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24-559: MQB is not a platform as such, but, rather, a system for introducing rationality to different platforms that have transverse engines, regardless of the ten body configurations the company manufactures for any of its eleven vehicle brands. Thus MQB coordinates a core "matrix" of components across a wide variety of platforms — for example, sharing a common engine-mounting core for all drivetrains (e.g., gasoline, diesel, natural gas, hybrid and purely electric), as well as reducing weight. The concept allows different models to be manufactured at

48-468: A photograph of an Audi 100 . Due to its high development costs in the midst of a competitive market, these testing sessions are intended to be as secretive as possible to prevent competitors gaining an advantage and sometimes developing a similar vehicle of their own. It has become a common practice for car manufacturers to mask details of their prototypes to make the car very difficult to be recognised, sometimes using "protection cars" that drive alongside

72-411: A result of his success, a number of photographers have followed his example. Because of this, a number of major car manufacturers developed their own testing facilities to prevent people from taking photographs of their secretive prototypes and pre-production cars . His nickname in the industry amongst others is Handy Hans, carparazzo , car spy, prototype hunter and is widely regarded as a pioneer of

96-568: A retired deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester Police to attempt to discover the source of the information. Lehmann reportedly announced his retirement in April 2008, but continued to run his picture syndication company, Lehmann Photo Syndication. He currently resides in the outskirts of Hamburg in a house by the River Elbe with his wife and business partner, Christa, also a photographer. His favourite cars amongst his collections are

120-558: A secret rocket-testing site for cold weather testing in Kiruna , near the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden. Audi conduct their tests on their own proving ground , their cars clad in full-cover canvas blankets. Private testing facilities make it difficult for photographers to enter the site without authorisation. In addition to private sites, car manufacturers test their cars dead at night and in dawn on public roads. Volkswagen in

144-550: A spy photographer. Despite having access to or having their own proving grounds , prior to a launch, car manufacturers test their car model on the open road, making it easy prey for Lehmann, unhindered by trespass laws. Commonly he frequented Death Valley or in desert areas in the United States, Australia or North Africa in the summer, as well as Alaska or Scandinavia in the winter, where car manufacturers frequently test for temperature tolerance. He also frequents

168-456: A variety of cars, (the company) plans to cut the time taken to build a car by 30%." The car blog Jalopnik said "The biggest feature is the uniform position of all motors and transmissions" and that "by fitting all motors into the same place (the company) hope(s) to cut down on engineering costs and weight/complexity when porting the car over to other models." Around 60% of the development costs occur between gas pedal and front wheels, including

192-456: Is a ladder. Aside from his camera, his other important equipment is a 1000mm lens and a motor drive . In his job, Lehmann never works on his own, he is assisted by a minder who operates their hire car . He also sits in a tree if possible, which resulted in him being injured when spying on a testing session of a Ford Sierra at their test track in Cologne . His biggest scoop of all was

216-478: The Nürburgring . Although secretive about his sources, they are employees of car manufacturers, some of whom have had their contract terminated as a result. Lehmann's other sources are informants , including those in petrol stations and hotels. Lehmann also employs photographic assistants to work with him and prefers to keeps a low profile, shunning publicity Lehmann's most important piece of equipment

240-1018: The Volkswagen Golf , on a public road in Spain in 1973, the Mark II in Arizona , and the Mark III in Austria. His other best known shots were of the Ford Sierra , and the Ford Mondeo at a gas station in Las Vegas , Nevada whilst staking out Death Valley. It is not uncommon for Lehman to face hostilities from car manufacturers and has faced police arrests in his career. He was detained overnight once in Algeria for espionage charges for

264-529: The Middle East, Romania , Russia, South Africa (under the title topcar ), Spain, Thailand and Turkey. Car features a regular group test under the 'Giant Test' name, which was originally developed by the magazine in the 1960s. It also features 'newcomer' first drives of new cars, interviews with significant figures in the motor industry and other features. The magazine was launched in 1962 as Small Car and Mini Owner incorporating Sporting Driver . It

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288-524: The bodyshells of rival manufacturers. They cancelled advertisements at magazines who dared to feature Lehmann's photographs as retaliatory measures Manufacturers such as BMW , Volkswagen , Rover and Porsche have unsuccessfully attempted to take legal action against Lehmann for industrial espionage . As a result of his and other photographer's activities who followed his example, car manufacturers have become more secretive, some resorting to developing their private testing sites. Renault for example, used

312-519: The car spy photography and the best known of them all. Since his retirement in 2008, he continued to run his photo syndication company. Lehmann was born in the former East Germany . At a young age, his family moved to Wolfsburg where he developed his interest for cars. He later moved to Hamburg in the 1960s, where he worked as a photographer for a news agency and freelanced for daily newspapers. In his break, he frequently visited his parents, usually taking his camera along. Whilst there in 1963, at

