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People's Car Project concepts showcased

Volkswagen is currently showcasing three of its vehicle and technology concepts created under the ‘People's Car Project' at this year's Beijing auto show. The Hover Car, the Music Car and the Smart Key concepts – created by users of the website, which has seen 33 million visitors – are just three of more than 119,00 ideas submitted, leading the project to be indefinitely extended as Volkswagen uses the findings to influence its future design strategy. The ‘Hover Car' is an environmentally friendly two-seater city car that, unsurprisingly, hovers above the ground.

Ford announces new Silicon Valley research laboratory

Ford has announced plans to open a new R&D center in California's Silicon Valley with a view to creating a hub for collaborative technology projects. With neighbors including Google, Microsoft, facebook, Apple and Stanford University, it's certainly setting up shop in the right part of town. Its location also connects Ford's Advanced Design Studio in Irvine, CA and Ford employees working with connectivity platform partner Microsoft Corp.

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.