Consider this - there is a news flash that GM is to be liquidated. This may not happen because the impact of this bankruptcy will be disastrous for a large population that is linked to this company and its subsidiaries. However GM apart there is general perception today that car companies seem to have got it wrong - they just seem to be making the wrong kind of cars. There is also a general perception gaining ground, fueled by the fossil fuel and the global warming debates, that cars are to blame for many of the problems facing the planet today. That we need cars to go about our lives is not in doubt, especially if you live away from cities, or use the car for business as in the case of a community nurse. So while we continue to value public transport, as a solution for commuters in urban centers, we still need to engage with the global project of thinking about - what should the car of the future be.

In 2009 the GFC and the perilous state of auto manufacturing has a created a unique situation - a race, a challenge, to create a vision for the future of the automobile. Now, is this something that excites you? Do you have an idea or a burning desire to work upon a project to design the car of the future? If yes, then this studio is for you.

© Soumitri Varadarajan, 2009

The Car of the

Future

Industrial Design Challenge