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Speakers confirmed for Interior Motives China Conference 2009

Seven new speakers have been confirmed for the 2009 Interior Motives from Car Design News conference in Shanghai, which will run from 21st - 23rd April. Brought to you by the team behind Car Design News and its quarterly interior design publication, Interior Motives, the conference will take place immediately after the two Shanghai Auto Show press days, and bring together the biggest names in Chinese, Asian and Western car design for a two-day program of interactive debate. Chaired by Director of the China Automotive Design Institute and former Nanjing Auto design director, Li-Chih Fu, this two-day summit will see some of the biggest names in the business gather in Shanghai to discuss the issues facing Western and Chinese carmakers searching for success in China.

First factory-built wheelchair-accessible vehicle hits the market

Before Wednesday, the only wheelchair-accessible vehicles available to the public were aftermarket conversions that generally came with structural modifications and a price tag ranging from $50,000 to $80,000. Now, a startup company called the Vehicle Production Group (VPG) has released the first vehicle specifically assembled to accommodate people in wheelchairs, with an MSRP of $39,950. The vehicle is called the MV-1, which stands for Mobility Vehicle 1, and it was built for the disabled community.

Video: Chris Bangle delivers “Empowerment: Design without Designers” talk at Creative Mornings/London

Chris Bangle – the undisputed front man of car design – needs little introduction, so the prospect of the former BMW Design Director and now founder of Chris Bangle Associates giving a talk in our home town of London was too good to pass up. His presentation (which you can watch in full in the video to the left) touched on his time at BMW, but was more focused on the idea of empowering others to create: "design without you in the middle", as Bangle says. From the story of the co-creation of the staircase in his Italian studio to the idea of encouraging people to think about their culture when designing, his philosophies transcend disciplines.