Next Mustang to feature global design input, Ford says

Ford Motor Co.'s design studios worldwide will provide styling ideas for an American icon: the next generation Mustang. "It is a common process we [now] use on every vehicle," Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president for global product development, said Tuesday at the Geneva auto show. Ford's next-generation pony car will be the first Mustang with styling themes proposed by studios in Europe, Australia and other regions.

Contest: Volkswagen Slipstream wins 2007 LA Design Challenge

Volkswagen's Slipstream concept has won the fourth annual Design Challenge competition, part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designer's conference. The award was presented during the second press day of the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show.  The theme of this year's competition, RoboCar of 2057, asked eight automotive design studios in California to form their vision of the future by depicting a vehicle that incorporates artificial intelligence engineered to make life easier and more attractive to consumers 50 years from now. Designers entered two-dimensional renderings and concept descriptions predicting how the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence will integrate into the automobile to make life safer, more practical and attractive, and the entries were judged by multi-discipline design professionals who selected the winner based on its originality of creative concept, integration of robotics and level of adaptation to a variety of environmental conditions and consumer needs.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi: more news and pictures

The Formula 1 circus has descended upon Abu Dhabi for the finale of the 2009 championship this week, and when the GP crowd returns in 2010 alongside the track will be Ferrari World, a Ferrari-influenced theme park. It's been delayed slightly, but CAR Online has the latest update on the potentially record-breaking theme park being built next to the F1 circuit on Yas Island. According to the designers, not only will Ferrari World be the largest indoor theme park on Earth, but it will also house the fastest roller coaster.