India's National Institute of Design

The National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad is hidden in the greenery behind an iron gate in the crowded streets of the biggest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. There are no car manufacturers here, nor is there any particular tradition of design in general. But for almost half a century this has been the main school to enrol in if you want to become a car designer in India.

Fiat 500X compact crossover debuts: Paris 2014

Fiat 500X compact crossover debuts The Fiat 500X is the latest member of the Fiat 500 family to arrive, and following a recent tease it’s debuted at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. Fiat has decided to go the same route with the 500X as they did with the 500 L by creating two models – a 500X for the city and a 500X for the country. The 500X gets the same family design as the rest of the 500 range and sits on the same platform as the new Fiat Punto and comes in at 4.25 metres long (the butch version is just a couple of centimetres wider) and 1.80m wide.

Hyundai ix35 hydrogen FCEV gets a thumbs up for Fleet buyers

The Hyundai ix35 FCEV on London’s roads Hyundai has been delivering the first ix35 FCEV hydrogen-powered compact SUVs in recent months, and one of the first recipients in the UK was fleet management specialist Arval UK. The reason for Arval getting to play with the ix35 FCEV early doors was to get feedback on the practicality of running a hydrogen-powered car on a company fleet as, with its zero emissions, the ix35 FCEV could find a big market with fleet buyers. What Arval found was that the ix35 FCEV – with 0-62mph in 12.5 seconds and a 369 mile range – was, to all intents and purposes, just like using a conventional ICE powertrain and could be refuelled in just three minutes.