Fiat challenges RCA students to design the 500 or Panda of 2020

Fiat is challenging Vehicle Design students at London's Royal College of Art to explore how the Fiat 500 and the Panda might look in 2020 in a new contest called ‘Two of a Kind'.

14 teams of four students from across all design disciplines are asked to design innovative exterior and interior proposals taking interactivity, digital interface, sustainability and global appeal in account, using the Fiat design language as a starting point.

The Master's students will be supported by six lectures at the RCA from some of the carmaker's top designers, such as head of design (Europe, Middle East and Asia regions) Roberto Giolito and head of global design Lorenzo Ramaciotti. At the end of each lecture the teams will present and receive feedback on their designs.

Although it won't necessarily inform Fiat's future products, Giolito explained, "We're always looking for good ideas and inspiration, but we already have products designed – that's why we're interested to see your designs for two of our iconic vehicles in 2020."

Final designs will be presented at the last lecture, which takes place on 11 December, where a jury consisting of senior Fiat designers, Fiat UK managing director Steve Zanlunghi and RCA department heads.

The winning students will take their final creation in early 2014 to Fiat's Centro Stile in Turin, Italy, to develop into clay models. These will be unveiled at the students' RCA degree show in June. The students will also head to FIAT's Centro Stile for internships between July 2014 and February 2015.

The RCA's Professor Dale Harrow, head of vehicle design and dean of the school of design, Royal College of Art, said, "One of the benefits of studying Vehicle Design at the RCA is that students have the opportunity to grapple with real design challenges and see their ideas become part of the solution."

Andreas Wuppinger, Fiat exterior chief designer, explained, "Students need to try to embrace their chosen Fiat, try to understand the people who will use their product. It's crucial to try to understand what's changing in the world."

We're interested to see how the RCA's students get on – particularly the new batch – so rest assured we'll be following the competition as it progresses.

By Rufus Thompson