focused solely on the prince and its guests. For someone who would like Emulate the holidays by Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz (accompanied by other cruise members, of course), a cruise on board the Evrime It would cost Between 6,900 and 11,300 euros per person, making different itineraries for different Greek islands. Thanks to this spectacular maritime operation, 2025 leaves us the image of a real Saudi court sailing through Greece, attended by more than 246 crew. Another example of the power and undeniably luxurious power of the Saudi Royal Family. In Xataka | A single millionaire spent on his luxury vacation in Mallorca the equivalent of 10,000 tourists: the Emir de Catar Image | Ritz Carlton

Stellantis wanted to conquer China with his combustion cars. What has happened to almost any other western company has happened

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The Changsha court has finally declared bankruptcy The Gac-Fiat Chrysler Automobiles joint company, thus closing the final chapter of Stellantis in the Asian giant. The news was already expected since 2022 when the group came into liquidation. After debts equivalent to more than 1.1 billion dollars and five failed public auctions, the dream of conquering the largest world car market ends in failure. The end of a 15 -year adventure. The Joint Venture GAC-FCA was born in 2011 With huge ambitions: 17,000 million investment yuan, two production and capacity plants for 300,000 vehicles per year. Under the baton of Sergio Marchionne, the project intended to bring brands such as Jeep and Fiat to the Chinese market with models adapted to local needs and trends, including the Jeep Renegade, Compass and Cherokee, in addition to the Fiat Viaggio and Ottimo. Free fall after initial success. After reaching its peak in 2017 With more than 200,000 units soldGac-FCA experienced an unstoppable descent. Sales collapsed to 124,780 units in 2018, continued to fall in 2019 and reduced just 20,396 units in 2021. Insufficient numbers for a market of more than 25 million vehicles per year and a muscle like Gac-FCA. The problem of combustion engines in China. While the Chinese market turned to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, Gac-FCA remained faithful to combustion engines. This strategy is over resulting fatal In a country where new technologies and electrification have become the norm. And it is that Chinese consumers have been opting for the electricity in an environment of high competitiveness between automobile manufacturers. The failed attempt to save yourself. In 2022, Carlos Tavares tried to recover control increasing Stellantis’s participation From 50% to 75%, but GAC publicly rejected the maneuver. The joint company entered into a restructuring process and, subsequently, in liquidation. Five public auctions to sell land, equipment and the two factories were deserted, something common in China where it is more profitable to build from zero electric vehicles. Historical symbolism. Stellantis withdrawal marks the end of a historic era. Jeep was the first foreign brand to make cars in China when AMC invested 16 million dollars in 1983 To produce the Cherokee XJ. Peugeot contributed in the mid -80s to the creation of GAC as a car manufacturer, transforming what was a bus repair workshop into a company produced by Peugeot 505. Citroën arrived in 1992 and came to manufacture 719,000 cars in 2015. Another western company in China Fallida. Stellantis’s case is not isolated. Is Another great western company that perishes in China Given the high competition, aggressive and regulatory costs of the country. It is the example that you don’t care who you are. Even Stellantis, the world’s largest car group (in terms of volume of brands and models), which began as a Peugeot partner and now has a full range of electric vehicles of its own creation, has not even been able to adapt to the Chinese market. The new strategy: ally with China. Paradoxically, after leaving China as a manufacturer, Stellantis returned as a investor. Carlos Tavares bought in 2023 21% of Leapmotora Chinese company of electric vehicles, with the intention of sell these cars in Europe “With a great margin of benefits.” A strategy that reflects the new reality: if you cannot compete with China, join it. Cover image | Dinkun Chen In Xataka | The most ambitious shopping center in China is not formed to sell: the Wushang Dream was a mini -city with a roof

The US and Spacex wanted to revolutionize the delivery of weapons anywhere in the world. A tropical bird had other plans

