All-Star Cast of Chinese, Asian and Western Speakers Gather Together to Debate the Future of Car Design

LONDON and SHANGHAI - As global automakers such as Porsche put the finishing touches to their show cars in the run-up to the Shanghai Motor Show on April 20th, quarterly automotive interior design magazine Interior Motives and its online sister publication Car Design News are preparing to host their second Chinese design conference in the city the following day.

Scheduled to take place in Shanghai on 21st and 22nd April (immediately following the first motor show press day), the 2009 Interior Motives China conference will see the biggest names in Chinese, Asian and Western car design come together for a two-day programme of interactive debate. Entitled ‘China: Changing the landscape of car design’, this year’s event will focus on the issues and opportunities facing both foreign and domestic carmakers as they search for commercial success in China.

An all-star cast of speakers includes Friedhelm Engler, design director of General Motors Asia; PSA Peugeot Citroen Interior Design Project Manager, Robert Walker; and Design Director of SAIC Motor UK Tony Williams; together with leading influencers like Olivier Boulay, General Manager, Daimler Advanced Design Centre of China and Richard Chung, Vice President, Design, Consumer Research and Communication, Johnson Controls.

Also contributing to the debate will be luminaries like Ed Wong, director of transportation design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and Lowie Vermeersch and Jason Castriota, respectively design directors of major independent studios Pininfarina and Stile Bertone.

Conference chairman and Editor in Chief of Car Design News and Interior Motives commented: “Only by immersing themselves in this ancient yet fast-changing culture can foreign carmakers hope to successfully design and brand their vehicles for Far Eastern tastes. And only by understanding the techniques and technologies pioneered by their Western counterparts over the last century can Chinese automakers reach the levels of design, branding and engineering required to sell cars not only in their own country, but around the world.

“By getting together the finest designers from China and abroad to talk about the opportunities and obstacles facing 21st century car design, we hope to build a bridge of design knowledge and expertise that will help generate new ideas and ways of working in the years ahead.”

The Interior Motives China Conference will be held from 21-22 April 2009 at the Intercontinental Pudong Hotel, Shanghai. Delegates will also be invited to attend the Designers Night on the evening of 20th April.

Notes for Editors:

Details of Interior Motives China conference at www.interiormotivesconference.com/china

Interior Motives magazine www.interiormotivesmagazine.com is the leading print publication covering the design of automotive interiors. It circulates globally to senior professional designers within OEMs, independent design studios, selected Tier 1 suppliers and providers of services like modelling and studio technology.

Car Design News www.cardesignnews.com is the most powerful online resource used by professional and student designers. Its content includes: design reviews and design development features of the latest cars; exclusive interviews with global design chiefs; daily reporting on new concept and production vehicles from a design perspective; breaking news from the automotive design community; extensive photo galleries from each major auto show over the past eight years; and large-format, hi-res images to download.

Interior Motives and Car Design News are published by Ultima Media Ltd, a provider of information and media in print, online and at events to the global business-to-business automotive sector. www.ultimamedia.com

Contacts:

Abel Sampson, Publisher: abel.sampson@ultimamedia.com tel:+44(0)208-987-0963

Euan Sey, Editor in Chief: euan.sey@ultimamedia.com

Source: Interior Motives China Conference

Contacts: Abel Sampson, Publisher: abel.sampson at ultimamedia.com, tel:+44(0)208-987-0963. Euan Sey, Editor in Chief: euan.sey at ultimamedia.com