Design

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.

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.

Tata has expressed interest in participating Pininfarina’s planned capital increase

Turin, April 24, 2008 – Pininfarina intends to establish a Research, Design and Engineering Centre in Pune, India within the end of 2008. Pininfarina and Tata have signed a Letter of Intent wherein Tata will support this Centre in India with contracts and participate with a minority interest. Pininfarina will be the majority shareholder with management responsibility.

American Axle & Manufacturing Announces Increase in New Business Backlog

DETROIT, Jan. 17, 2008 /PRNewswire - FirstCall/ -- American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AAM), which is traded as AXL on the NYSE, today announced that it will continue its role as driveline supplier for the next generation of GM's full-size trucks.

AAM's sales of driveline components relating to GM's full-size pick-ups and SUVs represent more than half of AAM's annual sales.

While GM has not yet finalized product definitions and other pertinent engineering details, AAM expects the scope and magnitude of AAM's role on the successor program to be substantially the same as on the existing program.

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.

NAIAS welcomes thousands of industry insiders Jan. 16-17

DETROIT, Jan. 16, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of automotive industry executives, engineers and designers will converge at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) today and tomorrow in Detroit for special events emphasizing design and green technologies. In addition to the events, attendees have the opportunity to network and view the incredible concept and production vehicles and exhibits on the NAIAS show floor.

Dec. 11, 2007 -- Aston Martin’s new design studio cements the company's reputation as one of the world's most technologically sophisticated sports car manufacturers. Design is one of Aston Martin's core values, and the new Studio, located in a world class building adjacent to Aston Martin's manufacturing and engineering centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire, integrates the process into the heart of the company. “Aston Martin is about design and it is about beauty,” says Aston Martin's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez, “yet until now it has never had its own design studio.”

TOKYO, Japan, December 11, 2007 -- The Nissan Design Forum & 'Imagination Factory' Exhibition, kicks off today in Hong Kong, bringing effectively, a close to the series of this well-received and successful event in Asia for 2007.

Working in close collaboration with the Hong Kong Design Centre, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Design, the Nissan Design Forum will take place from December 11-16 2007, during the Business of Design Week (bodw) 2007, Asia's leading international conference dedicated to design, brand and innovation.

This is the first time the Nissan Design Forum has been planned to coincide with a pivotal global event to ensure optimal outreach to professionals in the design communities, students as well as design and automotive enthusiasts in Hong Kong.

Nov 16, 2007 -- Los Angeles – A car with extended, elegant lines which can change its form at the touch of a button and adapt to the requirements of its owners at any time – this is the automotive vision that Mercedes-Benz is presenting at the Los Angeles Design Challenge, which is being held for the fourth time as part of the 2007 L.A. Auto Show.

Mercedes-Benz SilverFlow Design Concept

11/12/2007 -- Citroën Italy is sponsoring a new international award for creative ideas called C-Design. Participants in the competition must design objects for daily living using any of 100 parts that go into the mechanical components and body of Citroën vehicles (windscreen wipers, bumpers, handles, sunroofs, etc.).

Open to designers of all ages, C-Design is being conducted exclusively on the Internet in collaboration with the specialised portal www.aedo-to.com. Entrants can register individually or in groups and submit their ideas at the site until 15 January 2008. Designed for the home and everyday use, the objects must be both practical and attractive.

TOKYO, Japan, November 9, 2007 -- The Nissan Design Forum & Exhibition, jointly organized by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd, Siam Nissan Automobile Co., Ltd kicks off today at Esplanade, one of the major shopping malls in Bangkok. Held from November 9-12, the exhibition will be opened to the public from November 10-12, 2007.

The Nissan Design Forum has been planned to ensure optimal outreach to design students, design community and automotive enthusiasts in Thailand.

The event is part of a series of Nissan Design Forum held in different countries in Asia, starting from the inaugural event in Singapore last August.

Creativeness Rendezvous Today at Ultra Modern Innovation Complex

Martorell, 08-11-2007 -- Prestigious designers from the fields of architecture, fashion, industry, advertising, communication, art and photography, as well as numerous specialised communication media, rendezvoused today at the SEAT Design Center (SDC), the Spanish car manufacturer’s new global design center. These renowned designers thus act as ‘godfathers’ to this modern innovation complex, located at SEAT’s Technical Center in Martorell.

2007-11-08, Hong Kong -- GME Designer Anthony Lo has been named Asian Designer of the Year at the ELLE Magazine Style Awards 2007 in Hong Kong. He was honored for his work on the Saab Aero X concept, which was presented for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show in 2006.

THE WORLD’S MOST MODERN INNOVATION COMPLEX

Martorell, 30-10-2007 -- Today saw the official opening of the SEAT Design Center, the only fully-integrated center of its kind for the car industry in Spain. This building, located within SEAT’s Technical Center, is the most modern innovation complex in the car manufacturing sector to be found anywhere in the world, enabling the company to fully harness synergies in Research and Development (R&D) in order to provide design, one of the main defining features of the Spanish brand’s models, with greater momentum.

TAIWAN (November 5, 2007) - The new Yulon Nissan Design Center (YNDC) opened today in San-Yi, joining a global stable of Nissan studios responsible for bringing top talent and the best in creative design thinking to the company's global products.

YNDC joins sister studios in Japan (Atsugi and Harajuku), the United States of America (San Diego and Detroit) and United Kingdom (London). Combined, these design studios are charged with working cooperatively and competitively to create next-generation and all-new vehicle designs. YNDC will add value to the international design group through its unique design vision.

Las Vegas, NV, October 30, 2007 -- Nissan North America (NNA) today announced a unique partnership with two film and design schools to showcase the Nissan Cube, a product sold in Japan, in the American market in a very distinctive way. The collaboration will task students to create provocative films and designs by integrating the Nissan Cube’s inspirational and stylish design.

The Brooks Institute film school in Santa Barbara, CA and Pratt Institute, School of Art and Design in New York City will participate in the Cube project, Cube-ism: Automobile Meets Art.

10/24/2007 -- What is it that's said about the irresistible force?

Anyone encountering an engineer named Yukihiko Yaguchi might just find out first hand, for he's an irresistible force that's created a highly movable object.

Yaguchi is a very convincing, compelling guy, but he's also quiet and self effacing. Once he gets hold of you, you not only can't help but like him, you can't help but want to help him accomplish whatever it is that he's up to.

2008 Lexus IS F

Plenty of people have learned that lesson, and there's solid evidence to support it. The evidence sits on four fat, sticky tires. It's called the Lexus IS F.

SEAT Collaborates with Esade and the California Art Centre College of Design

Martorell, 18-10-2007 -- SEAT, the Barcelona business school ESADE (Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas) and the US-based Art Centre College of Design, the world’s most important design school, have today signed a collaboration agreement to launch joint activities and projects in the fields of training, skill-enhancement, research and development aimed at implanting a culture of innovation in diverse spheres.

Mercedes-Benz Also Launches Innovative Newsgroup Web Site

Southern California Automotive Design Studios Predict How Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Transportation in 50 Years

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2007 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's vehicles feature artificial intelligence that allow hands-free parking and electronic stability control, but in 50 years vehicles might be able to move in any direction, drive and navigate robotically and have structures that morph and adapt to passengers' needs.

One to the Power of Four, Honda Research and Development, North America