Car Design India: Urban Mobility Solutions

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Urban Mobility Solutions

The IAA offered some unexpected showcars this year in the form of micro cars from major OEMs, in the form of urban mobility solutions. While Audi and VW took similar directions, in the form of a pod supported by four outboard wheels, Opel took a more unconventional route partly covering their front wheels in flying fenders while having a narrower rear track. We found the Opel RAKe to be the more appealing and innovative of the three. Not only in terms of styling but also its proportions and packaging.

Audi Urban Concept

Volkswagen Nils

Opel RAKe

Contributors

Taras Czornyj

Taras has worked in Automotive Design for more than 12 years in Europe (Sweden, Germany) and in Asia (Japan, India). He has designed products and concepts for companies like SAAB , Volvo, GM, Daihatsu, Scania and Bajaj. He has been a visiting lecturer at Umea University and DSK ISD Pune. In 2011 he started Car Design India together with Mihir Joshi to cover car design trends aimed at designers and automotive enthusiasts.

Mihir P Joshi

Mihir completed his Bachelors in Product Design from Pune, India and from there on chose to specialise in Automotive Design. He also holds a MA in Automotive Design from Coventry University, UK. Photography is his major hobby and Car Design India allows him to pursue this hobby. Apart from contributing photos from the autoshows he visits he also writes reviews and posts for the blog.

Tejas Purohit

Tejas completed his Bachelors in Automotive Design from Pune. He is a regular contributor to the blog, both in terms of written content and research. He makes it a point to travel to and cover as many design exhibitions and autoshows as he can. He pursues oil painting in his spare time and is also a major foodie.

Ajay Chaudhary

Ajay, too completed his education in Automotive Design from Pune. Ajay and Tejas have been long time friends and classmates since their design school days. Ajay has interned with brands like Mercedes and Faurecia during his design school days. He also has serious interest in product design & contributes to the blog with entries covering this area. His entries offer insights from the major furniture fairs, design conclaves, auto shows etc.

Siddharth Rane

Siddharth, or Sid, finished his Automotive Design education from Ahmedabad, India and has previously worked for major global brands like Hyundai and GM. He is a RC car freak and model car collector, boasting a voluminous collection. He is also a talented photographer who likes to travel to various autoshows, furniture fairs etc., photographs from which he also shares with the blog.