LA MOTOR SHOW: Qoros enters design challenge

There are concept cars that are close to production reality, there are concept cars that are a preview of future design directions – and then there's the Q: QorosQloud Qubed.

Allegedly channelling the designers' impressions of life in the year 2029, the Qoros show car looks like a hot-rodder got busy grafting a Mitsubishi i-MiEV to a Renault Twizy. It's barely conceivable that by 2029 cars will drive themselves, and windows – like the ones in airliners – will be there to admire the view rather than maximise the driver's situational awareness in traffic.

The concept car, which for the sake of room we'll shorten to Q, has been developed to win the LA Auto Show Design Challenge 2029, open to automotive designers through the show's Facebook page. In fairness to the Chinese brand and its concept car designers, the brief from the competition organisers was both vague and limiting. It simply asked entrants to consider life 15 years from now – and how vehicles will evolve to connect with human senses by then.

A design team led by Jamie Barrett, Aditya Mahajan and Alex O'Brien developed Q to be 'an intelligent, multi-dimensional personal management assistant'. As with a human PA, Q would progressively adapt and develop an understanding of its driver's needs and wants, based on the driver's interaction with the vehicle. Apparently, the vehicle will come to appreciate the driver's culinary preferences by the restaurants he/she chooses to visit, or his/her musical tastes from the audio system selections. From regular trips the car will learn about the driver's friends, family and "general interests".

"We are extremely proud of our entry for this year's LA Auto Show Design Challenge," said Tim Pilsbury, Design Director at Qoros Design Shanghai. "We pioneered the innovative QorosQloud connected services technology in our current real-world model line-up, so it was exciting to look ahead 15 years to conceive further developments of the platform.

"The Q: QorosQloud Qubed concept forecasts a futuristic smart human-machine interface, linking the car to the driver's senses to create the ultimate connected driving and ownership experience."

The question begging concerns Q's ability to learn about art from a driver who sees no problem owning a car that looks the way the concept car does.

Qoros invites fans of the show car to vote for it at the LA Auto Show's Facebook page. Voting closes November 20.