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Starship is called to be the ship-cohete that Put humanity on Marsbut years ago he caught the attention of Pentagon For something much more earthly: transport military merchandise from one point to another on earth. But what they expected from Spacex And the Pentagon was an enemy who put those plans in check. Tropical birds. Revolutionizing military logistics. After a series of incidents, in 2024 we witnessed something unprecedented. He Starship propeller rocket was intercepted with millimeter accuracy by a mechanical arm. This, which seems little thing, is the starting gun for the revolution of space missions because it promises to reduce costs and shorten times because the rockets are no longer disposable between missions. Long before achievement, in 2021, the Pentagon already showed interest in these capabilities. The United States Air Force had an internal program called ‘Rocket Cargo‘With an ambitious objective, but easy to explain: transport huge amounts of military load from one point to another on the planet in a matter of minutes. Suspense. We are talking about the ability to deliver up to 150 tons of load anywhere on Earth in a maximum time of 90 minutes, which would imply an unprecedented and unprecedented deployment, as well as A tremendous strategic advantage. However, something like this requires evidence beyond those that Spacex itself is doing with its ship-cohete, and the idea of the Air Force was to start trying these rockets in a Pacific Atolón. It is not going to be. How can we read in Reuterson that remote island at 1,300 kilometers southwest of Hawaii, at least 14 species of tropical birds live. And, according to biologists, Spacex and Air Force tests would damage these species that nest in the area. Atoll location And relocation. This atoll, called Johnstonhas only 2.6 square kilometers and is part of the National Marine Monument of the remote Pacific Islands, so, as a source of the Air Force confirmed to the American military magazine ‘Stars and Stripes’, they will have to look for a new ‘patio’ of testing. According to the FFAA spokesman to the American magazine, they are already “exploring alternative places to develop the program”. Mistreating atolls. It is not the first time That the activities of the Musk company damages the flora and fauna of a place. It happened in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2023, when an explosion ended both with nests and coastal bird eggs, which caused legal problems to the company. Problems that Musk reacted with his particular and curious sense of humor, stating that he would stop eating tortillas for a week to compensate. And the truth is that this is a small victory for the tropical birds of the Johnson atolion, since the atolls of the quadrant and their fauna did not have so much luck in the pastwhen they were chosen as Objective for nuclear tests During the cold war, ending with entire islands of a plumazo and causing the Fear of nuclear radiation long before the Chernobyl accident. Images | United States Army Chemical Materials Agency, Steve Jurvetson, Tubs In Xataka | The US is leaving Ukraine without help, so Ukraine has proposed something to Europe: you give me the money, I manufacture my arms

A rapper wanted to build a futuristic city of 6,000 million dollars in Senegal: a wakanda inspired

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The American rapper Alioune Badara Thiam, better known as AKON, announced in 2020 his goal of building a Megation of 6,000 million dollars In Senegal. This city would be inspired by wakanda, The Central African country invented by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to locate the kingdom of the Superhero Black Panther. The proposal promised to change the urban and economic landscape of the African country, serving as a magnet To attract investments and tourism to Senegal. In the same way that happened to them To other pharaonic projectsAkon’s “Wakanda” went from estimating its investment of 6,000 million to a sixth part and, finally, summarizing just a couple of buildings in a remote rural population southeast of the capital of Senegal. Akon City: Wakanda in real life Akon was A success rapper During the early 2000s. Although he spent most of his life in the United States, his origin is Senegalés. That is why it is not strange that he dreamed with taking Senegal the project of his life. The artist dreamed of building a futuristic megaciudad inspired by the wakanda I had seen in Marvel’s comics and movies. To anyone’s surprise, the rapper baptized the project as Akon City. Although the idea could have remained as An artistic eccentricitythe close ties that joined Senegal made the then Minister of Tourism of Senegal, Alioune Sarr, give institutional support to the project, such and As reported The avant -garde In 2020. “For all those who come from America, Europe or anywhere wanting to visit Africa, we want Senegal to be his first stop,” said the rapper in the presentation of the project. Akon City The rapper said “I want buildings to seem authentic African sculptures that make in the villages”, collected he Washington Post. That spirit was collected in the architecture that the artist imagined in the form of great skyscrapers in sinuous ways. As can be seen on the project website, the city was going to be divided into different thematic areas: educational, health, technological, entertainment, etc., etc., equipped with hospitals, football stadiums, filming studies or research laboratories and universities. And how is that paid? Financing, in addition to state investments and private investment, was going to be supported by a cryptocurrency that the rapper wanted to link to the development of the city: the Akoin. The Senegalese government fulfilled its part and contributed 800 coastal hectares without building to develop the new urban project. The chosen location was Mbodiène, an agricultural village about 100 kilometers southeast of Dakar. Akon City entertainment district However, like It has already happened With projects that start from Much more solvent pockets That Akon’s, Like NeomThe rapper soon realized that 6,000 million was a lot of money. Therefore, in 2024 investment expectations They were reduced from 6,000 million dollars to a much more modest plan, valued at 1,000 million dollars. For its part, Akoin began its price on the Bitget exchange platform at $ 0.15 on November 19, 2020. For December 11, its last available price had already fallen to $ 0.003 confirming the little support that the project had received and hurting it. Such and as he collected Bloomberg, At present, there are still no roads, homes or electricity grid on those land. The only constructions that the rapper has financed are a youth center, a basketball court in the nearby population of Mbodiène and a building reception still half building. Nor is there a trace of futuristic buildings They imagined for Akon City. The end of Akon City and the future of the land The outcome of the project came from the hand of Serigne Mamadou Mboup, director of Sapco, the Senegal Tourism Development Agency that in statements to the BBChe said: “The Akon City project no longer exists, fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the businessman Alioune Badara Thiam. What is preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support” The artist himself acknowledged that the project was great and admitted that “it was not properly managing; I assume all responsibility.” Senegal has recovered 90% of the land that had yielded for the development of the city and plans to continue collaborating with the artist to build sports and civil equipment for 2026 Youth Olympic Games that are celebrated in Dakar. However, Senegal Wakanda will have to wait save in a drawer. Yibambe! In Xataka |The amazing history of the kingdom of Haiti, the American wakanda that did exist Image | Akon CityFlickr (Web Summit), Disney

