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503-hp Volkswagen GTI concept headed to Worthersee?

Volkswagen has issued a series of official design sketches hinting at the appearance of a radical open-top concept car to be unveiled at the Worthersee fan meet in Austria on May 29. Called the GTI Roadster, the new two-seater was originally conceived as a virtual three-dimensional image in a joint cooperation between Volkswagen and Sony for inclusion in the PlayStation “Gran Turismo” video game series. But with enthusiasm for the low-slung roadster running high among its design team, Volkswagen has decided to turn it into a full-size concept in homage to a long history of GTI models.

Nissan opens new design studio in Beijing

Delayed by the deadly earthquake that hit Japan earlier this year, Nissan Motor Co.'s new design center in Beijing finally received a proper opening this week, when global design chief Shiro Nakamura showed off the studio as a new source of ideas for Nissan and Infiniti. Nissan Design China, as the Beijing-based center is known, "is not a studio to just generate ideas for China," Nakamura said in an interview with Car Design News. It's equipped to handle designs of show cars and production cars for both Nissan and Infiniti brands, aimed at customers in China, as well as around the world.

UAW: GM, Chrysler may not need additional federal funds

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said today that General Motors and Chrysler LLC may not need additional federal loans beyond the $17.4 billion approved by the White House. "If we can get by without more money, that's what we want to do," Gettelfinger told Automotive News in an interview at Solidarity House in Detroit. He said how well the money holds out will depend on sales volume this year.