Dodge and Volkswagen Design Studios Win Top Honors in Design Challenge

Dodge and Volkswagen Design Studios Win Top Honors in Design Challenge at Los Angeles Auto Show

The judges of the Los Angeles Auto
Show's Design Challenge have named the Dodge Superbee and Volkswagen Mobile
Lounge as joint-winners of the first-ever automobile design studio
competition.

As part of the auto show's Design Los Angeles theme and automobile
designers' conference, studios were invited to create their vision of the
"Ultimate LA Machine," and each rose to the challenge, presenting a dazzling
variety of 2-D renderings. The Los Angeles area has the highest concentration
of automobile manufacturer design studios in the world, according to Truman
Pollard, chief designer at Mazda Research & Development.

The Dodge Superbee, from DaimlerChrysler's Pacifica Design Center, is
intended to reflect the California lifestyle, allowing owners to commute
efficiently during the week and providing the ultimate tool to explore the
Pacific Coast Highway on weekends. According to Brian Nielander of the
Pacifica Design Center, "It's open and lightweight -- almost a motorcycle on
four wheels."

Designer Reto Brun of Volkswagen/Audi Design Center California said his
studio considered two Los Angeles issues when designing the Volkswagen Mobile
Lounge -- an antidote to traffic and a better option for the area's
"limo-centric" entertainment culture. Whisper-quiet fuel cell technology
whisks occupants towards their destination while electronically controlled
tinted glass, an open living space and innumerable in-car amenities provide a
supremely comfortable environment.



The highly imaginative and entertaining entries were:

California Spyder BMW Group DesignworksUSA
Dodge Superbee* DaimlerChrysler's Pacifica Design Center
Ford Scout 7 California Advanced Product Creation
Honda C2C Honda Research & Development
Hummer Hr General Motors' 5350 Industrial Concepts
Hyundai NTT Hyundai Kia America Design Center
Kia Kitsch Hyundai Kia America Design Center
Lexus L500 Calty Design Research
Mazda Shinzui Mazda Research & Design
Flugel Tue Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design of North America
Mini Canyon Carver BMW Group DesignworksUSA
Mitsubishi Goku shin ka Mitsubishi Research & Design of North America
Volkswagen Mobile Lounge* Volkswagen/Audi Design Center California

* Joint-winners

Judging the competition were Imre Molnar of the College for Creative
Studies, Detroit; Nate Young of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena; and
Tom Matano of Art Academy University, San Francisco. Their decision was based
on the criteria of spirit, road presence, "brag factor," originality, "sex
appeal," function and features, and LA character.

"The contest gave designers the opportunity to venture into uncharted
territory and think freely and creatively without real-world constraints,"
explained Chuck Pelly, conference director and partner in The Design Academy,
Inc.

"The Design Challenge was a great outlet for the studios to really show
their stuff and let their creativity fly."

The entries can be viewed at http://www.LAautoshow.com

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