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General Motors Europe opens new Design Center

Being a car designer is often percieved as a glamourous occupation, but few people realise that this typically means working in some of the least inspiring places. Wolfsburg, Detroit and Birmingham are just a few of the locations that are home to some of the largest populations of car designers around the world. GM Europe's location in Russelsheim, Germany is also one of the less glamourous locations but the new design center building opened this week aims to redress the otherwise rather industrial feel of the place where tomorrow's Opels and Saabs are created.

The next presidential limousine might look like this

A few days ago, the United States Secret Service posted the bid requirements for a new presidential limousine, which is set to debut during the 2017 inauguration of our nation's 45th chief executive. It's hard to believe that the General Motors-built Cadillac dubbed "The Beast" is already due for replacement, but the fleet of presidential limousines is cycled every four or eight years, with bids accepted from any American automaker. We'll spoil the show for you: the odds of a company other than General Motors winning the bid is pretty slim.

Infographic: How much clay do Ford’s design studios use each year?

Ford has offered an insight into its clay modeling processes with a series of videos and an infographic that charts the process involved in turning a designer's sketch into a full-size model. The infographic uses data taken from all of Ford's global design studios in 2012 to give an idea of how much clay is used in a year, plus how much paint and di-noc film is used to cover each model. Ford has also released a video that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the firm's clay modeling studio in Merkenich, Germany, including interviews with members of the modeling team.