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Bombardier YouCity design competition launched

Bombardier is sponsoring the YouCity Innovation Competition, seeking design concepts for 'the future of urban mobility'. The online competition, open to design students and professionals, focuses on the evolution of mobility in fast-growing urban areas. With more than two thirds of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, the issue of transportation is one that the organizers feel needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.  Bombardier has selected three cities that represent the different markets for urban mobility around the world: London, UK (mature market), Belo Horizonte, Brazil (BRIC market) and Vientiane, Laos (emerging market).

BMW M5 comes alive with all-wheel drive

The 2012 BMW M5 will come with a handful of firsts for the sedan. It will be the first time the car houses a turbocharged powerplant, the first time a dual-clutch gearbox is used and, most importantly, the first time the M5 gets all-wheel drive. That's the word from BMW brass in Shanghai, where Albert Biermann, head of BMW M's research and development, confirmed the powertrain, Autocar reports.

Ford justifies its Vignale sub-brand (video)

The Ford Mondeo Vignale (pictured). Ford’s first Vignale-badged car Earlier this month, as the Frankfurt Motor Show approached, Ford revealed that it’s going back to a sales tactic they created in the 1970s – badge-engineering their cars with a coachbuilders name to create an upmarket sub-brand. Last time Ford played this game we had almost 30 years for the Ford Ghia, a range of Ford’s mainstream models that had all the toys as standard to try and create an appealing high-end option for buyers.