Redesigned 2013 Range Rover cuts weight with aluminum body

The redesigned 2013 Range Rover SUV goes on sale in the U.S. market in December featuring a sharply lighter body, improved fuel economy and better handling. The five-seat Range Rover has an all-aluminum unibody structure--a first for an SUV, Land Rover said.

Design Contest: Local Motors and Shell announce 'DRIVEN' [w/video]

Local Motors, the open-source car design community, has announced its latest competition. Working in collaboration with Shell Oils, the DRIVEN contest is an acronym for Design of Relevant and Innovative Vehicles for Energy Needs. Entrants are asked to create a car for one of five cities: Amsterdam, Bangalore, Basra, Houston or Sao Paulo.

Car Design News Contest

As one judge, Geert Jan Schellekens, Principal Automotive and Industrial Designer at SABIC Innovative Plastics, said; "From several hundred entries to 20 finalists in a day's time - what could have turned out to be a cumbersome process, if not a bureaucratic nightmare, actually became an intensive yet fun session with many intriguing and interesting interpretations of the contest brief - fuelling some lively discussions!" Another strong impression from judges was also of the variety of design entry and the effort that had been put into them, as Dale Harrow said: "I'm very impressed with the standard, and particularly with the diversity of entries to the contest". Derek Buckmaster,Global Market Director, Body Panels & Glazing for SABIC Innovative Plastics, said: "I was surprised by the depth of thought which the entrants had put into their designs to meet the diverse needs of the three 'milenniumites' described in the design brief. The designs displayed numerous approaches to meeting the environmentally-friendly and light-weight goals." All designs were considered relative to the Assessment Criteria a critically important part of the contest, created to ensure as much fairness in the process as possible and detailed in the Contest part of Car Design News.