The design studies known as concept cars, which are staples at auto shows and often inspirations for the cars of tomorrow, are also test beds for new ideas. The newest designers in an automaker's studio often have a hand in these - with ideas that spring from creative young minds to become dream-car matter.
Who, at the moment, are the young designers worth watching, the young people who may become the next Ralph Gilles (creator of the Chrysler 300) or Franz von Holzhausen (who designed the Pontiac Solstice before moving to Mazda)? In conversations with senior designers, auto executives and design school faculty members, a few names came up over and over.
Here is a look at some up-and-comers who played significant roles in creating concept vehicles being displayed at major auto shows this year, including some that will be featured at the New York auto show, which opens to the public on Friday.
BILL ZHENG
CHRYSLER
Even when he lived half a world away, Bill Zheng, 30, seemed destined to become a designer for Chrysler. Zheng said he had been a fan of Jeeps since he was a child in Shanghai. Then, in the 1990s, after his family moved to Michigan, he was impressed by the "dynamite" concept cars and production models coming from Chrysler's studios.
And Chrysler designers were involved in the industrial design program at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio, where, in addition to car design, Zheng got experience in furniture and product design. He was hired by Chrysler upon his graduation in 2000 and is now design manager for small, premium and family vehicles.
The Dodge Zeo, a design study for a sporty electric car, sprang from a studio competition. The end result was an electric car that defies expectations. Zheng contended that electric vehicles will yet become as common as those powered by gasoline or diesel fuel, and that they deserved to have different design personalities. "So to say that electric cars should look like electric cars is a dated thing," he said.
He did, however, want a hint of an electric vehicle identity. So, the conventional grille was abandoned in favor of a version illuminated by blue LEDs.
"The Zeo is basically a muscle car, but it's not powered by a V-8," Zheng said. "It's quiet, but it goes superfast. The image of a green car is kind of timid. I'm very environmentally conscious, but I love sports cars."
JENNIFER HEWLETT
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
As part of an image overhaul for Lincoln, the brand imagined its latest concept car, the MKT, as an example of guilt-free luxury, a seeming contradiction in terms. Jennifer Hewlett, 28, a color and materials designer, was tapped to come up with an appropriate interior.
At the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Hewlett studied industrial design, fine arts and furniture building, gaining experience in working with wood, metal, fiber, ceramics and glass, and particularly in learning about how to relate such materials to one another. "It's one of the crucial points of a vehicle, all these materials coming together and harmonizing," she said.
Her previous work included color and materials for the 2009 MKS, Lincoln's new flagship.
"When the new MKS was coming out, we thought it would be a really good match for her because of her taste level, her sense of style, as well as her skills," said Susan Sage, the color and materials design manager at Ford.
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