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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.

Official: Aston Martin Cygnet axed – fewer than 150 sold

Sir Stirling Moss was one of fewer than 150 Aston Martin Cygnet buyers Last month we reported that Aston Martin appeared to have axed their take on a supermini – the Aston Martin Cygnet – after just a couple of years. Now that news seems to be official after Reuters spoke to an Aston Martin source who also said the Cygnet sold so poorly that fewer than 150 were sold. That must make the Cygnet one of the poorest performing cars in any company’s sales history, especially as that fewer than 150 total was supposed to be 4,000 a year.

Audi Q3: new entry-level 1.4 TFSI & new S Line Plus trim option

The new Audi Q3 1.4 TFSI (pictured) offers a sensible petrol alternative Although we all now seem as obsessed in the UK by frugal diesel engines as Europe has been for many years, there’s a lot to be said for a petrol engine. So the launch of the Audi Q3 1.4 TFSI petrol as the new entry point for the Q3 range should make private buyers – and those who don’t do mega miles – sit up and take notice. The Q3 1.4 TFSI only comes with front wheel drive, but it does offer a sensible alternative to the 2.0 litre TDI 140 for many buyers, with 148bhp, a 0-62mph of 9.2 seconds (8.9s with the optional S tronic ‘box), official economy of 47.9mpg and emissions of 137g/km.