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The Future Role of the Vehicle Designer

The vehicle design department at the Royal College of Art hosted the second in a series of five lectures looking at the future of the profession last week. Moving on from the previous week's topic of sustainability, this debate explored the future roles and responsibilities of the vehicle designer. Head of department Dale Harrow began by posing the question "Is it time to rethink – do we still need the car?" Although still relevant, Harrow's ultimate answer to this was that the profession was about to see marked change, with the end to an era where "designers are locked behind closed doors in studios".

Big news on GM's big SUVs

Good news and bad news for General Motors' large cash cows, the full-sized SUVs. The bad news: The massive sport-ute market has shrunk roughly in half to around 300,000 a year. The good news for GM: This drove some competitors either out of market or into the near-niche category, leaving the new-for-2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, the GMC Yukon and Denali, and Cadillac Escalade with a big share of this very profitable segment.

Chevrolet Volt faces toughest test--consumers

Scientists, journalists and a slew of other alleged experts have all weighed in on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, and now the only verdict that truly matters--the public's--will be rendered. General Motors said 6,348 consumers have taken the extended-range car for a spin during a 12-city “Volt Unplugged Tour,” and not surprisingly, GM's reviewers like it. Still, initial feedback does appear to be truly positive.