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Fourth Chinese Auto Design Competition launched

The fourth Chinese Auto Design Contest officially launched in Beijing last week. Sponsored by China's Society of Automotive Engineers, the China Industrial Design Association, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and the Beijing Fengtai District People's Government, the competition is the largest and most authoritative state-level professional event. Held biennially, this year's Chinese Auto Design competition is divided into two categories: Design Innovation (which judges current vehicles created by automakers) and Creative Design.

Rimac Concept_One Electric Supercar Salon Prive debut

The very impressive Rimac Concept_One electric hypercar, which debuted at Frankfurt 2011, is to show at Salon Prive. Now the Goodwood Festival of Speed  is over for another year, the next big petrolhead event is Salon Prive – which has been pushed back to September to avoid clashing with London 2012 – and Mate Rimac has announced his Rimac_One electric hypercar will be making its UK debut on the lawns of Syon Park. The Mitac_One, which was revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year and conceived by precocious 24yr old Mate Rimac,  is a technological tour de force for electric cars, offering four electric motors – one on each wheel – which can accelerate and decelerate independently to offer true four wheel vectoring and stunning handling.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar on the crisis at Lotus Cars

Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar has laid bare the business position at Lotus Cars since the takeover of parent company Proton by Malaysia's DRB-Hicom. Norfolk's sports car maker has been buffeted by rumours of financial crisis and looming collapse since development was frozen by the new owners (click here for our coverage of the crisis at Lotus. CAR scored an interview with Bahar at the Hethel headquarters yesterday afternoon. He was abroad at the time of last week's media maelstrom, when rumours and slurs flew around about the state of Lotus's finances.