This Month in Car Design

Two of the three amigos record a bonus edition of the podcast live from Car Design Dialogues Detroit. In this episode, brought to you by our sponsor Prefix, James and Freddie discuss:
hats and Prefix
the resurgence of Detroit
reflections on 80s UX and design leadership
Jaguar Type 01
what's coming up

September was busy as ever and this month the focus was oncommercial vehicle design. Not usually the sexiest of topics, we were pleasantly surprised by some daring exterior treatments and a focus on health and wellness. Plus, a forgotten Chevrolet concept from the 1960s.
Bentley showed us the fully electric Torcal and we wereimpressed by its interior, Audi brought back the A2 (kind of) and we saw some interesting teases from Polestar and Jensen. Yes, Jensen. Plus, some people news with a big change at Volvo China.
Travel continued for the team including a short trip intocentral London for stage one of the People Awards judging, while Freddie went up north to rip the new Peugeot e-208 GTI around Scotland.
Lucy reflects on her visit to Italy with Alfa Romeo andJames reports back from the CDE Classic event at the Loh Collection.
The team looks ahead to our next live design discussion inDetroit, and to the Paris Motor Show where a huge number of concepts are expected. Beyond that, Freddie has bought an old Saab, Stanley the whippet makes his podcast debut and Lucy pines after a small runabout.

This month the team reflects on key stories from Monterey Car Week, namely McLaren’s dramatic new form language following two new design leaders, plus an unexpected concept from Acura. There has been plenty of people news to keep us busy, no less a new global design boss at Nissan, and the team unpick some of those new appointments – including a surprise arrival at Porsche.Over on the website the main theme has been holistic design, which led us to explore everything from app design to 1960s Broadway costumes; a chat with leading design school the Royal College of Art leaves Lucy feeling a little headspun. Student shows continued this month and we place a spotlight on Pforzheim and the China Academy of Art where students designed a working, driving car. Plus, we hand pick some nuggets of wisdom that arose during our latest ‘tips and tricks’ feature.In other chat, James is back from an Italian road trip in his trusty Volvo V70, the team proposes a new career in Ice Road Trucking for Lucy, and a chocolate pick-up concept makes Freddie hungry.As always, head to the Car Design News website for everything else including our live and virtual events, magazines and annual coffee table book. 00:00 intro 01:26 holistic design and the RCA03:55 Rivian’s app05:05 GM’s Broadway shows07:30 McLaren’s “rebirth”10:39 Job news14:35 Acura’s new direction15:50 student shows19:24 tips for budding designers23:22 events updates25:33 CDN’s new membership model26:48 commercial vehiclesStories mentioned in this episode include: https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/mclaren-completely-revamps-design-language-with-new-mcl-6gt/2719138
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/exclusive-david-woodhouse-joins-mclaren-as-chief-creative-officer/2714672
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/gac-motor-appoints-new-design-director/2714043
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/change-at-nissan-albaisa-to-retire-weaver-succeeds/2712357
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/t-jon-mayer-to-head-up-bentley-exterior-design/2718042
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/chinese-design-school-builds-a-working-carnbsp/2718150
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/pforzheim-transportation-design-ba-summer-2026-show-highlightsnbsp/2718126
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/introducing-the-new-car-design-news-membership/2727127
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/holistic-design-is-about-going-deeper-royal-college-of-arts-chris-thorpe/2726371
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/tips-and-tricks-on-how-to-break-into-the-car-design-industry/2722115
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/pforzheim-ma-summer-2026-degree-show-highlights/2721238
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/acura-introduces-new-design-language-under-new-design-director/2719491
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cmf/august-focus-holistic-design/2716300
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cmf/when-detroit-went-to-broadway-gms-industrial-musical-era/2715216
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/we-are-embracing-the-need-to-be-daring-so-daring-we-will-be-matthew-weaver-on-his-promotion-to-design-director/2715706

