Brief 5 – Sculpting: CDN–GM Interactive Design Competition

The Car Design News and General Motors Interactive Design Competition is now open. It offers you the choice of five briefs, each set by GM's design teams, and entries are invited at http://www.cardesigncontest.com/ Sculpting, the fifth and final brief, is new for this year's running of the design competition. The challenge is to explore automotive sculpting; the fundamental principles of line, form, proportion and scale.

2014 Volvo XC90 on track as part of £3.5 billion investment in Sweden

Volvo are investing £7 billion in their future – half of that in Sweden – and the first model to benefit will be the long overdue 2014 Volvo XC90. Just like all of Ford’s premium automotive adventures - Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin included – Volvo has suffered from a long period of under investment but now – with China’s Geely in charge – they’re forging ahead with big investment and big plans to try and emulate the turnaround Tata has accomplished at JLR. That means an investment of £7 billion over the next three years – £3.5 billion of that in Sweden – in a new scalable architecture (SPA) platform and new Volvo engine architecture (VEA) to underpin most of Volvo’s future models.

Peugeot Quartz Concept is a 494bhp Hybrid SUV – debuts at Paris Motor Show

The Peugeot Quartz Concept is a 494bhp Hybrid SUV - The Peugeot Quartz Concept is a concept from Peugeot heading for the Paris Motor Show next month, and it uses a hybrid setup to offer the potential of huge performance from a pair of electric motors and the 270 PS 1.6 litre petrol engine from the RCZ R. Before you get too excited, it seems unlikely the QuartZ Concept is heading for production with its very concept-y look with scissor doors, pop-out steps for access and no B-Pillar, but it does show what could be done if Peugeot is brave enough and it does show the performance potential of the hybrid platform. The hybrid platform consists of the 1.6 litre THP 270 engine from the RCZ R – good for 266bhp – and an electric motor on each axle.