Car Design News to host a trio of events around Beijing auto show

As the automotive world looks forward to Beijing, and what promises to be one of the most significant auto show in this year's calendar, Car Design News is actively contributing to the focus on China by hosting three events – CDN Interior Motives China Conference, Car Design Awards China and Car Design Night. CDN Interior Motives China Conference Our annual CDN Interior Motives China Conference takes place over the weekend of 21-22 April, immediately prior to the opening of the motor show. The theme of this year's conference – ‘Chinese Car Design 2.0 The foundations are in place; let the creativity begin' – neatly sums up the challenge facing designers in the world's largest car market.

Michelin Challenge Design announces 2009 jury

Michelin Challenge Design, one of the world's top design competitions, has announced its panel of judges for 2009. The distinguished group of automotive design leaders will meet in July at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, to select the vehicle designs and concepts for special exhibition at the 2009 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit next January. This year marks the eighth year for the international competition.

Jaguar readying SUV for Frankfurt motor show

While the next new Jaguar model slated for dealerships is a BMW 3-series fighter rumored to be called the XS, Autoweek sources have confirmed the company will also be showing an SUV at the Frankfurt motor show in September. Likely to be named XQ or Q-type, the Jaguar SUV is expected to ride on a version of the XS platform (itself a variation on the aluminum XJ architecture) rather than share a platform with a Land Rover product. Slated for 2016 production, the new Jaguar XQ SUV will share some powertrain technology with Land Rover, specifically the Ford I-4 engines from the Evoque.