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Interior Motives China Conference to explore new design directions

Chinese consumers are driving new design directions, and CDN's Interior Motives China Conference in Beijing next week is set to explore how. Titled ‘New brands and the search for a design identity', the conference features an impressive speaker line-up that blends the international (Chris Bangle and VW's Wolfgang Muller Pietralla) with the regional (GM PATAC's Friedhelm Engler, Ford China's Chelsia Lau and PSA-Peugeot/Citroën China's Robert Walker), with the domestic (Shan Wei of the Beijing Automotive Technical Center (BATC), and Ken Ma of SAIC). The annual conference is the third in China to be hosted by CDN's magazine Interior Motives, and will be held on Wednesday 21 April, and Thursday 22 April, just in advance of the opening of Auto China 2010 in Beijing on Friday (23 April).

Abarth 695 biposto is the quickest Fiat 500: Geneva Motor Show

The Abarth 695 biposto (pictured) is the the most extreme Fiat 500 The revised Fiat 500 range for 2014 is on show at the Geneva Motor Show this week with some nice revisions to take Fiat’s iconic little 500 forward. But if you want a Fiat 500 with decent get up and go you need to look at the Abarth 500s and now – also debuting at Geneva – you’ll also have the option of the quickest Abarth to date – the new Abarth 695 biposto. The 695 biposto comes with a 1.4 litre turbocharged engine delivering 187bhp, enough for a power to weight ratio of an impressive 5.2kg/hp thanks to weight savings cutting the 695 biposto’s weight to just 997kg.

Twizy Renault Sport F1 concept is a completely bonkers EV

Based on the  strange little Renault Twizy EV commuter golf buggy, the Twizy Renaultsport F1 concept gets a mad body kit to make it look like something out of a Star Wars film, with huge wings, side pods, a rear diffuser and a yellow paint job that evokes Renault’s sporting heritage. But it’s under the skin where the interesting stuff lurks. Renault has fitted the Twizy with an F1 inspired KERS system that fits where the back seat used to be (yes, the F1 Twizy is a toy just for one) which chucks an extra 79bhp at the Twizy’s existing electric motor when fully charged, enough to scoot the F1 Twizy to 62mph in just 6 seconds.