Autoline Detroit has been running a series themed "Autoline in LA", with a focus on design.

This week the show featured an interview with four of the top automotive designers located on the west coast.

From the Autoline Detroit website:

"Joining John McElroy on this week’s deep dive into the world of automotive design are four of the top automotive artists located on the west coast. Kevin Hunter is the President of Toyota’s Calty Design Research Center located in Newport Beach. Dave Marek is the Chief Designer at Honda’s Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena. Franz von Holzhausen is the Director of Design for Mazda’s North American Operations and Joel Piaskowski is the Chief Designer at the Hyundai Kia Design and Technical Center both located not too far from each other in Irvine. Together all four will talk in-depth about style, trends, SoCal and how their studios plan and predict for the future."

Interested? Well you are in luck. You can watch this show and past shows on the Autoline Detroit website. You can also watch the "Extra" segment which is the rest of the interview that didn't air on the TV broadcast.

We are living in "interesting times" regarding the auto industry, and as performance car enthusiasts, we are especially affected.

So, what did I get out of it?

Dave Marek, the Chief Designer at Honda’s Advanced Design Studio, mentioned that a fragmentation is occurring among consumers and that we won't give up our performance desires. Unfortunately, that intriguing thought died right there as they switched gears to another topic. Was he implying that performance and efficiency are conflicting requirements, resulting in two separate vehicles? Or was he implying that those two consumer desires can be achieved in a single vehicle design? Now that's a discussion I would love to hear these designers elaborate on!  Unfortunately it was not a live call-in show dangit!

Kevin Hunter, the President of Toyota’s Calty Design Research Center, was the least animated of the bunch. Which made sense when he said  the whole point of a vehicle is to get from point A to point B. Hmmm, spoken like a...Toyota engineer! How's that for inspiring passion?

And there was the "wretched American excess" comment by Franz (and your point is?)...but I'll let you discover that for yourself!

Dig the Vid at Autoline Detroit Website
www.autolinedetroit.tv

Also on MOTORFOOT:

The Open Platform Car - Part 2 (a vision realized?)

The Open Platform Car - Part 1