It's another weekday morning, and you're cruising to your office in what looks like a cross between a go-cart and a Barcalounger. You slalom between fullsize cars stuck in traffic, then brake to a walking pace as you gracefully merge with pedestrians on the sidewalk.
People gawk and snicker.
Let them laugh. The vehicle is DaimlerChrysler's self-propelled armchair, and it already exists. True, at the moment, the Komfortsessel is just another concept vehicle designed to test new technology, generate publicity, and make the company appear environmentally responsible. Then again, DaimlerChrysler could be serious about mass-producing the vehicle some day. And with sales of the much-maligned car, introduced last October, finally starting to show some life, Daimler and other European auto makers are taking a closer look at some of the wild ideas emanating from their design studios.