Csaba Csere ( ) is a former technical director 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 highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of '' Car and Driver'' 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 that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

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

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stock cars to

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

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 color. Inside, there was prominent use of yellow. Additional content 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 redesign and we ain't going back - Ed".

On December 16, 2008 — according to the official press release of

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— 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. Outside of ''Car and Driver'', Csere has appeared as an authority Energy Week 2009 Speakers Biographies
on automotive issues in the United States Senate and many national television and radio news programs. In January 2012, Csere began writing for ''

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'', with his first car review on the 2012 Honda CR-V. 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