Design/Styling

“Lincoln Motor Company” opened for business New York City’s Lincoln Center served as the backdrop for Ford's “reboot” of its luxury brand as the Lincoln Motor Company. The revival begins with the MKZ midsize sedan, but further differentiation could come from more exclusive high-performance versions of existing powerplants, plus perhaps European engines. And Ford’s rear-drive architecture, used by the Mustang, and it is being evaluated for luxury performance car use. Read full story

Mercedes designer answers call for daring A-Class When Mark Fetherston, as Team Leader External Design Compact Cars, was given the chance to take on a key role in the creation of the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class range, he was delighted. But the task had an added frisson: the Management Board did not want evolution, it wanted revolution. Read full story

Forstars: the Future for Smart? The concept from the 2012 Paris Motor Show could be a hint at the future design direction for the Daimler subsidiary’s compact Fortwo two seater. Read full story

BMW shows concept for first front-wheel-drive model The company used the 2012 Paris Motor Show to display the Active Concept Tourer that looks set to compete with FWD rivals such as the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz B-Class. Read full story

Onyx concept showcases innovative materials Job losses and plant closures mean tough times for PSA Peugeot Citroën at the moment. So what better place than the French national motor show to demonstrate that design flair and engineering are alive and well in the company? Read full story

Lexus LF-CC concept The Toyota luxury brand used the 2012 Paris Motor Show to debut a new D-segment-sized coupe featuring a hybrid-electric drivetrain with a 2.5-L I4 gas engine mated to a high-output, water-cooled permanent magnet electric motor of unspecified output. Read full story

Nissan Terra fuel-cell urban SUV At the 2012 Paris Motor Show, Nissan explores urban crossover SUV styling with a "realistic" fuel-cell electric drivetrain. Read full story

Audi Crosslane coupe The upscale Volkswagen brand pledges authenticity of materials in its carbon/aluminum hybrid-electric concept SUV shown at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. Read full story

Local Motors uses crowdsourcing to involve many developers The power of Web communications and the capabilities of modern design tools from the likes of Siemens PLM are being leveraged by Local Motors in crowdsourcing the design of vehicles and their components. The company is also using what it calls micro-factories to produce the designs and providing its services to other companies. Read full story