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Interior Motives China Conference 2010: Day 1

Despite Europe being grounded due to volcanic ash, the third Interior Motives China conference got underway in Beijing with a record number of delegates and speakers – proof, as if it were needed, that this event is now one of the most important in the global car design calendar. This year's theme was 'New brands and the search for a design identity', and among the audience were young Chinese designers keen to learn more about international car design techniques, as well as veteran western designers hoping to gain a deeper understanding of the market they are creating vehicles for.  Session 1: The Market for Design Edward Wong, Director of Transportation Design at China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), set the mood for the conference in his long, flowing 'Chang San' robe (very traditional Chinese attire). He opened the conference and invited panellists to share their views on what China's needs are and explore what makes the market so unique.

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee to start at less than $33,000 for four-wheeler

Perhaps the most important vehicle to be launched by Chrysler this year, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, will start at a price that's a shade less than $33,000 for a four-wheel-drive model. The base model with two-wheel drive is $30,995. This Jeep, shown in concept form for more than a year, is critical to refreshing the Detroit automaker's aging lineup and generating some much-needed product mojo.

Bentley SUV (Falcon) to be built in Slovakia?

Bentley says it has 2000 pre-orders for the Bentley Falcon SUV and that it is possible the Bentley won’t be built in Crewe but in Bratislava. January’s news was that the Bentley SUV was close to being signed-off for production (we’ve heard that once or twice) and in February we learnt that Bentley have gone back to the drawing board to produce a new design under the watchful eye of Luc Donckerwolke, Bentley’s Chief Designer, which we expect to be a more dynamic one with cues from the Continental, rather than a square truck with Mulsanne headlights. So now it’s time for the March instalment of ‘Bentley SUV News‘, and we have Bentley boss Wolfgang Schreiber telling us that Bentley already has 2,000 pre-orders for their SUV (we’re guessing ‘expressions of interest’ may be closer to the truth) before the new design is shown, and before Bentley has decided whether they want to pitch their SUV just above the new Range Rover at around £150k, or do what Bentley dealers want which is a Bentley SUV costing north of £200k.