Table of contents for 270 in AUTO & DESIGN

They definitely saw it coming. The Jaguar revolution - with new logo hinting at a product design brand and a concept car stunning in its extreme proportions and audacious styling - marks a break with the past and has set tongues wagging. The stated mission is to catapult the British brand into the upper echelons of the luxury market, ushering in an all-electric future with production models set to debut later this year. We meet Gerry McGovern, Jaguar Land Rover's Chief Creative Officer, at Gaydon for a confidential preview of the Type 00 (the name is the only reference to history, but with two zeros to indicate exhaust emissions and a fresh start), along with the new brand image. We are just a few weeks away from the debut in…

Citroën boasts over a century of visionary history in the name of innovation and originality in every area, from technology to communication and, in particular, design. Only such a brand could come up with a concept car like the Oli, a courageously unconventional experiment that is influencing the aesthetic and formal language of the new Citroën car range, starting with the C3. We talk about it with design director Pierre Leclerq. “The Oli is our manifesto. It embodies our vision for the future and lays down key principles for our designers. The most significant update lies in the front-end architecture that features a new logo inspired by the one on the 19_19 concept car, the Citroën 100-year anniversary model. They asked us to bring it back into production, but for…

While the successful R5 takes us right back to the legacy of charm and charisma of the 1972 three-door of the same name, the project aimed at re-evoking its sister R4 evokes a more nuanced vision. “The idea was to reverse the historical positioning of the two models”, explains Paula FabregatAndreu, head of B-segment car design for Ampère's electric vehicle division: “The R4 becomes the more chic option”. The ground clearance and vaguely off-road character that once represented “rustic” traits, therefore, now allow the car to compete as a small crossover, “often considered more contemporary and desirable than a saloon”. The sense of volume typical of the original thus combines with a new urban, “velvety” character. Starting with the colours: “Dusty shades have been favoured, such as the Hauts-de-France green…

In South Korea it's known as Chabak, in the United States and Europe it has a growing fan base and, given the latest innovations from the car manufacturers, is beginning to shape the preferences of consumers in their choice of car. The ‘outdoor’ trend whereby models are transformed with kits and accessories into small travelling homes is now widespread all over the world. The movement was already gaining momentum, but the real boost came with the pandemic that helped fuel the desire to spend time outdoors using one's own car as part of the experience. The “EV9 “Advntr” and PV5 “Wkndr” tell a story that has been developing for some time but has exploded since Covid: people increasingly want to connect with Nature through their vehicles”, says Andre Franco Luis,…

This is not the first time Ford has revisited and updated one of its sports cars from the past. Dragging a model into the modern age often means turning it into an SUV, perhaps an electric one. This is now happening with the Capri, a historic coupe that comes to market in the form of a crossover with sleek lines and a zero-emission powertrain. Murat Gueler, Blue Oval Design Manager Passenger Vehicles, tells us how the Capri made its comeback. “It all started four years ago. At that time only one thing was certain: the name. We had to recreate a Capri for today, and that was the guiding principle behind all our decisions. It was as stimulating as it was challenging: we felt the weight of responsibility upon us.…

More than a tale of two, it is a threeway relationship. Car Design and Yacht Design: it may sound awkward but if you want to connect the two worlds, whilst analysing the current scenario, you need to include a third guest, Interior Design. The mixture is quite obvious, even if it is counter intuitive at first. The easiest, most direct passage, looking for touch points between automotive and nautical design, is where boats, essentially small to medium size, pick up stylistic features and forms typical of car design, sometimes from a single brand. The most clamorous example, also acknowledged by the market, is the Tecnomar 63 for Lamborghini. Here the dominant theme is speed: super car equals super boat. The success of this 20-metre vessel, with a 4,000-horsepower engine room…

Four years seem a short time to design an immortal car, but when the pencils are those of Flavio Manzoni and his team then anything becomes possible. The Ferrari F80 expresses the concept of versatility at its best: it is, at the same time, a car, a super technological product and a cult object for enthusiasts all over the world who look to Ferrari as a reference. “I believe it is one of the Ferraris that best expresses the concept of form embracing function: there is no style here, but everything functional seeks beauty”, explains Flavio Manzoni. “This time we went further: we overstepped our codes and created something unique that went beyond the typical aesthetic canons of cars and referred to futurism, speed, elegance. To enable this transition, we…

“Sho-Sho-Kei-Tan-Bi”. To define the design approach used for its first global BEV model, a brand as deeply rooted in Japanese culture as Suzuki could only express the concept in its mother tongue. Presenting the world première of the e Vitara in Milan, President Toshihiro Suzuki explained to the international audience that “Sho-Sho-Kei-Tan-Bi means to make everything more compact, using fewer resources, light, fast, with more beauty. The e Vitara is a strategic model, a very important milestone for us as one of the efforts to become carbon neutral”. Conceived as a compact SUV (4.27 metres long) ideal for everyday use as well as weekends away, the e Vitara is based on the HEARTECT-e platform developed exclusively for electric cars. It will be built in India at Suzuki's Gujarat plant starting…

It takes courage to rework the lines of timeless models. And the designers at the Mini style centre know this only too well: “Our cars follow technological evolution, they change, they update in content and form, but they always remain strongly recognisable”, explains Thomas Sycha, head of exterior design at the British brand. For the past two years, the brand has been carrying out a styling revolution accompanied by a rationalisation of the range: for those who don't need too much space there is always the Cooper, those with families will prefer the Countryman (grown to 4.4 metres in length), while for everyone else the choice could fall onto the Aceman, the new electric crossover. “Compact, agile and modern, the Aceman has an edgy look that makes it charismatic. It's…

Shrouded in the mists of Sindelfingen, not far from Stuttgart, within the Star's largest industrial complex, lies a kaleidoscopic weapon to captivate the market for excellence. As standards rise and wealthy customers wish to immerse themselves in so-called “ultra-luxury” (the domain of cutting-edge content offered at deliberately exclusive prices), the future of customisation unfolds here, with the revamped Manufaktur programme. Initially launched in 2019 and heir to Designo, which already innovated its relationship with the finest customers in the 1990s, today the individual approach is moving into further variations: “We have decided on an important step”, clarifies Michael Schiebe, head of the Marque's board of directors. “For the first time, we are inaugurating an area specifically dedicated to this domain: the Manufaktur Studio”. The creative articulations hence become manifold. Less…

Experience may give security, but the ability to evolve and the drive for innovation open the door to the future. This awareness at IAAD. – Istituto d'Arte Applicata e Design guides not only the educational proposal, but also the global approach to design. With many former students now key players of the design world and over 45 years of experience in the high-level training sector (in 1978 – even a year before the foundation of Auto&Design – the first course in Transportation Design in Italy opened right here, in Turin), the school is currently part of the international network headed by AD Education. We met some of the members of the team leading the Transportation Design department, which consists of one Level I Academic Diploma and two Master's degrees, with…