Interior Motives Design Awards 2012

At a glamorous awards ceremony at the Espace Clacquesin in Paris earlier this evening, the world's top designers and automotive journalists gathered together to watch sponsors Peugeot and Volkswagen reveal the 2012 Interior Motives Student Design of the Year: ‘Autopool' by Siavash Jafari Jozani and Mina Kasirifar from the University of Tehran. At the end of what was a memorable event, the two Iranian students walked away with one of the most prestigious accolades in the automotive design industry and a cash prize of $5,000. Launched earlier this year and themed ‘What Comes Next?

Volkswagen Microbus production could resume in Brazil

The Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi/Microbus may be a classic to our eyes, but it has been in continuous production in Brazil for almost 50 years. Impending legislation that would outlaw the production and importation of cars and trucks without modern safety features such as ABS brakes and airbags was set to put an end to the Kombi production in Brazil, but one lawmaker wants to make an exception for the veteran vehicle, Indian Autos Blog reports. Brazil's finance minister Guido Mantega is arguing that since the Kombi/Microbus has been in production for decades -- before ABS technology and airbags were developed -- it would be unfair to apply the new law to the vehicle.

General Motors to keep green car technology in house

For the first time in its 100-year history, General Motors plans to design, develop and manufacture electric motors for its growing array of gasoline-electric hybrids and electric vehicles. The electric motors used in GM's current lineup of hybrids are made to GM specifications by outside vendors. GM wants to bring the design and manufacturing in-house to save money and to apply its own technology to boost performance, lower weight and reduce power consumption, said Larry Nitz, GM's chief hybrid powertrain engineer.