Design Contest: LA Design Challenge 2008

The entrants for the fifth annual Design Challenge, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designers' conference, have now been announced. Nine Southern California automotive design studios - including Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen - have been pitted against one another and asked to develop a concept which best answers a brief entitled 'Motorsports in 2025'. "Automotive designers have always been fascinated with motorsports and this year's Design Challenge has provided them with the opportunity to use their creative talent to look at these cars with new eyes, using innovative technologies and approaches," said Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc.

Whos Where: Ford of Europe reshapes their design department

It was only to be expected that some of the brightest creative forces should follow Martin Smith who joined Ford of Europe from his position as GM Europe Design Director in August this year. Stefan Lamm was a studio chief designer at Opel - he was recently confirmed as Chief Designer Exteriors at Ford. At the same time two new appointments were announced alongside an interesting restructuring of Ford of Europe's design department.

Volkswagen launches 'Future of the Car'

Volkswagen has launched a new micro-site which looks at what people may be driving in the future - or whether they will be driving at all. Revolving around a short film set in the year 2028, in which a father tells his son about the automobile world of 20 years ago, the website showcases the Wolfsburg-based automaker's vision of the automotive world 20 years from now. These 'visions of the future', which take shape in the form of three autonomous concept cars called the 'One', 'Ego' and 'Room', offer an insight into the automotive world of tomorrow as seen through the tinted spectacles of Volkswagen developers and designers.