2012-2015honda Civic Ima Hybrid Inverter “circuit Board” on 2040-parts.com

Smart Forspeed concept signals new design direction

Smart will unveil a new concept at the forthcoming Geneva motor show that signals a new design direction, hints at future product and confirms parent company Daimler's renewed commitment to the brand. Car Design News was granted early access to the concept, baptized Forspeed, at a secret photography studio in Stuttgart last week and heard the head of advanced design, Steffen Kohl, explain how the two-seat, electric-powered vehicle prefaces design themes in both the next Fortwo and the revived Forfour, which will be launched in 2014. "The fullness of this concept's exterior surfaces is important and will be reflected in future production models," said Kohl, "Smart will still be short, spacey, agile, and with wheels at the corners of the car, but with an added sporty and emotional design and without losing all the brand's iconic elements like its ‘plastic fantastic' aspect and the safe and hi-tech modular tridion shell assembled with all these changeable body parts.

Spring 2014 issue of Interior Motives magazine out now

The spring edition of Car Design News’ quarterly interior design publication, Interior Motives magazine, is out now. This issue features in-depth design development articles on the most interesting and important concept and production vehicles from the recent Tokyo, Detroit and Geneva auto shows.  The cover star is Nissan’s IDx concept. Displayed in two different forms – sporty Nismo and laid-back Freeflow – the project was carried out with input from 30 young, fashion-conscious members of ‘Generation Z’ (born post-1990).

SEAT Leon Twin Drive Prototype surfaces in Barcelona

VW’s Spanish arm SEAT today unveiled their vision of the future, with the SEAT Leon Twin Drive Prototype unveiling in Barcelona. The Twin Drive concept is simple, but quite promising. It offers an electric motor for running around town, but switches to a diesel or petrol engine when out of town.