RCA's Dale Harrow: Car design more crucial than ever

As well as serving as head of the RCA's Vehicle Design Program, Dale Harrow is also a Financial Times columnist. His latest piece suggests the car is in the process of change, and at a rate beyond that undertaken in its first century of existence.

Manufacturers have 'solved' the function of the car, and as reliability is no longer a concern for the consumer, design is now crucial.

Harrow claims that unlike the past, producing a car blending speed, freedom and luxury is not a designer's primary concern. Instead, the challenge posed by creating a car complying with the ‘big three' now dominates the car design world. Fashioning a car for a sustainable and ecological future means other key themes will take center stage:

1. Connecting with customers is important. With an increasingly sophisticated consumer, it is vital to keep them in the loop of design, leading to greater diversity and customization;

2. Cars will interact with people, each other and the city itself. Modern technologies in cars will have a larger impact on city planning and systems, as cars become part of the urban network; and

3. Other new technologies will reshape the manufacturing of cars, as revolutionary methods of production will provide the opportunity for new platforms and architecture.

Read the full article now on the Financial Times website.

By Ben Higlett