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CDOTY awards presented at Auto Design Night Geneva

Car Design News, in partnership with Interior Motives magazine, hosted the fourth annual Auto Design Night event at La Sip nightclub in Geneva last night. With more than 300 attendees reading like a who's who in automotive design, designers were able to reconnect with old friends and make new acquaintances in a comfortable and inviting environment.  One of the highlights of the evening's festivities included the presentation of the fourth annual Car Design News Car Design of the Year Awards (CDOTY), recognizing the most publicly acclaimed concept and production car designs of 2008. Car Design News Editor Eric Gallina presented the award to BMW Group Design in the Concept Car category and General Motors Design for the Production Design category.

European car sales down 5.2%

EUROPEAN UNION car sales are still sagging despite the return of modest economic growth. For the first eight months of the year, passenger car sales were down 5.2% to 7.84 million compared with the same period last year, the European Auto Manufacturers' Association said - the lowest January-August figure since the group started keeping records in 1990. New car registrations in August fell five per cent from a year ago to 653,872.

Toyota talks powertrain plans

After trailing many of its competitors in the recent engine- and transmission-technology wars, Toyota Motor Corp. will launch a swath of powertrains in the next several years, a top powertrain r&d executive said. Koei Saga, senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain r&d, said that Toyota is investing heavily in turbocharged engines, larger displacement Atkinson cycle engines, continuously variable and fixed-gear automatic transmissions, and new hybrid and fuel cell technologies.