The contest:

The Design Challenge is part of the Design Los Angeles automobile designers’ conference that is held every year during the Los Angeles Auto Show press days, Dec. 2 and 3, 2009. For the last six years a new Design Challenge theme is chosen and the major Southern California Automotive Design Studios battle against each other to showcase their talents and further explore new ideas in automotive design. The Design Los Angeles Conference also gives designers access to design industry leaders and provides the opportunity to address common industry issues.

This year’s theme, Youthmobile 2030, asked automotive design studios to envision what a new generation of drivers – raised with cell phones, online communities and webcams – will demand from their vehicles in the year 2030.

Entries were judged by multi-discipline design professionals who selected the winner based on its originality of creative concept, integration of futuristic design elements and level of adaptation to the needs of the youth consumer in 2030. All of the Youthmobile 2030 entries delivered a great variety of answers to the question posed by this year’s Design Challenge.

Toyota

With the college enrollment rate at an estimated 81%, the youth of 2030 are one of the most intelligent and proactive generations yet. The Toyota LINK is an affordable customizable, mass transit vehicle for students with high social networking demands and continuously evolving preferences.

With little-to-no disposable income, these students are now able to once again enjoy their commute in a world where transportation has become more expensive and less appealing.

Students can meet at various HUBs to pick up their LINKs. Once occupied, the LINK seamlessly links onto a transportation social network, allowing connections with other drivers to share the commute, trade music, or compare class schedules.

Made with Toyota’s newly patented electro fiber technology, “LINK SKINZ” can be downloaded to digitally transform the vehicle’s shape into a personalized exterior design. In place of traditional wheels, the LINK drives on SPHERES made of an electro conductive material that converts friction into energy, recharging the batteries and satisfying the driver’s high standards of a maximized eco-friendly vehicle.

Acknowledgment: LA Auto Show