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Nissan Almera

The new Nissan Almera was launched yesterday at the 2012 Moscow auto show, designed specifically for the Russian market. The design team sought to combine contemporary Nissan design cues with more classic features on this 4,656mm-long five-seat sedan. The Almera has a long wheelbase of 2,700mm while the luggage area is said to be disguised by the sweep of the roofline and rear window that flows into the trunk lid.

Fitness-focused autonomous vehicle pedals to victory in Interior Motives Design Awards

Earlier tonight, on the eve of the first Paris Motor Show press day, the world's top designers and automotive journalists assembled at L'Espace Clacquesin in Paris to witness sponsors Ford and Volkswagen announce the 2014 Interior Motives Student Design of the Year: ‘Life Cycle' by Jason Chen and Dirk Wan of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, USA. Launched in January of this year and themed ‘Beyond Styling: a Design for Life', the competition asked students to create projects around three diverse but specific briefs: ‘Beyond Autonomous', which posed the question of what would happen if we were to combine the latest developments in computing and robotics with automobile design; ‘An Interior for Life', in which students were asked to focus on one feature or element of a car's interior and adapt it for dual use in a user's ordinary life; and ‘Pickup Truck of 2030', which challenged the young designers to extrapolate what the future might hold for this popular and versatile mode of transport. This year's contest attracted more than 200 entries from students based at 57 schools in 24 different countries.

Seat unveils electric Altea, Leon plug-in hybrid (2011)

Seat has unveiled a pair of prototype electric cars to underline its commitment to EVs: the Altea XL Electric Ecomotive full electric car and the Leon TwinDrive Ecomotive plug-in hybrid. Martorell has also confirmed plans to build hybrids in 2015 and electric cars from 2016. They'll be designed, developed and manufactured in Spain, as the VW group devolves green car centres of excellence away from Germany.