Mylaps / Amb Tranx260 No Subscription Car/bike Transponders on 2040-parts.com

Where is Nissan and Infiniti design headed? Just look at the lamps

For a glimpse at future styling trends from Nissan Motor Co., look to the headlamps on the Nissan Leaf electric car and the sculpted rear of the Infiniti M. Front and rear lamps raised from the body surface and pronounced spoilers are two tricks Nissan will use more often to improve the aerodynamics and handling of vehicles--in addition to giving them a futuristic flair, global design chief Shiro Nakamura says. The goal: Win young drivers and bring sales of models such as the Nissan Altima in line with Japanese rivals "The important thing is the front end and the rear end," Nakamura said during an April 12 interview at the company's main design studio south of Tokyo.

SEAT lets the train take the strain

SEAT by Train from the Martorell Factory to the Port of Barcelona The building of this project started in 2005 -  a joint venture between SEAT and Autometro – as an innovative way to transport cars from the factory to the port, and has made a big difference to the traffic on Catalan roads in that time, taking more than 20,000 lorries off the roads and racking up a big saving in SEAT’s carbon footprint. Throughout 2008 the rail link transported cars on twice daily runs on double-decker carriages over 400 metres long, carrying more than 170 cars at a time. Try doing that on the roads!

Michelin Challenge Design 2009 preview

Michelin has released details of three more contenders which will be displayed at the Michelin Challenge Design exhibit at the 2009 NAIAS next week. The stand will feature 11 scale models and 24 two-dimensional drawings that were selected by a jury of top automotive designers. Among these are Raquel Aparicio’s Soft Vehicle, Fernando Gomez’s Packard concept and Niels Grubak Iversen and David Goncalves’ Phoenix concept.