This month the team looks back on Goodwood which as always was more than a festival of speed and a celebration of design both old and new.
It was also a chance to see both the Audi Nuvolari and Ferrari Luce in a new context. Between expensive ice creams we caught up with plenty of designers, one of whom sported an impressively on-brand cowboy hat.
Away from the show we drew inspiration from the master of the shooting brake, Niels van Roij, and concocted our own long-tail versions based on the Rover 75, Nissan Figaro and Renault Wind.
But our main focus throughout July was the nebulous topic of ‘surfacing’ and we reflect on conversations with the likes of Lucid, Maserati, Lamborghini and many more.
Lucy recaps her latest student degree show visit – this time to the RCA – which revealed contrasting themes of brutalism and fragility: one student built a model from concrete, another from foil.
Freddie is back from Munich and shares his thoughts on the reveal of the new Xpeng L03 which is destined for European shores, while James reflects on a fascinating discussion with Lucid’s Derek Jenkins.
Other chat includes the prompt “more amphibious”, designers touring museums and a tribute to James’ trusty hat which was eaten by his dog.
As always, head to the Car Design News website for everything else including our live and virtual events, magazines and annual coffee table book.
Stories mentioned in this episode include:
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/university-of-wales-trinity-saint-david-transportation-design-degree-show-review/2709482
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/derek-jenkins-on-the-art-of-automotive-surfacingnbsp/2707455
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/audi-apple-and-arcteryx-designers-reimagine-the-beach-buggy/2707459
https://www.cardesignnews.com/exteriors/aero-as-a-surface-praga-on-the-bohema-hypercarnbsp/2706270
https://www.cardesignnews.com/videos/first-sight-xpeng-l03/2706002
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/beauty-cannot-be-a-byproduct-it-has-to-be-intentional-hennessey-head-designer-on-the-venom-f5-m/2704015
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/i-want-to-keep-sensuality-in-the-design-renaults-alexandre-malval-on-surfacing-and-aerodynamics/2702616
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/first-sight-qampa-jozef-kaban-on-the-mg-cyber/2702418
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/design-round-up-aston-martin-dreadnought-bentley-torcals-new-sound-vw-id-cross-reveal/2701358
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/mercedes-heritage-ceo-classic-cars-are-about-more-than-nostalgia/2699289
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/how-nature-inspired-surfacing-defines-the-lepas-design-language/2700676
https://www.cardesignnews.com/exteriors/crazy-but-never-chaotic-mitja-borkert-on-lamborghinis-surfacing-philosophy/2700013
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/cdns-takeaways-from-goodwood-2026/2698566
https://www.cardesignnews.com/exteriors/klaus-busse-on-surfacing-with-purpose-and-the-gt4-race-car/2698069
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/mg-on-next-gen-ev-design-authenticity-will-become-even-more-valuable/2697917
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/design-roundup-alpine-x-lacoste-rollsroyce-phantom-regatta-fifthgen-bmw-x5/2694181

This month it is the Audi Nuvolari that had chins wagging across the car design world. The CDN team give their take on the unexpected hypercar and the direction of Audi’s form language under now not-so-new design chief Massimo Frascella.  
We also reflect on ‘Project Cornerstone’, a new concept (and initiative) from JLR to create recycled components and reuse materials, and share some takeaways from our various interviews on the theme of Advanced Design.  
Our resident student correspondent Lucy reports on recent travels to design school degree shows, and shares alpine tales from the Skoda Peaq launch. Freddie recounts a visit to Rome with smart, and the enviable task of creating a Gulf livery Escort RS. Meanwhile, James has mixed feelings about the new electric Mazda but enjoyed an exclusive interview with GM’s latest retiree Andrew Smith.  
Stories mentioned in this pod include:  
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/the-audi-nuvolari-shows-what-frascella-has-in-store-for-audi/2676110 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/june-focus-advanced-design/2676033 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/smmt-test-day-2026-manuals-muscle-cars-and-a-gti-masterclass/2675687 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/umea-uid-2026-degree-show-highlights/2672969 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/first-sight-skoda-peaq/2692706 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cmf/we-designed-a-gulfinspired-boreham-motorworks-escort-rs/2692733 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/reimagining-an-icon-wayne-burgess-on-the-new-ford-escort-mk1-rs/2678390 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/design-something-people-genuinely-want-pratap-bose-mahindra-cdo/2685997 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cmf/jlr-we-have-a-duty-to-rethink-how-we-make-our-products/2688585 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/interiors/product-and-fashion-combine-for-new-smart-2-interior/2686864 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/interview-renaults-new-advanced-design-chief/2685758 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/hyundai-advanced-design-india-why-localised-advanced-design-studios-are-key/2684085 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/university-of-staffordshire-automotive-and-transport-design-ba-show-highlights/2682003 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/ux/industry-is-at-a-turning-point-says-hmi-expert/2681389 
https://www.cardesignnews.com/designers/coventry-university-automotive-and-transport-design-show-2026-highlights/2680864