Kia and BMW claim 2012 Red Dot Design Awards

Kia and BMW have been recognized by the 2012 Red Dot Design Awards judging panel, picking up the ‘best-of-best' awards in the transportation product design category. The awards, handed out March 15, single out the best-designed products from over 4,000 entries across a variety of categories. Kia's A-segment Picanto and B-segment Rio were both winners in Red Dot's ‘Product Design' category, fighting off competition from over 4,500 products entered by 1,800 manufacturers from 58 countries.

Design Review: Smart For-US concept

First seen NAIAS 2012 Design studio Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios, Sindelfingen, Germany Type 2-seat pickup Dimensions (L | W | H) 3,547 | 1,506 | 1,701 mm Wheel size 18-inch ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Daimler’s Smart brand has bombed in the US market since its introduction in 2008. That first year proved modestly successful, with 25,000 units sold but since then sales have fallen off a cliff, with just 5,927 shifted in 2010. Seeing the ForTwo dicing with big-foot pickups and Hummer limos in Vegas, it’s easy to see why something has been lost in translation.

Design Review: Bertone Birusa concept

The new Birusa concept unveiled today shows Bertone returning to what they do best - a flamboyant showcar giving us a vision of how the high performance GT car (front engine, rear drive, two seats) could evolve stylistically in the near future. Based on a BMW Z8 aluminium chassis lengthened by 300mm, it's a refreshing piece of exuberance by the Italian company and a celebration of what they achieved in the 1960s and 70s. The wedge-shaped profile is characterised by a classic Bertone device - a dihedral-shaped side window with an undercut lower glass section, as featured on showcars such as the Boomerang and Carrabo.