By Lance Winslow

Often Automotive Think Tanks will stay within their boundaries - The Auto Industry when doing there thinking. The Online Think Tank takes auto issues very seriously and yet we do not only talk about automobiles, however we are hard core when it comes to that industry and we read all their Online Newsletters, Industry Trade Journals and stay up on all the DOT issues and government regulations as well.

So, today we talked about the Auto Industry in our Online Think Tank for a good 10 hours. What were the topics? Well, we talked about many things, but below is a sample of some of the issues we discussed and are definitely of interest for those who follow the industry, because what is good for our cars, is important to our quality of life and mobility - Freedom:

1. The Bashed the US Auto Makers on Ecology and Now EU Auto Makers Speak Up.

The US Auto Industry lobbied hard against the newest fuel standards, while Toyota and Honda are already there, the US auto industry fought hard to limit the excessive fuel standards. Meanwhile the EU is trying to help their own manufacturers while getting regulations put in place against the US manufacturers, which is hard to do without hurting their own.

"The EU wants to limit CO2 to 120 grams per kilometer by 2015."

The head of several companies said that the deadline was not possible, which is interesting as the EU is using the Global Warming issues to promote its businesses over other industrialized nations, like the US and China. Of course the Germans make many models of large cars, still the Italians and French who make smaller cars still seem to believe they cannot do it, that is to say limit the CO2 that much, but Volkswagon thinks it can, yet still joined the others in lobbying against the tightened emissions.

2. "The 100 MPG Car and the Volkswagon - Can Do Attitude!" Industry Week Reports:

Germany's big automaker Volkswagen said it is planning to make a curiously designed car that will use just one liter (a quarter of a gallon) of fuel per 100 kilometer (62 miles)."We want to put 'one-liter car' on the market by 2010," the group's supervisory board chairman, Ferdinand Piech, told the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung at Frankfurt's' International Auto Show.

The vehicle is not the most pretty in the world, and its engine only has one-cylinder and is a diesel, but 100 mpg, is attainable they say. Volkswagon says it wants to sell the car for under $5,000 and I bet people in the US right about now would love to have one too. Meanwhile the Chinese are getting ready to flood the US market with new Chinese made automobiles, the first dealership opens in 2008 in New Jersey. The Chinese will have fuel efficient cars, will they sell, probably so.

3. Meanwhile the Chinese Counterfeit Tires then Try to Promote Luxury Bentley Level Car?

Here is an excerpt of an article in a popular Online AutoSpies newsletter:

It appears Chinese companies are just as happy to clone tire designs as they are cars, with Continental the latest manufacturer to suffer lost sales due to fake Chinese imports. However, unlike BMW and Mercedes-Smart, which have yet to take serious action against China's Shuanghuan Auto and its clone-cars, Continental has shown that it's possible to defeat counterfeiters by winning a case against several tire resellers in Germany selling the counterfeit stock. Though only affecting a couple of commercial truck brands, the counterfeiting is still of major concern because customers were buying inferior products that weren't as safe as the originals.

4. President Bush has asked a committee panel to study the US fuel efficiency laws to make sure that the regulations for future fuel economy is actually an attainable number.

This from the White House Website:

The Bush administration will launch a new study next week to estimate what kind of technology automakers will need to raise fuel efficiency over the next 15 years, updating and expanding a 2002 report that's been a benchmark in this summer's energy debate. The National Academy of Sciences panel, which includes environmentalists, independent experts and automotive engineers, will spend the next year working on the report. The panel will hear testimony from federal officials and auto industry executives during its first public meeting in Washington on Monday. With Congress moving toward passing some kind of increase in fuel-economy standards and President George W. Bush ordering his administration to set its own increases by the end of next year, the updated report will act as a road map for many future decisions by federal regulators. The 2002 edition concluded ... that the industry could raise the efficiency of its cars by up to 27 percent and its trucks by 42 percent over a decade -- to roughly 30 miles per gallon -- with no changes in weight, size or performance. U.S. cars and trucks are expected to average 26.4 m.p.g. in the 2007 model year, the highest level ever, according to federal estimates. But automakers have long objected to the 2002 report, saying it overstated the benefits of new technologies and understated the costs and engineering work needed to put them into vehicles.

