Mazda Titan 1990 Left Clearance Lamp [0311100] on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: Mock the Week Edition

-- Mazda Europe designer Peter Birthwhistle talks about the future of Mazda: potential hybrid and electric powertrains for the Skyactiv-obsessed company, and how we'll all be driving Mazda-branded pods in the 22nd century. But he also mentions, rather interestingly, how certain Mazdas capture a quintessentially long-hood, RWD look -- and not just the Miata, either, which is RWD. No, it's the exhaust systems on those Skyactiv engines that force a longer, larger hood compartment, and the "long, flowing looks" not usually found on FWD engines.

Nissan packages its Cube for U.S. delivery later this year

Nissan's quirkily styled Cube has just been released in Japan and will be coming stateside this year. We drove the all-new model and came away impressed with the improvement Nissan made for its U.S. introduction.

Autodesk European Automotive Days 2008

The 2008 Autodesk European Automotive Days conference was held last week in Munich, bringing together 200 automotive design and visualization experts. Autodesk presented their strategy and vision for industrial design, with an emphasis on 'digital prototyping', where even at the concept stage the digital model is treated not just as a set of surfaces, but is integrated within the engineering process as as a functional digital prototype, with the aim to eventually replace physical models entirely. There was also a recognition that traditional techniques continue to have an important place alongside digital workflows, as the workflows and technologies continue to evolve.