Rumormill: New eco-friendly car coming from IKEA?
Details are sketchy at this point, but the interwebs are abuzz today with news that IKEA might be entering the automobile world with a new environmentally friendly car called the LEKO. We'll resist the temptation to make a joke about how you'll be directed by some cheezy stick figure drawings to assemble the car yourself with nothing more than a five-page word-free manual. Whoops, sorry. The source of the news is a fairly official-looking website from France, which is odd considering that IKEA is based in Sweden. The supposed unveiling of the LEKO is scheduled for... wait for it... April 1st.
At this point, we're content to assume this is an elaborate ruse and that there won't be an actual car unveiled on April Fool's Day. On the off-chance that the LEKO is indeed real, we wonder if the machine could have anything to do with the ongoing T25 city car project from Gordon Murray, which is said to be fully flat-packable and intended for non-traditional retail outlets.
[Source: LEKO via Jalopnik]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Gearhead0384 3:35PM (3/23/2009)
I hope you don't have to put it together yourself.
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C.W. 3:53PM (3/23/2009)
apparently 'leko' means some sort of lighting fixture used on stages.... perhaps this is some elaborate IKEA lamp...
Lemmiwinks 4:29PM (3/23/2009)
The thought of extra pegs and bolts lying around after assembly has never seemed so frightening.
Sektor 4:36PM (3/23/2009)
http://www.toxel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/erikjohansson09.jpg
I LOL'd.
Sea Urchin 3:37PM (3/23/2009)
I found the picture
http://chriswittrig.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/wooden_car.jpg
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Khalid 8:01PM (3/23/2009)
found this leaked image :p
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6917/ikead.jpg
imoore 1:22PM (3/24/2009)
Hey! that's my car! What did you guys do to my Car?
Aprime 3:38PM (3/23/2009)
April first? Have you guys even bothered checking the website? It says March 31st, and they have support from WWF France.
It will probably only be a concept of some sort.
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henrykrinkle 3:43PM (3/23/2009)
Yep, missed it by one jour.
Aprime 3:44PM (3/23/2009)
Seems you guys only took the countdown and applied it to your time zone? It's an Ikea-centric form of transportation according to the video. 'The best way to get to Ikea and shop there'. It's also a modular design, meaning it can be converted from a convertible to... Well, a hatchback, depending on your personal needs.
Seems like a legitimate concept that will never make it into production to me, honestly. Otherwise it's a really bad April 1st joke before April 1st (I hate it when they do that to add credibility to their pranks).
geo.stewart 4:22PM (3/23/2009)
Its a MOUSE.
the best way to get there and shop?
CH 8:13AM (3/24/2009)
Hmm...
It sounds to me like a carsharing program. The always mention in the comercials that it is eco-friendly, that you have the possibility to choose what kind of car you'd like (hatchback, convertible, wagon), accessible to all...
Sounds exactly like the TV comercial airing here in Switzerland for Mobility Carsharing.
See here --> http://www.mobility.ch/pages/?dom=6
Dude 3:39PM (3/23/2009)
Great! How long will this take to put together?
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Farmboy 4:14PM (3/23/2009)
A few hours and a few missing bolts to hold up that uneven frame.
LBuzzer 3:43PM (3/23/2009)
It's made of particle board and known-down bolts and T-nuts.
It was probably inspired by that joke from years past about IKEA getting into the car business with a picture showing what looks like an old VW Golf in its individual pieces all nicely laid out, and one of those S-shaped allen keys.
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Taglane 3:49PM (3/23/2009)
And there it is... The Carpocalypse.
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sashazur 3:56PM (3/23/2009)
Well, considering that I nearly electrocuted myself with the last Ikea product I bought, I am not expecting to be overwhelmed by this new vehicular product.
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Sanders 4:03PM (3/23/2009)
The bulb goes in the socket, not your fingers...
sashazur 4:28PM (3/23/2009)
Actually, it was one of those under-cabinet lights that you can daisy-chain together. The daisy-chain connectors are very easy to dislodge from the metal body of the lamp (great Ikea quality!) and one came loose and shorted out.
Ben 8:41PM (3/23/2009)
"The bulb goes in the socket, not your fingers..."
...Or...the other place.