Michelin Challenge Design is a collection of events and activities that reflect Michelin North America's commitment to innovative design. The objective is to gain knowledge of future automotive trends and their impact on tires.
For the 2015 Michelin Challenge Design, participants were asked to design vehicles that elicit pure driving pleasure, focusing on the importance of vehicle design in the high-tech, highly constrained future.
The 'Drive Your Passion' framework challenged designers to choose an iconic road - such as the Khardung Pass in India, Highway 1 or Rubicon Trail in California, Ruta 40 in Argentina, the Stelvio Pass in Italy, or Karakoram Highway in China and Pakistan - and create a vehicle best suited for an adventure along that path.
This year's global winners continued to surprise with their innovative designs. The top-three winners came from South Korea, France and Guatemala, respectively, and were hosted at the North American International Auto Show in January.
The global competition gives designers an exciting opportunity to explore the future of vehicle transportation, have their work reviewed by some of the world's leading designers, and an international stage to display it while interacting with peers from around the globe.
Michelin Challenge Design is in its 14th year and the field of entrants and professional jury members supporting the program still grows. This year's jury included design leaders from Ford, GM, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, BMW and Art Center College of Design. Over the past 14 years, Michelin has received nearly 7,400 entries from designers in 118 countries.
Michelin also completed a sponsored project with two Chinese Universities in 2014: Wuhan University of Technology and Tongji University. Michelin continues to support the College for Creative Studies in Detroit which is now in its 26th year as part of an annual sponsored project.
"Design is important to Michelin because it has been part of our culture since the beginning, said Thom Roach, Vice President of TCO Marketing for North and South America. "Our company was founded by Edouard and André Michelin, an artist and an engineer. They developed the company. They saw the need to bring design and innovation together and since its inception the company has always been about that and that's why we sponsor Michelin Challenge Design, because it's in our heritage and we hope to continue throughout the company's future."
