AutoWeek Design Forum: Johnson Controls designer styles the future

What is inspiration? Johnson Controls design vice president Michael Warsaw pondered that and other style themes on Thursday morning at the AutoWeek Design Forum in Detroit. "It's about having a vision--it's about having that vision be your guidepost," he said.

Citroen AirCross – based on Citroen C3 Picasso – revealed

The Citroen AirCross - looks like a South America only crossover This could be a new car from Citroen, but it could just as easily be another of those oddities that car makers throw at the southern end of the Americas. Citroen in Brazil has revealed – via Twitter – the Citroen AirCross, which is basically a Citroen C3 Picasso with a bit of Crossover / SUV butchness thrown in to create a rugged urban crossover. And it’s based on the old Citroen C3, which makes us think there’s a chance this may not be a world car.

Ford Fiesta eWheelDrive gets wheel hub electric motors

The Ford Fiesta eWheelDrive – a driveable research vehicle built by Ford and German specialists Schaeffler – may be a regular supermini in size, but it points towards a potential future EV which is much more compact and very manoeuvrable. Ford has taken a regular Fiesta and dumped its powertrain, replacing it with a battery bank where the engine would be and fitted a pair of in-hub electric motors on the rear wheels. But the plan is to build new cars with the batteries under the floor which frees up the space under the bonnet which can then be all but removed to create a very compact urban car that still has space for four.