Automotive design

August 11, 2008 - Torrance, CA - The 2009 Toyota Venza, scheduled to go on sale later this year, is the first example of Toyota's new direction in passenger car design combining elegance, innovation, comfort and utility.

"We wanted to create something entirely different," said Kevin Hunter, president of Toyota's Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, Calif., and Ann Arbor, Mich.

2009 Toyota Venza

"Not an SUV, not a wagon, not a coupe and not a sedan. We aimed for a more road-focused vehicle and sporty direction."

Ceremony Marks Completion of the Kia U.S. Corporate Campus

IRVINE, Calif., June 24, 2008 – Today, Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of Kia Motors America (KMA) and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG), was joined by local and state representatives for the grand opening ceremony of the new 21.7-acre Kia U.S. corporate campus in Irvine, Calif. The $130-million investment includes the Kia Motors America Corporate Headquarters and state-of-the-art Kia Design Center America (KDCA).

Kia U.S. Corporate Campus

Highlights:
- Elected Officials Join Kia Motors in Celebration
- First Kia-exclusive U.S. Design Center in Company History

2008-06-12 -- Saab Automobile is the principal sponsor of Sweden’s most prestigious design prize, Design S – the Swedish Design Award – together with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This sponsorship is an expression of Saab’s commitment to Scandinavian design principles and interest in promoting a holistic view on design issues. The bi-annual award was founded by Svensk Form, SVID (the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation), and the Advertising Association of Sweden. The Minister for Trade, Ewa Björling, presented the award at the prize-giving ceremony.

Challenging established concepts, hazarding visions.

06/10/2008 -- Successful design arouses desire. In order to achieve this, it is more crucial than ever before that car manufacturers create the conditions that allow customers to establish a close relationship with their cars. Therefore, designers seek ways to promote and intensify people's identification with their car that reach beyond pure aesthetics. In the premium segment in particular, customers demand cars that stir emotions and allow them to express their individuality.

BMW GINA Light Visionary Model

DEARBORN, Mich., May 21, 2008 - Today's consumers are responding en masse to the world of high-end design. Be it handbags, bridal gowns or kitchen appliances, everyone wants in the couture club. Whether it is designers' Stella McCartney, Roberto Cavalli and Lagerfeld producing pieces for H&M (which sold out instantly), or Isaac Mizrahi, Cynthia Rowley and Liz Lange delivering chic to Target customers, the consumer migration toward high-end design continues.

2009 Ford Flex

Chicago area fashion students showcase automotive inspired garments at annual fashion show

CHICAGO, 2008-05-15 – Tonight, one-of-a-kind fashions inspired by General Motors (GM) vehicles and created by students from the International Academy of Design and Technology (the Academy) will be on display and paraded down the runway at the Academy’s annual fashion show, Imagine 2008.

Fishies, Flimmies and the art of misdirection

Rüsselsheim, 2008-04-23 -- Camouflage and disguise are all important when new model prototypes first leave the well-protected confines of the design studio or workshop and head out onto the test track or open road. Although a great deal of today’s vehicle proving can be conducted in advance by computer simulation or on the test bench, there inevitably comes the day when all test results have to be validated, and the car must be released into its natural habitat – the road.

Camouflaged Opel Insignia during track testing at Dudenhofen Test Center

GM and International Academy of Design and Technology kick off 2008 GM Student Design Competition at the Chicago Auto Show

2008-02-08, CHICAGO – Today a group of young fashion designers will take a sneak peek at General Motors’ new production vehicles and concept cars at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show as GM and the International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT) kick off their sixth year as partners in the annual GM Student Design Competition.

Themed “Couture to the People,” more than 50 IADT fashion design students will visit the GM exhibit on February 8, during the first public day of the Chicago Auto Show. As they walk the GM exhibit, located in the McCormick Place North Hall, they will begin sketching garment designs inspired by five featured GM vehicles.

2008-01-17, DETROIT – Cadillac was recognized with two EyesOn Design Awards for Design Excellence honors at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). The 2009 CTS-V performance sedan captured the production car award and the concept car category honor went to the dramatic Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept. It was the second straight year the Cadillac CTS lineup was recognized by the EyesOn Design judges – the 2008 Cadillac CTS sedan won the production car category at the ’07 NAIAS.

Crewe/Brussels, January 16, 2008 -- Dirk van Braeckel, director of design at Bentley Motors, has been awarded the prestigious European Automotive Design Award by Designers (Europe), in partnership with FEBIAC, the Belgian automotive industry association. Previous winners of the award, which honours excellence and originality in automotive design, include Giorgietto Giugiaro in 2004 and Sergio Pininfarina in 2006.