Some Chevy dealers turn down additional Volt inventory

Some Chevrolet dealers are turning down Volt EVs that General Motors wants to ship to them, a potential stumbling block as GM looks to accelerate sales of the plug-in hybrid. For example, consider the New York City market. Last month, GM allocated 104 Volts to 14 dealerships in the area, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Interior Motives Design Awards 2010

As the doors closed to the press at the Mondial de L'Automobile in Paris, the world's top designers and automotive journalists gathered at the nearby Palais des Congrès d'Issy to watch a new generation of designers celebrate success at the 2010 Interior Motives Design Awards. Never before has the automotive industry been in greater need of fresh perspectives and innovation, and the students gathered here tonight provided both in spades - perhaps none more so than Kosin Voravattayagon of Sweden's Umeå Institute of Design, who walked away from the event with the Interior Motives Student Designer of the Year 2010 title and prize money totalling $5,000. Themed ‘Driving the Interior Revolution', this year's contest attracted entries from an incredibly diverse range of schools and nationalities - from Israel and Iran, to Slovakia and South America.

Hyundai i30

Hyundai has released the first rendering of the next generation i30 set to be officially revealed at the Frankfurt motor show next month. Designed in the Korean automaker's European Design Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, under the direction of Chief Designer Thomas Buerkle, the new C-segment hatchback is an evolution of Hyundai's ‘fluidic sculpture' design language, initiated on the HED-6 ix-onic concept shown at the 2009 Geneva motor show. "When designing the new i30, we used strong, fluid lines to sculpt a car which looks athletic while exuding a sense of constant motion," said Buerkle.