Be Car Chic

In 2011, Crystal Windham rose through the ranks at General Motors to become the first African American woman to lead the company’s design efforts. As interior design director for Chevrolet cars in North America, her award-winning designs have undoubtedly channeled consumers’ feedback on Chevy’s vehicle offerings  into the automaker’s newest products. Today, Windham is proud [...]

Editor’s Note:  Not often do we hear from the engineers who work behind-the-scenes to make our cars safer, more user-friendly and technologically advanced. Even rarer is it to discover those engineers are women. In an industry where the jobs have historically been male dominated, I think it is important to highlight women who are making [...]

This morning, the Today Show spotlighted a recent PSA from Volkswagen and a well-known beautician who gives video makeup tutorials that has garnered nearly half a million views since April. The network show has often covered the topic of distraction behind the wheel, particularly when it comes to teen drivers. In a recent poll on their [...]

Be Car Chic editor, Melanie Batenchuk, recently joined the Washington Automotive Press Association Board of Directors as Second Vice President. WAPA serves automotive journalists, bloggers, and industry groups in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area. With members all over the country, the association is a great way for manufacturers and regulators to keep in touch with automotive media. [...]

A few months back, we highlighted auto repair woman, Audra Fordin, and her recent rise to popularity in the automotive world. Now, she will be on Anderson Cooper’s talk show tomorrow, Friday, April 13, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Fordin will spend a few minutes sharing with the audience what they ‘auto’ know before making big [...]

News has been swirling all week about young mother Shawndeeia Bowen, who was arrested along the Los Angeles corridor for texting while driving with her baby in her lap and two other children unsecured in the back seat. What would normally remain a local story has become nationwide news due to Distracted Driving Awareness Month. [...]

On March 15, the Washington Automotive Press Association welcomed its new president, Jessica Anderson, associate editor for Kiplinger.com. Just days later, WAPA’s new leader appeared on NBC’s Today Show to talk about the 10 Cheapest Cars to Own in 2012 – a list Anderson puts together annually. I know that the WAPA leadership and members [...]

Over the last few decades, what we listen to in our cars and how we listen to it has evolved almost as much as the vehicles themselves. With the invention of the Internet and its ubiquitous integration into our everyday lives, now more than ever, consumers expect to have what they want, when they want [...]

Google Plus (Google+) and its launch of brand pages has been a hot topic of discussion lately. I recently connected with Mary Henige, who serves as the Director of Social Media & Digital Communications for General Motors, to discuss the automaker’s social media strategy and Google+ brand page launch. Mary Henige has been with General [...]

Audra Fordin is an energetic woman in the automotive industry who has been earning recognition lately for her auto repair shop, savvy business sense, and her quest to educate others about car maintenance. As owner of the Great Bear Auto and Body Shop in Flushing, New York, Fordin combines her 27 years of hands-on car expertise [...]

  It’s official! Beth Paretta has made the switch from English automaker Aston Martin to Detroit-based Chrysler. That means she will be teaming up with the brand’s SRT head honcho, Ralph Gilles, who recently transitioned into this role. First, a little background. In 2010, I worked for Chrysler at its social media agency of record [...]

About this time last year (in case you don’t already know this) I worked behind the social media scenes for Chrysler here in the D.C. area. During that time I built great relationships. One of those happens to be with Christa Shalhoub, who runs Mopar’s social media events.In July, the folks at Mopar implemented a [...]

Porsche recently began implementing bar codes – often referred to in consumer applications as QR codes (or quick response codes) – into window stickers placed on vehicles displayed at dealerships. The Mobile Tag program aims to provide potential customers, many whom may prefer to visit the dealership after-hours, a better experience than simply peering in [...]

This weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting and spending the day with Aston Martin‘s Operations manager over the eastern United States. Not only was it a delight to meet one of the few people responsible for the British automaker’s brand here in America, but it was also extra special because she is a woman [...]

Today’s post comes from Brandy Schaffels, senior editor and content manager at TrueCar.com. Brandy is well-known in the automotive community for her knowledge of the industry at the consumer level and her writing ability. And if you follow her on Twitter(@FiestaGrrl), it won’t take long for her passion (especially the one for her Ford Fiesta) to shine through.In the following [...]

I was reminiscing stories from my childhood and the toys that I used to have this weekend, which led me to an endless search on YouTube for toy commercials from my youth. In my search, I had an epiphany. My passion for cars was instilled in me at a much younger age than I remembered. [...]