Chair of the judging panel, Peter Stevens, the designer behind the McLaren F1 road car and Lotus Elan among others, was joined by Simon Loasby, Director of Design for Volkswagen China, as well as Cai Qian, Head of the Shanghai Design Studio, Shanghai Volkswagen, and Ding Yangfeng, Head of Design Team for FAW-Volkswagen; Friedhelm Engler and Cao Min, respectively Design Director and Director of Adv

 
CH-Auto design studio in Shunyi District of Beijing – the stunning venue for Car Design Awards China 2010. Click for larger images
 
Professionally executed Volkswagen ‘mbolic’ concept by Dongzi Pan. Judges said it had good development potential
 
 
Chevrolet ‘Pack’, a futuristic, electric-powered offroader concept, from Hanwu Lin and Xiaolei Zhang of Jiangnan University
 
 
The ‘multifunctional vehicle Combi’ from Jun Jin and Jun Wang of Jilin University, features an inventive self balanced mono wheel concept, and an impressive solar power system
 
Design directors, industry VIPs and student designers take the opportunity to view the exhibition of oustanding projects from the awards finalists
Friedhelm Engler (centre), Design Director GM PATAC, shares his thoughts as a judge of the awards
Simon Loasby, Director of Design for Volkswagen China, takes a closer look at the work of some of the student designers in attendance
Robert Walker, Simon Loasby and Friedhelm Engler, three of a 12-strong judging panel of senior design directors for Car Design Awards China 2010
Photos: Liu Xue Xin & Li Le

Chair of the judging panel, Peter Stevens, the designer behind the McLaren F1 road car and Lotus Elan among others, was joined by Simon Loasby, Director of Design for Volkswagen China, as well as Cai Qian, Head of the Shanghai Design Studio, Shanghai Volkswagen, and Ding Yangfeng, Head of Design Team for FAW-Volkswagen; Friedhelm Engler and Cao Min, respectively Design Director and Director of Advanced Vehicle Design at GM PATAC; Double Du and Robert Walker, respectively Design Chief and Design Manager at PSA Peugeot Citroën China; Chief Styling Designer Shen XiangChao of CH-Auto; Tony Williams, Design Director, SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre; and, Richard Chung, Vice President, Industrial Design, Consumer Research & Product Communication, Asia Pacific, Johnson Controls.

Citroën ‘C7’ concept designed by Hui Zhou, Tening Hang and Cihong Fang of Huazhong University of Science and Technology
The Citroën ‘C7’ concept features an exterior full of vitality and expressiveness, and has an interesting squama-like design element in line with the Citroën brand
Bingyang Hu, who won for Best Exterior, was also a close runner for Best Interior Design with his stylish, sporty and flowing interior

CDN can also reveal that there were other strong contenders who were favorites among the judges, but were beaten out of the winning places at the final stage. These included:

Dongzi Pan, from Wuhan University of Technology, for the professionally executed Volkswagen ‘mbolic’ concept - an original modular three seater micro car plus standalone gyro-balanced vehicle for one, with good development potential.

Hanwu Lin and Xiaolei Zhang from Jiangnan University, for the tough and confident Chevrolet ‘Pack’ - a futuristic, electric-powered offroader concept, that gives the owner the freedom to customise and configure both exterior and interior.

Hui Zhou, Tening Hang and Cihong Fang from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, for the Citroën ‘C7’ concept, a supreme regal sport sedan featuring an exterior full of vitality and expressiveness, and with an interesting squama-like design element in line with the Citroën brand.

Jun Jin and Jun Wang from Jilin University for the delightful, lightweight and refined ‘multifunctional vehicle Combi’ featuring an inventive self balanced mono wheel concept, and an impressive solar power system.

And Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts’ Bingyang Hu, who won for Best Exterior Design, was also a close runner for Best Interior Design with the stylish, sporty and flowing interior of his Citroën ‘Cocoon_Butterfly’ concept.

Visit the gallery to view all the finalists’ and winners’ projects.

To enter the competition, students were asked to work to one of the design briefs set by four automotive manufacturers: PSA Peugeot Citroën, GM PATAC, Volkswagen, and SAIC-MG. The design briefs requested the creation of a next-generation, luxury, Grand Touring sports sedan with electric propulsion; a small vehicle containing sufficient personal space inside a package which has the agility to move easily around China’s crowded megacities; an integrated pair of vehicles for dual use both inside and outside of the city; and, a future product concept using the ‘soul’ of MG.

The prizes include all-expenses paid placements at the Northumbria University School of Design in the UK at the start of the 2010 academic year (commencing in September/October), and automatic finalist positions in the global 2010 Student Design Awards hosted by CDN’s print magazine Interior Motives.



During their placements in the UK, the winning students will also take fully funded trips to Paris to attend the global Student Design Awards ceremony and visit the 2010 Paris motor show.



Finally, there are prizes worth over $2,000 in annual memberships as well as subscriptions to CDN and Interior Motives for the universities where the winners are enrolled.



CH-Auto, a leading design and development consultancy based in Beijing, and the government of Shunyi district, Beijing City were joint premier sponsors of the competition. Further sponsors included: Alcantara, the renowned creator of sensorial material applications for sports car interiors; Eagle Ottawa, the world’s largest supplier of premium automotive leather; Johnson Controls, a leading supplier of automotive interior solutions; and the Northumbria University School of Design with campuses in Newcastle and London in the UK. The awards event was also organized in partnership with Auto China 2010, an affiliate of CCPIT (the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade).



As a mark of respect, entertainment on the awards evening was curtailed in line with the national day of mourning to express condolences to those who have suffered as a consequence of the earthquake that struck Yushu in China’s Qinghai province in April.



Car Design Awards China is an annual competition, and the 2011 event will open for entries towards the end of this year, culminating in an awards presentation in Shanghai on the eve of the auto show in April 2011.



However, the global Interior Motives Design Awards 2010 is already underway and one overall winner will receive a $5,000 prize plus the ultimate accolade - becoming the Interior Motives Student Designer of the Year.

 

Winners announced for Car Design Awards China 2010