Automakers and athletes have been pairing up for a very long time. It makes sense, of course — car brands find professional athletes with talents and personas that mirror the company’s products. Something about Roger Federer and Mercedes-Benz, for example, just works.
But which sports star would be the right mate for an exclusive automaker like Aston Martin? The British car brand known for its gorgeous designs and raucous V12 engines wouldn’t settle for just any pro — it would have to be someone highly accomplished. The winningest quarterback in NFL history might do.
Yes, Tom Brady, five-time Super Bowl champion, four-time MVP, and part-time model will enter into a long-term partnership with Aston Martin. Apart from the irony that Brady — whose professional career was spent with the New England Patriots — is now teamed up with a British company, the collaboration is highly complementary.
Brady is a long-time fan and owner of Aston Martin products and will sync up on the company’s mantra: “For the love of beautiful.” Drawing upon his experiences on the field and his impressions of beauty in daily life, Brady will help steer Aston Martin’s new content series, “Category of One.”
“Tom is an inspirational leader and athlete who is clearly aligned with our view of Aston Martin,” said Aston Martin’s Vice President and Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman. In addition to Brady’s work on the new marketing campaign, the football pro will help design a custom 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish S. The project will be revealed in segments over the next several months.
“Aston Martin exemplifies dedication to the craft of car making through a meticulous attention to detail,” Brady said. We suppose someone with precision in football mechanics would be able to spot precision in car making. All the inspiration he will ever need is parked in his garage: The 2017 Aston Martin DB11.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.