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AW Design Forum: Ralph Gilles talks technology - with style

Chrysler Group is known for its rough and tough trucks and menacing muscle cars, but its design boss said technology is going to be the game-changer for car designers going forward. Ralph Gilles, who is also CEO of the Dodge brand, said cars must be able to adapt to evolving technologies while remaining striking and pleasing to the eye. Smartphones, touch screens and colorful interfaces are all becoming common inside cars.

GM's historic Willow Run plant closes

After 68 years of arming the nation and putting America on wheels, the Willow Run manufacturing plant in southeast Michigan closed on Thursday. The 5-million-square-foot powertrain plant, owned by Motors Liquidation Corp., the remnants of the former General Motors Corp., has fallen victim to GM's 2009 bankruptcy and subsequent restructuring. About 300 workers left at the plant will either “retire, transfer to another campus or go on layoff,” said Chris Lee, a spokesman for the reorganized General Motors Co.

Vauxhall Astra GTC unveiled

The Vauxhall Astra GTC Concept - Paris debut Vauxhall teased the next edition of the new Astra – the three-door Astra – last month ahead of a reveal at the Paris Motor Show in a few weeks. But with just over three weeks to go to Paris we now get much more detail on the Vauxhall Astra GTC Concept. And it looks to us as if Vauxhall are going to stick with the GTC moniker for the production car, so this Concept may well be very close to the final production car.