Design-by-commitee. It is a term that we usually reserve for cars that are conceived by number-crunching product planners, rather than true designers, but this case might be different. What if that committee was every enthusiast on the planet? "Crowd-sourcing," or "open-sourcing" is a concept employed by upstart automaker Local Motors. The first spawn of this process was the insanely cool Rally Fighter, so you can't argue with the results, right?
BMW agrees, and has announced that it is teaming up with Local Motors to put on the BMW "Urban Driving Experience Challenge." It is a competition, conducted by Local Motors through its extensive crowd-sourcing community, to develop a city car for the year 2025. According to Local Motors, the competition gives its community "the opportunity to identify and design the premium vehicle features and functions that will enhance the urban driving experience of the future."
Phase One of the competition begins September 25 and runs to October 16. The second phase starts in mid-November. A total of $30,000 in prize money will be awarded in the competition, and the top winners will each travel to Munich, Germany to meet BMW's director of research and development.
There's a good bit of synergy between these two automakers. Following the Rally Fighter, Local Motors voiced its interest in crowd-sourcing a city car, which is a shared interest with BMW, given the automaker's i3 concept. Also, before the 6.2-liter GM V8 ended up under the hood of the Rally Fighter, the original powerplant was a BMW diesel 3.0-liter straight-six.
Scroll below to check out the promo video and press release.
BMW agrees, and has announced that it is teaming up with Local Motors to put on the BMW "Urban Driving Experience Challenge." It is a competition, conducted by Local Motors through its extensive crowd-sourcing community, to develop a city car for the year 2025. According to Local Motors, the competition gives its community "the opportunity to identify and design the premium vehicle features and functions that will enhance the urban driving experience of the future."
Phase One of the competition begins September 25 and runs to October 16. The second phase starts in mid-November. A total of $30,000 in prize money will be awarded in the competition, and the top winners will each travel to Munich, Germany to meet BMW's director of research and development.
There's a good bit of synergy between these two automakers. Following the Rally Fighter, Local Motors voiced its interest in crowd-sourcing a city car, which is a shared interest with BMW, given the automaker's i3 concept. Also, before the 6.2-liter GM V8 ended up under the hood of the Rally Fighter, the original powerplant was a BMW diesel 3.0-liter straight-six.
Scroll below to check out the promo video and press release.
Announcing the BMW "Urban Driving Experience Challenge"
Local Motors is teaming up with the BMW Group to launch a first-of-its-kind ideas competition.
The BMW-sponsored Urban Driving Experience Challenge will launch on Tuesday, September 25th. The first phase of a two-phase competition series will give you the opportunity to identify and design the premium vehicle features and functions that will enhance the urban driving experience of the future. This is your chance to define and design next-generation mobility solutions for life in the "Mega-Cities" of the year 2025 and beyond. These cities face amplified challenges in the areas of increasing urbanization, rapid population growth, changing infrastructures and environmental pollution.
Competition Schedule:
o Phase I: Begins September 25 and ends October 16
o Phase II: Begins mid-November
A total of $30,000 in prize money will be awarded, along with the opportunity for the top winners in each phase to travel to BMW headquarters in Munich to meet its director of research and development.
Are you ready to help redefine the urban driving experience? Check out the design challenge intro video (www.localmotors.com/bmw) and get your idea engine revving... A comprehensive design brief and detailed video will be available on September 25.
Local Motors is teaming up with the BMW Group to launch a first-of-its-kind ideas competition.
The BMW-sponsored Urban Driving Experience Challenge will launch on Tuesday, September 25th. The first phase of a two-phase competition series will give you the opportunity to identify and design the premium vehicle features and functions that will enhance the urban driving experience of the future. This is your chance to define and design next-generation mobility solutions for life in the "Mega-Cities" of the year 2025 and beyond. These cities face amplified challenges in the areas of increasing urbanization, rapid population growth, changing infrastructures and environmental pollution.
Competition Schedule:
o Phase I: Begins September 25 and ends October 16
o Phase II: Begins mid-November
A total of $30,000 in prize money will be awarded, along with the opportunity for the top winners in each phase to travel to BMW headquarters in Munich to meet its director of research and development.
Are you ready to help redefine the urban driving experience? Check out the design challenge intro video (www.localmotors.com/bmw) and get your idea engine revving... A comprehensive design brief and detailed video will be available on September 25.
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