Car Design News looks at some of the design stories that may have gone under the radar over the past week. Read on for the latest from Dacia, Polestar, Rivian and more…
This week’s round-up includes news from recent motorshows, trends around colour and materials, safety tech and new model generations from the likes of Skoda, Nissan and Rivian.
Unique Diablo wins London Concours
As if a Lamborghini Diablo were not already striking enough, it was a special SE30 Supercharged Prototype that took best in show at this year’s Concours (taking home additional honours under the Purple Reign category, too.) Last year’s winner was the Schuppan 962CR P1, and the full list of 2024 category winners can be found at the link below.
Full release here.
…and CDN’s pick of the bunch
As it happens, we were on the ground at the London Concours and it was quite an unexpected model that caught our attention: the bonkers, amphibious TVR Scamander. A prototype released in 2007, it cuts a space-age figure that is not far off some of the creations being imagined by today’s design students.
Sandriders hit the dunes
We first saw the Dacia Sandrider at the start of the year (and later in the metal at Geneva) and it has since progressed to full on rough ground testing. Drivers included none other than rally legend Sebastian Loeb. ”The initial testing phase has exceeded expectations with very few issues experienced,” notes design director David Durand.
Full release here.
Skoda Superb
Now in its fourth generation, the Superb has entered production in Bratislava. The exterior has been refined but not fiddled with too much, while the interior sports an attractive fluted instrument panel. Offered in both saloon and estate variants, the first Superb hit the market back in 2001 and has remained the flagship model in the portfolio.
Full release here.
Piëch Automotive
After a “comprehensive realignment” that sees ex-Mercedes AMG engineer Tobias Moers as both CTO and CEO, the start-up has revealed the GT, an electric sportscar due in 2028 that will be built by engineering firm Multimatic. We first saw Piëch Automotive at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, but not too much since.
Full release here.
Supplier reveals involvement in Italdesign concept
Bcomp’s natural fibre composites have been used widely across the Italdesign Quintessenza concept, both for interior finishes and exterior body parts. It claims to be the world’s first vehicle to feature black-tinted natural fibre as a visual layer. In place of carbon fibre is ampliTex, used for several exterior parts including the front and back bumpers, side rocker covers and wheel arches.
Full release here.
Polestar colour audit
A survey of the most popular colours selected using the Polestar 3 configurator reveals that Magnesium takes a 39% share – not white as might have been expected.
Full release here.
Rivian’s second-gen
The R1S SUV and R1T pickup are now in their second generation. There are only subtle tweaks to the distinctive exterior design, but “completely reengineered” underneath with ”hundreds of hardware improvements, performance upgrades, a fully redesigned software experience, and evolved in-house drive systems.”
Full release here.
ZF’s new safety tech
German megasupplier ZF has revealed its latest innovations under the ZF LIFETEC brand. Highlights include a ‘seamless’ steering wheel and a driver airbag that deploys from the top of the steering wheel, not the centre.
Full release here.
New Qashqai on the road
There are a raft of updates to the latest Qashqai, from the completely redesigned front end – an intricate new grille, sharper headlights, ‘super red’ taillamps plus new wheels and colours.
Full release here.
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