336-503: The development and history of the motor car to its social, technological and historical contexts. Car was also renowned for its 'scoop' photos and drawings and took delight in the irritation it caused to car manufacturers by revealing new models ahead of release so that readers knew what was coming and could avoid buying a model that would soon be replaced. Car regularly featured the spy shots of German photographer Hans G. Lehmann , featuring his work with its own image-stamp emblazoned with

360-520: The engine. MQB models range from superminis to large family cars . The MQB architecture replaces the PQ25 , PQ35 and PQ46 platforms. All MQB cars will share the same front axle, pedal box and engine positioning, despite varying wheelbase , track and external dimensions. The "first-generation" MQB platform underpins various vehicles from C-segment upwards. The "second-generation" MQB debuted in 2016, which also introduces three different types of

384-550: The mid-1990s. Car's circulation in 2012 averaged 54,500 copies a month, 37,500 of which are in the UK. Hans G. Lehmann Hans Georg Lehmann (born 1939, in Dessau , Germany) is a retired German photographer who is noted for his spy shots of prototype automobiles whilst they undergo testing stages , frequenting in locations where test sessions are likely to occur. These photographs regularly appear in automobile magazines . As

408-480: The mid-seventies have attempted to have Lehmann's driving licence suspended, alleging that he drove dangerously and blocked a road while photographing one of its prototypes, when it was revealed that one of the car manufacturer's test driver had blocked the road. Rover attempted to obtain a High Court order to search the house of one of his British associates, citing a breach of copyright. One unnamed British car manufacturer went as far as recruiting John Stalker ,

432-511: The nearby Volkswagen factory, he used a 300mm lens to take some photographs of an unusual looking car near the factory. His employer became uneasy about the photographs, and after declining them, Lehmann sold them to the tabloid newspaper Bild for a healthy sum of money. The prototype in question turned out to be a proposed replacement for the Volkswagen Beetle . He continued to combine his photojournalism with his stint as

456-924: The platform grouped by size/segment. The introduction of the MQB A0 category enables the platform to be used on smaller and cheaper vehicles in the B-segment . A low-cost variation of the A0 platform for the Indian market was introduced in 2019 and utilized for vehicles released from 2021. Car Magazine Car is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media . International editions are published or licensed by Bauer Automotive in South Korea (since March 2016), Brazil, China, Greece, India, Italy (through 2019), Malaysia (from December 2012 to March 2017, through Astro ), Mexico ,

480-438: The same plant, further saving cost. Ulrich Hackenberg, chief of Volkswagen’s Research and Development (Head of Audi Development until 2015), called MQB a "strategic weapon." British magazine Car said "the idea heralds a return to basic principles of mass production in an industry where over the last 100 years, complexity has spiralled out of control. By creating a standardised, interchangeable set of parts from which to build

504-514: The test car to block the view of the prototype from photographers. Aside from the motoring press, Lehmann's photographs have appeared in the German news magazine Stern and additionally had been offered to sell his photographs to rival Japanese car manufacturers . Manufacturers have also resorted to placing the badge of a rival manufacturer in an attempt to foil photographers like Lehmann, and sometimes placing engines and suspension systems inside

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528-513: The words Hans G. Lehmann - Fotograf . In the 1990s and early 2000s (decade), the artist Hilton Holloway was responsible for a number of projected images of cars in development, first through graphic art, followed later by Photoshop compositing artwork. In 2001 one of his concepts for a Lotus Formula 1 was so accurate that 'Project Hilton' became the code-name for the F1 project within Lotus. In 1992 Car

552-664: Was renamed as Car in 1965. In the 1960s Car pioneered the 'Car of The Year' (COTY) competition that was subsequently decided by motoring journalists on a Europe wide basis. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s Car was far ahead of other motoring magazines for the quality and depth of its writing, artwork and photography. Significant contributors during the magazine's heyday included Henry N. Manney III , Douglas Blain, George Bishop , LJK Setright , Ronald Barker, Mel Nichols, Steve Cropley, Russell Bulgin , Philip Llewellin , James May , Stephen Bayley , Alexei Sayle and Rowan Atkinson . LJK Setright in many insightful series of articles linked

576-509: Was sold by News International to Emap . Emap published the magazine until 2007. In March 2009, the magazine's listings section (which gives details of new cars on sale in the UK) reverted to the name 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' – which it had used when it was created in the early 1970s – after an absence of nearly three years. In the UK Car ' s sales have been in decline since peaking in

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