Table of contents for No. 254 in AUTO & DESIGN

A combination of sensual curves and taut lines in an ensemble sprinkled with many technical details. This is “sensual tech”, the new formal language of Renault Design that is embodied by the brand new Austral SUV, which will appear in the French manufacturer’s range in the second half of this year. To find out more about what it’s about and how it has been interpreted in the genesis of the Austral, we went to Paris, last March, to preview the car and meet Agneta Dahlgren, Renault’s Project Director for the C/D segment platform. For Austral, the platform in question is the third-generation CMF-CD, jointly developed as part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. «We started working on Austral quite early, about five years ago. When you start a project on a very…

The family grows. One year after the Shanghai motor show where it presented the A6 e-tron concept, Audi joins it with another concept: the A6 Avant e-tron. The two showcars have a common destiny: that of letting the public taste, in the sedan and wagon versions, the electric future in what is perhaps the most significant segment of Ingolstadt. “We had to show what plans we have for series production,” says Philipp Römers, the designer responsible for the exterior of the brand run by Marc Lichte, Head of Audi Design. Indeed, as Römers adds, these are concepts that are so faithful to production cars that in both cases “they might seem like a pre-pro-duction.” In fact, the appearance on the market of the two A6s etron, in 2024, is not…

A designer with a secret dream, Adrian-Filip Butuca, and two excellences in the world of style and engineering, Italdesign and Williams Engineering, who helped make it come true. The story of the Deus Vayanne electric hypercar began with some sketches envisioning the ideal zero-emission sports car and became a concept car presented at the New York Motor Show in April. «I’ve had this big dream for a long time: to create a hypercar that could fully express the emotion of driving. That’s why I decided to found the Deus brand, specifically designed for zero-emission sports cars, and after two years of work with Italdesign and Williams Engineering we were able to showcase the prototype», says Adrian-Filip Butuca, Deus’ young founder and head of design. The brand is based in Vienna…

The decisive, full-bodied front end, with its vaguely squared-off light clusters, immediately speaks of an uncompromising road presence. Mazda prefers noble toughness and soon reveals a more marked ambition than usual: «The new architecture with its longitudinal engine and rear-wheel drive, as well as all-wheel drive, has made it possible to achieve perfect, classic proportions, with a long bonnet and short overhangs», rejoices Jo Stenuit, head of design for Europe, as images of the 2017 Vision Coupé concept, a still highly relevant manifesto of an approach that is finally being realised, flash across a screen. «Once again, we would like to highlight the link with Japan and its tradition of craftsmanship: this was a fundamental reference point for the definition of certain portions, starting with the sides» which, even to…

Respecting the traditional values of a historic brand while seeking out new styling solutions to appeal to the younger, more dynamic customer. The people at MG, the legendary English brand that has undergone a renaissance under the Chinese group Saic, had this idea in mind when imagining the One, aware that they could go out on a limb a little, having consolidated its reputation in Europe with the launch of models like the Marvel R, MG5, ZS EV and EHS. The time had therefore come for the MG design team to plunge into the world of sporty crossovers as preferred by young European customers. The declared objective was to inspire a sense of sportiness and quality in the observer, without ignoring that touch of fashion to be found in many…

When you come across seats inspired by the links of a watch strap, daytime running lights designed to a pearl-stitch pattern and, above all, a series of mock-ups of a mid-1950s masterpiece famous for its futuristic shapes and hydrop-neumatic suspension, you have to be looking round a room at the DS styling headquarters. Located at Vélizy, not far from Paris, it is steeped in the spirit of the French capital right down to the last drawing lying on a desk and, as everyone likes to point out, it stands apart from the Citroën and Peugeot studios across the road: "Since 2016, when our brand became independent, we have shaped our own identity including physically by occupying a space of our own where interactions are easy and seamless. We also design…

A New Top Model for An Industry Leader Following global megatrends, such as sustainability, digitalization and urbanization, the transportation industry is transforming. Inspired by those trends, SHACMAN, one of China’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, decided to launch a new top model for its heavy-duty truck portfolio, the Delong X6000. In doing so, SHACMAN hired Magna for the cabin engineering, chassis concept and prototype truck evaluation as well as the exterior and interior styling. “It was an exciting opportunity to accompany a new vehicle project from a very early phase on”, says Andreas Wolfsgruber, head of Ma gna’s styling department in Graz. Defining a New Styling DNA SHACMAN was in the process of defining a new styling DNA – and that was the chance to develop a completely new brand identity.…

«To demonstrate the versatility of our aluminium platform, to celebrate the pleasure of driving and to explore a segment, electric coupés and roadsters, which is still sparsely populated, to observe people’s reaction to this novelty». These are the three key raisons d'être for the O2, the latest concept car presented by Polestar, we are told by Maximilian Missoni, head of design at the Volvo originated brand which became an independent brand with its first Polestar 1 model in 2017. The O2 is an emotional electric sports car and it harks to the styling cues set out by the 2020 Precept, while displaying its own distinct character. The low, wide body work has a bold look, while the 2+2 cabin is set in a rather long wheelbase with minimal overhangs, given…

It is perhaps the first time that the design head of a large group does not use fancy flights between formal languages and surface treatments to explain the soul of the new born. “If you have a treasure and that treasure is your history, you keep it without flashy solutions or without a relationship with the past,” explains Klaus Zyciora. What the head of design of the Volkswagen Group says makes sense because there is no joking with historical icons: in this case the Bulli van which is reborn in a full-electric version as the ID. Buzz. “We couldn't get away from tradition,” adds Zyciora: “I see myself as the curator of that treasure, which I was waiting to bring to new life after 21 years in Wolfsburg.” The Bulli…

“After an entire career designing cars, it was time for a change”. Ian Callum spent the last two decades designing Jaguars before setting up an independent design studio in 2019 that bears his name and now employs around 40 designers. Here in typical off-beat fashion he tells us about the Rena Max, an electric scooter designed for logistics and last-mile deliveries in the Middle East and North Africa. The two-wheeler was commissioned by Barq, a startup that markets new mobility solutions. “The project was exciting from the word go”, says Callum, “because we were able to start from a clean sheet. In fact we turned first to the people who use these vehicles for their everyday work to give us a better idea of their needs. What did they ask…

Twenty-eight creative minds and a decidedly inspirational brief: to interpret Alpine design codes and imagine the "super berlinette" of 2035. Hence the A4810, the hydrogen-powered super sports car whose name pays tribute to the Alps by citing the altitude of its highest peak, Mont Blanc. A high-performer, from both a technical and environmental perspective, so convincing that it was included among the ten finalists in the Concept Cars category of the 2022 Car Design Award, the Oscar of automotive design whose winners will be announced in June at Milan's Design Week. The authors of the project were the students of the Master in Transportation Design course at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Turin. After the brief was launched last autumn, they engaged in a creative process that follows the…