Autoblog UK

Organisers of the Los Angeles Auto Show invited design studios based in Southern California to set out their vision for Mobile Teens in 2030 (Youthmobile 2030). Studies were drawn up by design studios at General Motors, Audi, Honda, Nissan, Mazda and Toyota. 2009 is the sixth year that this Design Challenge has been held. The winner will be announced on Press Day at the Los Angeles Auto Show, 2nd and 3rd December 2009.

Car Hero by General Motors can drive itself and is steered by mobile phone (that's if they are still around in 2030). Audi designers submitted two very bold design studies, the eSpira and the eOra, that are guided to their destination by hand movements (not a good idea for those of us who are not at our best in the mornings but nevertheless need to get to work). Nissan's V2G is an eco-friendly electrically powered car. This e-car has an aerodynamic egg shape and six wheels. In Mazda's Souga, the car's two occupants sit diagonally behind one another. According to its designers, buyers of the Souga will configure the car to suit their needs. Both Nissan and Toyota designers believe that, in 2030, vehicles travelling in the rush hour will often be joined together in groups of two or more. The Toyota's appearance can be digitally altered and tyre friction converted back into energy.

At the IAA in Frankfurt, Honda were prominent by their absence. Now, at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Japanese carmaker seems determined to compensate in full. They have the biggest stand of all the exhibitors and have filled it up with an array of design studies that are brimful of new ideas, albeit eccentric in part. One of the design highlights of the show is bound to be the Honda Skydeck Concept. This futuristic, airily named family van is clearly a long way removed from being a production-ready vehicle, yet it arouses more than just passing interest. With its windscreen blending into a glass roof, driver and passengers have an impression of unconstrained freedom. The seating too has been designed with leisure in mind. The front doors open upwards and the rear doors slide backwards. In other words, they're doors, Jim, but not as we know them. There is no B-pillar to impede ingress. And if you prefer to sit in the third row, you can push the second bench under the front seat. Under the bonnet, a hybrid PLUS engine provides an eco-friendly drive.

Visitors to the Tokyo Motor Show can admire a prototype of the Honda CR-Z hybrid sports car that is claimed to be ready for series production, though whether this gleaming white vision ever makes it onto the road is anyone's guess. For the present, at least, Honda are once again showcasing the sporty hybrid model just as a design study. So will they or won't they? Honda have the biggest stand of all the manufacturers exhibiting at the Tokyo Motor Show. It would be a pity if they were merely using the CR-Z to fill up what would otherwise have been an empty space.

Honda will be presenting a special series of the Civic Type R with white bodywork. This "Championship White Edition" first took its bow at the Geneva Motor Show and as a contrast to the white bodywork, the door handles, tank filler cap, radiator grille and exclusive four-digit type badge are finished in a dark chrome design. This new top model of the Type-R series has 18-inch tyres and the well-known two-litre engine with 201bhp and a maximum revving limit of 3,000rpm, and costs 28,990 euros.

At the Shanghai Motor Show, Honda presented a concept car named Linian, that is to be specifically targeted at the Chinese market as an autonomous marque. The Linian has typically Chinese design and was developed by Guangzhou. Honda Guangzhou is a joint venture company between Japanese constructor Honda and the Chinese car company Guangzhou Automobile.

At Easter, for some strange reason, we all become fixated on bunny rabbits – well almost all of us. At Honda, they also spare a thought for the four-legged friends who loyally accompany their four-wheeled owners. At the New York Auto Show, the Japanese car maker is exhibiting the 'Dog Friendly Honda Element Concept'. By which they mean the components that turn a trip for a pooch into an exclusive excursion. It starts with a convenient ramp for boarding and alighting. A nicely padded couch on a raised platform turns even the longest journey into a pleasurable outing. A ventilator ensures fresh air and agreeable temperatures at all times. And there are a host of additional features to excite our canine companions.

There will certainly be those who hope that that New Zealander Alex Hodge's latest work does not just remain at the compact car stage, three-wheeled dream as it is. There is a chassis with fiberglass shell and a Honda RC51 engine running up to 10,000 rpm, meaning that this formidable piece of kit could reach a top speed of 230 kph. It's still not possible to buy it, but we can wait. So come on Alex, get your nose to the grindstone.

Honda have chosen Bologna to debut the FCX Clarity, the first small family series car equipped with the technology of tomorrow. A quality saloon vehicle with coupé styling and the dimensions of a Honda Accord. The revolutionary aspect of this vehicle is to be found under the bodywork: a fuel cell powertrain. The energy is supplied by hydrogen which reacts with oxygen inside the fuel cell. This in turn generates electricity which, to all intents and purposes, propels the car without any harmful emissions (just water vapour), thus creating minimal environmental impact.

Once again, it is the French who have allowed their imagination to run riot and have come up with two spectacular design studies – the crossover Citroën Hypnos and the Peugeot RC Hybrid 4 sports sedan. Unfortunately, we shouldn't have high expectations of seeing these on our roads at any time. Both may be regarded as pure 'haute couture', the Hypnos as a diesel hybrid, the RC as a petrol hybrid with a 1.6-litre turbo plus electric motor packing 313bhp and emitting a mere 109g CO2/km. The Japanese have once again created a stir with their snazzy compact concepts. For example, Nissan with the sweet, curvaceous, electrically powered Nuvu, and Toyota with the eccentrically designed Fine-T with its fuel cell. The future is a funny place.

A motor manufacturer can have any number of reasons for presenting a design study. They may wish to demonstrate a particular capability without ever moving on to the series production stage. Or it may be intended to whet the appetite for a new model in the pipeline.

But one of the most important reasons is to enhance the image of the marque. Honda have been working on their green credentials for a number of years and have now made inroads into Toyota's hybrid monopoly by thinking two steps ahead and concentrating on the fuel cell technology of the future.

Bruno Senna thought he was so close to realising his long-cherished Formula One ambitions. Then came the shocking news that Honda were withdrawing from F1 with immediate effect. Senna's main hope must now be that the team finds a buyer who also happens to be impressed by his recent test performance and by the potential pulling power of his name.

But the Brazilian has no intention of sitting on his hands. "We'll have to look around and see what other options are open to us," said Senna. "These things happen. It's never been easy to get into Formula One – you just have to keep plugging away and see what turns up."

Obviously, he is hoping that the now ex-Honda team keeps going: "And I'm not burn any bridges there, but I can't wait for ever... On the other hand, the financial situation is tough everywhere at the moment and it is difficult to see where things are heading. So in the circumstances, you have to be very flexible."