Videos: Chris Bangle shares his views on design and the future of car design

Chris Bangle is a man that needs no introduction on these pages. Both revered and castigated, Bangle's work has undoubtedly been influential for a generation of designers. His unconventional practices – employed at a time when design was still largely segregated from other departments during the development process – yielded many avantgarde and contentious designs, but Bangle's fundamental understanding of the design process, creative vision and desire for change can never be cast in doubt. While Bangle shares his views on the future of the car in the video to the right, the video to the left provides an insight into the former BMW design chief's thought processes and gives us a glimpse into his home and studio in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.

2012 Volvo S60 & XC60 R-Design get more oomph

Volvo V60 R-Design - finally, more get up and go We’re quite partial to the Volvo S60 (actually, we’re even more partial to the Volvo V60) and we like how Volvo’s R-Design pack makes a real impact without making the car look like a boy racer’s wet dream. What’s also nice – in this age of parsimony – is that even if you opt for a lowly diesel version you can still have a Volvo that looks like it gets there in a hurry, even if it doesn’t. But our preference is always for a bit more power, especially if all the visual cues make you smile in anticipation, so we have been know to bemoan the lack of any sort of power boost – even as an add-on option – on Volvo’s R-Design cars.

BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe revealed – looking very like the 3-Series Saloon

The first photos of the new BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe arrive The BMW 6-Series Gran Coupe looks like a four-door stretched version of the 6-Series, as it should, And it works; it’s a simply brilliant car. But we always wondered how BMW were going to differentiate the 4-Series Gran Coupe from the already existing 3-Series, which is already a 4-door saloon version of the new 4-Series Coupe. And if the leaked photos of the new 4-Series Gran Coupe are anything to go by, the answer is – not by a lot.