Global Viewpoint Europe Beautiful engineering

Though more and more technology will make its way into cars in the future, it must be successfully integrated into vehicle designs with more customer appeal.

Pedestrian-impact legislation, active safety, diesel hybrids, biofuels, and the need for radically fresh, space-efficient interiors are some of the enduring challenges for the automotive industry. And now a new dimension is emerging: the first “computer generation” of prospective drivers is approaching maturity, bringing a new age of opportunity-and possible risk-for automotive engineering and design.

Rudi Menne, Chief Technical Officer, Ford of Europe, Director of the company's Aachen Research Center in Germany, and leader of all of Ford's research and advanced engineering activities in Europe, is in no doubt about the importance of design. “We will see more and more technology in our cars in the future, but it will be the design of the car-its appearance-that will play an even more dominant role because it will be the clearest differentiator between various car lines,” he said. “Although there will be major constraints based on legal and safety requirements-notably pedestrian protection-these can be overcome if engineers and designers work very closely together as they have at Ford of Europe to create the new S-Max and Galaxy.”