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Excessive accessories are on display at the Tokyo Auto Salon

The Japanese tuning industry may finally be emerging from the economic slump if this year's Tokyo Auto Salon is an accurate barometer. The three-day spectacular--Japan's equivalent of SEMA--attracted nearly a quarter-million visitors, all eager to get a glimpse of the latest cars and the newest excessive accessories for 2011. Here's a recap: The Honda CR-Z was, without a doubt, the car of the show, and some versions were tuned to deliver up to 300 hp, thanks to turbocharging or supercharging kits.

Webinars: Designing next-gen automotive interiors with LEDs

CDN's second webinar 'Visualization, Illumination and Sensing: Designing Next Generation Automotive Interiors with LEDs' was presented by Osram Opto Semiconductors on 17 February, 2010. View the recorded webinar in our archive by clicking the above link or find out more in the original article below.   Lighting has been revolutionized by the LED – their small size and low energy consumption gives designers a whole new palette of light and colors not previously possible. They are design elements in themselves, and they allow the ambience of an interior to fuse customization with sensing technology.

Where is Nissan and Infiniti design headed? Just look at the lamps

For a glimpse at future styling trends from Nissan Motor Co., look to the headlamps on the Nissan Leaf electric car and the sculpted rear of the Infiniti M. Front and rear lamps raised from the body surface and pronounced spoilers are two tricks Nissan will use more often to improve the aerodynamics and handling of vehicles--in addition to giving them a futuristic flair, global design chief Shiro Nakamura says. The goal: Win young drivers and bring sales of models such as the Nissan Altima in line with Japanese rivals "The important thing is the front end and the rear end," Nakamura said during an April 12 interview at the company's main design studio south of Tokyo.