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'Father of the iPod' Tony Fadell joins Autoweek Design Forum

Join Autoweek as we present top designers from inside and outside the auto industry during the 2012 Autoweek Design Forum. This year's event, themed "Designing for Today's Consumer," features presentations by: -- Max Wolff, Design Director, Lincoln -- Clay Dean, Director, North America Advanced Design, and Cadillac Brand Champion, Cadillac -- Peter Schreyer, Chief Design Officer, Kia -- Peter Horbury, Senior Vice President, Design, Geely Group -- Tony Fadell, Founder and CEO, Nest, and "Father of the iPod" The Design Forum will be held at the College for Creative Studies A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education in Detroit.

Cadillac may get future rear-drive hybrids

General Motors' two mode hybrid powertrain, used only in trucks, will migrate to rear-drive cars in the next generation, said Tom Stephens, GM's vice chairman of global product operations. Two likely candidates: Cadillacs, says consultant Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics in suburban Detroit. Last month, GM said it is developing an electric motor that is 25 percent smaller and 20 percent more powerful than the motor used in today's two mode hybrid full-sized trucks.

The Toyota FT-1 sure does look like the Bertone Mantide

We really liked the Toyota FT-1, which caught us off guard in the best possible way when it emerged at the Detroit auto show. In fact, we liked Toyota's “spiritual pace car” enough to call it the most fun new thing on the floor -- and we're hoping the automaker's execs take notice. Reader Dennis Liu certainly noticed the car, which seemed rather familiar to him: He feels that, coincidentally or not, it looks a lot like the Bertone Mantide.