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Video: CDN-GM Interactive Design Competition featured by Faces of GM

‘Faces of GM', one of General Motor's social media initiaives, tells the story of the people behind the brands of GM. Its latest video features our recent collaborative contest, the CDN-GM Interactive Design Competition. It stars several of the winning students as well as the prize giving event which took place on the Cadillac stand at the North America International Auto Show in Detroit last week.

New Skoda Octavia vRS hatch & estate revealed

The 2013 Skoda Octavia vRS has been revealed (vRS hatch pictured) The Skoda Octavia vRS – the latest version of Skoda’s quick and appealing take on the VW Golf GTI – has been unveiled ahead of its debut at the Goodwood FoS in July, and it looks a cracker. Available as either a hatchback or estate – and as a diesel or a petrol – the Octavia vRS manages to repackage the Golf GTI and Golf GTD in to one Skoda, offering good performance (the vRS is a bit slower than the GTI to 62mph at 6.8 seconds but has a 2mph higher top speed), good looks and the promise of prices starting not much above £20k. The petrol vRS gets the Golf GTI’s 217bhp 2.0 litre TSI and the diesel vRS the 181bhp 2.0 litre TFI from the Golf GTD, both with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard and a six-speed DSG as option, sports suspension, XDS differential, quicker steering and multi-link rear suspension.

Brazilian VW design director Luiz Veiga celebrates the Beetle in art exhibition

Earlier this month ‘Luiz Veiga: Tempos de Fusca' (Beetle Times) opened at the small OMA gallery in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. This exhibition proves not only a celebration of the Volkswagen icon, but also an opportunity to learn a little more about one of its exhibitors – Volkswagen Brazil's design director Luiz Veiga. Car Design News attended the opening at OMA – located not far from the VW plant – to talk with Veiga about art and design.