CDN-GM Interactive Design Competition - interior phase finalists announced

July 19 saw the CDN-GM competition judging and mentoring teams meet at GM's world HQ in Warren, Michigan, to cast judgment over the 99 entries to the interior phase of the competition. The competition asked design students to develop concepts in response to briefs set by each of GM's four brands – Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick. The judges nominated three finalists for each brand, who will be invited to attend the 2012 NAIAS in Detroit.

Lego movie needs vehicle designers

Lego is giving its fans the chance to win $1,000 and see their own custom Lego vehicle designs on the big screen in ‘Lego: The Motion Picture'. There are no limitations on what kind of vehicles you can design, but the trick is that the vehicle you design must look like it was built from something else - a castle that was made into a racecar, a hot dog stand that was made into an airplane, for example. The Warner Brothers 3D CGI film will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – director of '21 Jump Street' and ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' – and produced by Dan Lin (‘Sherlock Holmes') and ‘How to Train Your Dragon' producer Roy Lee.

Chrysler, CAW reach tentative contract deal

The Canadian Auto Workers tentatively agreed tonight to new concessions that will save the struggling automaker $240 million annually and help the carmaker to try to avoid a bankruptcy filing, CAW President Ken Lewenza said at a news conference. In exchange, the CAW got Chrysler and potential partner Fiat SpA to agree to keep its two Chrysler assembly plants open even if bankruptcy is unavoidable, Lewenza said. General Motors and Ford Motor Co., which signed new CAW agreements earlier, have indicated their desire to get the same concessions as those negotiated with Chrysler, Lewenza said.