AutoWeek Design Forum: McLaren evolves with carbon fiber

McLaren Automotive design boss Frank Stephenson detailed his company's transformation from strictly racing to producing road-going models on Thursday at the AutoWeek Design Forum. McLaren is launching the highly anticipated MP4-12C this year, and the company has been hard at work refining the use of carbon fiber, which it pioneered in the iconic McLaren F1. The company cut the amount of time required to design a carbon-fiber tub from 3,000 hours for the F1 to a mere four hours for the MP4-12C.

Renault Twizy Sport F1 concept

The Renault Twizy Sport F1 concept has been unveiled at Renault's plant in Vallalodid, Spain. A collaboration between both Renault Sport F1 and Renault Sport Technologies, the concept sits on the wheels of a single-seater racecar and features a front splitter, side-pods, a rear wing and a diffuser with an F1-style rain light. When looking at the concept, which measures in at 2,600mm long, 1,490mm wide and 1,450mm high, the tires are one of the first things you see, and are the same as those fitted to the Formula Renault 2.0 single-seater.

Chery TX Concept

The Chery TX concept was unveiled at last month's Beijing auto show and showed significant progress in comparison to past Chery-designed vehicles. The brief for the concept was to be a ‘target-customer oriented SUV'. The TX marks a new beginning for Chery as it explores its new distinctive design philosophy, ‘Shangshan Ruoshui‘ (water) that derives from the Chinese traditional philosophy, interpreted as the pursuit of harmony and unity between humans and nature.