5. Chrysler Ramps up Fuel Efficient Competition Car and Industry Week states;

That they have an advanced propulsion electric drive vehicle ready to launch, an advancement from their new ENVI Concept Cars from their CTC - Chrysler Technology Center. Mercedes is angry that the Smart Car is being copied by China, BMW and the Toyota Rav 4 copies are also a concern. Germany's Chancellor, is making a complaint to the WTO on China, there are significant problems with these infringements. But spying is not only in the passenger car sector. Auto Racing Spies Get Dusted by Competition - We found this interesting piece in the UK Register:

Formula One team McLaren must pay a $100m fine and has been kicked out of the constructors' championship for spying on rival team Ferrari. The decision by the governing body of the Federation Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) means McLaren is out of the constructors' championship this year but drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso can continue to compete in the drivers' competition. McLaren did not accept the verdict. In a statement Ron Dennis said: "Having been at the hearing today I do not accept that we deserved to be penalised in this way."

6. The DOT has stated that Bike Lanes take monies away that could be used to make bridge infrastructure stronger.

Bicycles VS Cars, well we know who will win on the street in an accident, and most likely in the courtroom of public opinion, as we do not wish anymore bridges to be collapsed and yet, we need more bike lanes. Bicycle and car accidents kill way too many people each year and Americans are way too fat, they need to exercise too. The Department of Transportation - DOT stated this because they do not consider bicycles a real form of transportation, as very few people use them in that way, most of the bike riding is for recreation and staying in shape. True, but if you never put in bike lanes then no one will ever use them, so it is a self-fulfilling prophesy either way. Well those were all the automotive thoughts from today. Sincerely, Lance.

By Mike Bartley

The auto industry has always been known to be a dynamic industry. Year in and year out, car makers look for ways to improve their production vehicles. They focus not only on the performance of their car but also in the looks of these automobiles.

That is why car designers have always played a key role in the auto industry. In connection with this, car makers are always on the lookout for promising students. Lately, the industry has found a new spot where talented car design students thrive: South Korea.

While the country has only a short time of car making history compared to Japanese and Western countries, students from the country are touted to be one of the best in the world. Koreans have been employed by car manufacturers like Nissan and Mercedes-Benz. Some attributes that these South Korean designers have that impressed chief designers from the aforementioned car makers are their technical skills, work ethic, and creativity.

Shiro Nakamura, the chief Creative Officer and Head of Design for Nissan, said that: "When I first saw the sketches that Korean students were drawing, I was utterly shocked. Their design is very emotional and powerful. I hate to say it, but they are miles ahead of Japanese students, both in terms of design sense and technique. There's no comparison". He further said that Nissan will probably hire more Korean designers this year than Japanese ones.

The most known school where South Korean designers come from is the Hongik University which is located in the country's capital. The university is the country's top fine arts school. The Seoul-based school only offered the transportation design course in 1990, last year the number of students accommodated is doubled to 120.

Aside from homegrown talents, South Korea also produced some of the best young designers in the world. On of them is Jae Chung. He did not study in South Korea but out in the West. He graduated from the Art Center in California. Today he is now working for Dodge and the interesting fact is that he penned the Dodge Demon sports coupe currently on display at the 77th Geneva International Auto Show.

Ralph Gilles, the Vice President of Design for Chrysler, has this to say about Chung: "He was born in Korea and went to school in Pasadena. And it's just like anything -you get exposed to the school, you get exposed to Chrysler and Dodge and out comes this new aesthetic."

Another Korean, and also an alumnus of the Art Center, Han Seung Lee landed a job at Honda. Lee, in turn, penned the Sports 4 Concept shown to the public at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005. This shows that Koreans have what it takes to take on the world of car designing as sure as a Mercedes H&K air filters are efficient when it comes to doing their job.

Another chief designer which expressed admiration toward Korean design students is Koichi Hayashi, Deputy General Manager of Design for Mazda. He said that: "There's a real passion among Korean designers to advance and succeed that exceeds what you see in Japanese students." Currently, he has four Korean designers working for him at their Hiroshima headquarters.

The emergence of South Korea as a source of talented car designers is a good news for Japanese car makers. Due to the similarities in language structure and working culture of Japan and South Korea, Korean designers have an edge over their Western counterparts when applying for a job in any Japanese car company. Furthermore, Koreans are more willing than Westerners to work for relatively low starting salaries offered by Japanese car companies.

According to Nakamura, "all the pieces are in place, right now, young Korean designers are most sought after by Japanese carmakers but they can make it in the West anytime." But Korean students should not rest on their laurels since in the near future - other countries in the world will also be producing design students at par with them. Countries like China, Russia, and India have all invested in training their car design students to be competitive in the auto industry.