Aero Race Wheel 56 Series Ultra Lite 5x4 3/4 Bolt Pattern 2" Offset Chrome on 2040-parts.com

Shanghai 2013: Conference and Awards events from CDN and Interior Motives

Can Design News and Interior Motives are gearing up for our annual visit to China for a number of important events in the industry's calendar, kicking off with the 2013 Interior Motives China Conference. This year's theme, ‘Technology and tradition – old meets new in modern-day China' features a new highly interactive format guaranteed to inspire and illuminate. Last year's event – timed to coincide with the run-up to the Beijing auto show – attracted over 400 senior OEM designers and Tier supplier executives from around the world, and this one promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Visual arts students vs. in-car technology

The automobile's natural technological evolution has gone from basics like wipers and headlights to high-tech infotainment systems that map your route, locate the nearest Starbucks, report weather and traffic, and stream personal music libraries. Yet many of these systems are difficult and distracting to use. So we wondered: Of the infotainment systems out there, is there even one achieving its connectivity goals better than the rest?

BMW ActiveHybrid X6 (2009) first pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 13 August 2009 10:30 This is BMW’s new ActiveHybrid X6, the company's first full production hybrid car. With two electric motors mated to the twin-turbo V8 powerplant, BMW claims its new SUV is not only the world’s most powerful hybrid, but also offers a reduction in fuel consumption and emissions over the equivalent petrol-only X6 by around 20%. And all to the ‘joint enhancement of driving pleasure and efficiency’. Mmmm… No – there’s actually two electric motors.