What the Future Holds, Nobody Knows

It's a testament to the talent, charisma and relative celebrity of Ian Callum, Derek Jenkins and Franz von Holzhausen - heads of Jaguar, Mazda and Tesla design, respectively - that they managed to captivate a crowd of industry insiders at the tail end of the Los Angeles Auto Show's second press-preview day. This despite being given a nebulous topic to discuss with a moderator who knew little about the subject. Dan Lyons, a technology columnist at Newsweek, oversaw the panel discussion that was to focus on "Tomorrow's Cars...Practical Transportation or Groundbreaking Design?" He asked only one question on that topic before digressing into a more general discourse on the design strategies of Jaguar, Mazda and Tesla.

College Exhibition: Coventry University MA Degree Show 2005

Jan 20, 2006 - 'Fifteen' was the title for Coventry University's 13th MA Design Degree Show, held at Coventry's Transport Museum December 2-9. The title signified a recurring theme: 15 Automotive Design students, 15 months programme duration for the first time, "15 minutes of fame".     Graduates from the USA, India, China, Korea, Greece, Lebanon and the UK, made for a strong international flavour in the diversity of the final designs. 2005 was sponsor Corus' ninth year of involvement with the show, and the fifth year they have held a forum to coincide with the opening of the event.

Porsche announces new Weissach design center and wind tunnel

Porsche is to invest around €150m into its Weissach development facility, including a new design center. The plans also include an electronics integration department and a state-of-the art, on-site wind tunnel, which is hoped will allow the company to realize an holistic approach to efficient design, with a strong focus on aerodynamics. When we spoke with head of Porsche design, Michael Mauer, at this year's Paris motor show, he also alluded to the fact that the Volkswagen Group's – and, more specifically, Walter de'Silva's – recent influence on the German manufacturer was shifting its attitudes: "The Volkswagen Group has a very good understanding of how much freedom a brand needs to keep its characteristics and with [Walter] as 'conductor', I feel a lot of support with design issues within the company," explained Mauer.