Who's Where: Martin Smith joins Ford Europe design team

Martin Smith has been appointed as Executive Director of Design at Ford Europe. Smith, a native of Sheffield, England, brings a wealth of design experience to Ford, having held positions at Porsche, Audi, and most recently as Director of Design for Opel/Vauxhall. In his new position, he will report to product development chief, Derrick Kuzak and to Ford's global group vice president for Design, J Mays.

Local Motors Active Lifestyle Vehicle Challenge winner announced

The winner of the first Local Motors Active Lifestyle Vehicle Challenge has been revealed as John Bukasa, who won $1,500 for his CLIMAX design. This was the first contest held as part of the annual Lifestyle Vehicle of the Year awards – which are in their tenth year – hosted by Carspondent, which celebrates the cars that best cater for people leading active lives. The brief challenged designers to develop a concept that enhances its owner's performance as an athlete or active adult/family.

Upcoming Volvo XC90 gets new safety tech

The Volvo XC90 has been with us for 10 years now -- a long time indeed when it comes to product life cycles of comparable upmarket SUVs. The stylish sport utility was a popular seller in North America for a good part of that decade, and for a while was even offered with a 4.4 liter V8 engine developed by Yamaha and shared with the second-gen S80 (a first for a Volvo passenger car). But if there's one thing Volvo is known for, it's not V8 engines -- it's safety.