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BMW announces DesignWorksUSA studio and ConnectedDrive lab in Shanghai

BMW has opened both a DesignWorks studio and a ConnectedDrive lab in Shanghai, China, as a means of gathering information and insight into the Chinese market as the company looks to increase its presence in Asia. Adrian van Hooydonk, Director BMW Group Design, said, "Creating this foothold for both BMW Group Design and DesignworksUSA in Shanghai is of great importance from both strategic and creative standpoints." President of BMW Group DesignWorksUSA Laurenz Schaffer said, "Our new studio in Shanghai places DesignworksUSA at the epicenter of the most rapidly growing and influential consumer market in the world and provides an indispensable resource for shaping our global perspectives for clients." The new studio will perform functions including product, transportation, automotive, environmental and interaction design; color, material and finish design; design communication, research and strategy as well as sustainability consulting. Designers from DesignworksUSA studio in Los Angeles, Munich and Singapore will supplement a local design team.

Hottest vehicles at the SEMA Show

What's the coolest car, truck or SUV from among the 1,500 feature vehicles this year at SEMA? How would you even begin to agree on an answer? SEMA figured it out this way: they wandered through the halls and counted all 1,500 cars.

Road funding must increase, say MPs

THERE needs to be a big increase in Government funding and a change of approach for England's major road network if predicted traffic increases are correct, according to MPs. But any move towards using road charging to pay for the extra funding couldn't be achieved without broad agreement among politicians and motorists, said the House of Commons Transport Committee. In a report the committee added that it was "not convinced" by the case for establishing the Highways Agency, the body responsible for England's motorways and major A-roads, as a Government-owned company.