GM, Chrysler sales fall more than 40 percent; Ford, Honda also slip

The biggest automakers posted some of the sharpest U.S. sales declines in September as demand dropped to its lowest level since April in the aftermath of the cash-for-clunkers program. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 9.51 million units.

Car Design China Award Winners at Umeå

CDN 中国汽车设计大赛获奖选手在 Umeå Two of the Car Design China Award 2012 winners won the fantastic prize of a two-week fully funded placement at Sweden's Umeå Institute of Design to mix with like-minded young designers and learn new skills with some of the latest technology available. We spoke to Umeå's Programme Director for Transportation Design Education Demian Horst to find out how Fang Siyuan of Zhengzhou University of Light Industry and Huang Hongliang of Huazhong University of Science and Technology got on. After arriving on 21 September the two students joined up with the course's 20 international students – including two Chinese students – in the studio before undertaking their first task, which was to join both transport classes in a sketch workshop with BMWDesignworksUSA designer and Umeå alumnus Tommy Forsgren.

McLaren MP4-12C arrives in USA (video)

The MP4-12C hits the US The McLaren MP4-12C has finally hit the USA, and to celebrate McLaren has put together a video showing its arrival in America. Being a supercar lover in the USA can have its drawbacks, particularly if you have a penchant for supercars from smaller car makers, because the US can be rather tetchy about letting a handful of supercars on American roads, just in case they destroy the fabric of American society. McLaren had that problem with their last car – the iconic McLaren F1 – and it took years for the legislative mess to be sorted to let ultra rich Americans indulge in a bit of McLaren love (mind you, it also lined McLaren’s pockets as they charged and arm and a leg for software to make US F1s legal).