Csaba Csere ( ) is a former

technical director A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. They are responsible for overseeing and coordinating all of the technical aspect ...

and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...

'' magazine. Csere is an American of Hungarian descent. He earned a bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1975. He went on to join Ford Motor Company's Advanced Engine Engineering Office. He joined ''Car and Driver'' magazine as its technical editor in 1980. He specialized in stories about technical issues and first-person experiences in competition machines ranging from

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

stock cars to

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

cars. In the process, he raced in fifteen 24-hour events and performed an automotive backflip at over 200 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Csere became editor-in-chief in 1993 and concentrated on integrating ''Car and Driver's'' TV, Internet, and radio efforts. He presided over a controversial redesign of the magazine, launched in December 2006 and refined during 2007. The cover featured capitalized headlines, often with an exclamation point, and featured bands of yellow. Inside, there was further prominent use of yellow, his favourite color. Additional yellow coloration was to be found on the Car and Driver website. The redesign was roundly criticized in the 'Backfires' (Reader's Letters) section of the March 2007 issue. In that column, the editor admitted to receiving 164 letters against the redesign and 13 for, but stated:

"We paid big bucks for this yellow redesign and we ain't going back - Ed".

On December 16, 2008 — according to the official press release of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. — Csere resigned his position as editor-in-chief. No explanation was given, and Csere has refused to discuss the reasons for his departure. He did not write a goodbye column for the magazine where he had worked for 29 years. By the August 2009 issue of ''Car and Driver'' the controversial redesign had largely been dropped in favor of a look more closely resembling the prior design. In the September 2009 issue Csere contributed a feature entitled 'Lightly Used Cars'. The June 2010 issue contained a feature contributed by Csere titled "Suck, Squeeze, Bang! Blow, Ad Infinitum" and extensively used the colour yellow once again. Outside of ''Car and Driver'', Csere has appeared as an authority on automotive issues in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and many national television and radio news programs. In January 2012, Csere began writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', with his first car review on the 2012

Honda CR-V The Honda CR-V (A variant model is called Honda Breeze in China By GAC-Honda since 2019，The CR-V is still manufactured by Dongfeng Honda) is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda since 1995. Initial models of the C ...

. Csere is still regularly seen working with ''Car and Driver'' under the title of contributing editor. Online, he presents many of Car and Driver's 'Tested' video reviews of automobiles on YouTube.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Csere, Csaba Year of birth missing (living people) American mechanical engineers MIT School of Engineering alumni American magazine editors Living people Motoring journalists American people of Hungarian descent American male journalists