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Video: Yasushi Nakamuta on Mazda 3's 'unique' design process

It may be leaden with PR-talk but this short presentation by Yasushi Nakamuta, Mazda's director of advanced design studio at the press unveiling of the new Mazda 3 in Melbourne is still worth a couple of minutes of your time. But while the 3 is undeniably attractive we can't help but feel that the 'unique' design process Nakamuta describes (which appears wholly conventional to us) has resulted in little more than a thoroughly normal product. Take a look for yourself at the video to your left.

Ford B-Max arrives in production guise

The first photo of the production-ready Ford B-Max Ford has released the first picture of the new B-Max, which will debut at Geneva in March, a year from the debut of the B-Max Concept. The Ford B-Max is a long overdue replacement for the Ford Fusion, the one car in Ford’s range that is way past its sell-by date, and was shown as a concept at the Geneva Motor Show in 2011. Now, one year on, the Ford B-Max is to debut in production guise at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

Laurenz Schaffer Appointed President of BMW Group’s DesignworksUSA

There's a game of musical chairs being played at DesignworksUSA, the BMW Group's design consultancy subsidiary. Starting December 1 this year, two key executives will be taking on new roles within the design consultancy, while the company's current President will be moving on to a new position within BMW Group Design. The first appointment is that of Laurenz Schaffer, currently Director of the Munich studio of BMW Group DesignworksUSA.