Mexico City wanted to shine as Lisbon did. Now they have the same problems: Gentrification and Digital Nomads

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In recent weeks, Mexico City has been the scene of a wave of protests that have put in the center of the debate the coexistence of its inhabitants. The increase in housing prices, due to the gentrification of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, and the uncontrolled tourist They have put the Digital nomads In the spotlight causing an unprecedented social reaction in the Mexican capital. Mexico City is thrown out. Thousands of people went to protest through the streets of the most central and busy colonies (neighborhoods) like Rome and Countess, where rental prices have increased above 100% In the last three years. What began as a peaceful manifestation against the gentrification and the increase of life in those colonies, soon took a more violent look: Several businesses frequented by tourists and digital nomads were attacked under slogans From “Gringo, go home!” Some protesters carried banners with “gringos written messages, stop stealing the house”, while demanding laws to regulate the tourist and policies that allow access to a home at affordable prices for the premises. “They are expelling us from our own neighborhoods,” the protesters shouted. The government responds and the US does not lose Comba. The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, He expressed his outrage before the violence registered in the demonstrations and condemned Xenophobic attitudes that the protesters showed against the digital nomads and tourists who found in their path. “It cannot be that due to a lawsuit, however legitimate, that is gentrification, the demand is ‘any nationality of our country,’” said Sheinbaum. “Mexico is a country open to the world and is not discriminatory; then xenophobic attitudes cannot be justified.” The increase in tension against digital nomads, mainly Americans, also have a response component from citizenship to deportation policies That the Government of Donald Trump is applying, expelling many Mexican citizens from the US, while these digital nomads now occupy the homes in which the protesters lived. “Gentrification is colonization!” Some of the banners exhibited in the demonstration. For its part, far from showing a conciliatory message, the US National Security Department, on which mass deportations depend, threw more firewood by the fire by publishing In his X profile The message: “If you are illegally in the United States and want to join the next protest in Mexico City, use the CBP Home application to facilitate your departure.” THE ORIGIN OF THE PROTEST: Gentrification. Such and As I pointed out The president of Mexico in her speech, the origin of the discomfort of the population of Mexico City has as a backdrop Gentrificationa process that has accelerated in recent years. During this period, the local government promoted the investment of foreign real estate funds and the Use of platforms such as Airbnbracing the way for the arrival of professionals with high purchasing power from the global northern. As a result, the price of housing in central colonies It has doubled In the last decade, and the cost of living has become unsustainable for many residents resulting from the pressure of investment funds for removing maximum profitability to their real estate investments. “When talking about real estate cartels, it is rightly said, because between cartels there are disputes over a territory or square, and today the (colony) Juarez is the center of a similar dispute,” assured In 2023 a BBC Neighborhood activist Sergio González. The average rental of an house in Mexico City went from 16,100 pesos per month (about 738 euros to change) in January 2018 to 20,426 pesos (about 936 euros) five years later, although this figure shoots more than double in colonies such as the Countess. The minimum monthly salary in Mexico City is around 8,364 pesos, the equivalent of just less than 384 euros. Digital nomads are not the (unique) responsible. Although US digital nomads have become the main objective of protests, Expert voices like that of the lawyer and activist Carla Escoffié indicate that her presence is only A part of the problem. The mere presence of a few thousand people with high purchasing power in a city like Mexico City does not elevate prices alone, explains Escoffié in his book ‘Country without a roof’. The true Gentrification Motor They are the real estate fundsthe greats LESSORSand the Tourist Rental Platformswhich modify the nature of the neighborhoods building luxury homes and replacing the local trade by multinational chains. President Sheinbaum pointed out that foreigners rejection is a response to mass arrival of digital nomads After the pandemic, mainly from the United States. These “visitors” have much greater purchasing power than the local population and its presence It increased In 60% compared to figures in 2019, and currently, some 700,000 Americans live in Mexico. The precedent: Portugal. Lisbon would have served of Canarian in the mine For the Mexican government to anticipate what would happen in the colonies of Mexico City, since Lisbon has suffered the same symptoms that the Mexican capital now presents. Such and as analyzed in The Guardian The researcher at the University of Lisbon Agustín Cocola-Gant, Portugal promoted for years a low taxation for real estate investors foreigners and launched “golden visas“To attract digital nomads and investors, granting tax advantages over local inhabitants. These policies caused a 105.8% increase in the price of housing in Lisbon between 2015 and 2023, according to published data by The confidential. The result was the expulsion of thousands of Portuguese of its traditional neighborhoodsunable to face the increase in life and housing. As Cocola-Gant explained, Portugal went from occupying the 22 of the 27 countries with the most expensive housing in 2015, to occupy first place today. In Xataka | Cities full of empty houses and neighbors incapable of finding housing: the cities of “Las Persianas descedas” arrive Image | Unspash (Keith Helfrich)

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