Michelin Challenge Design Displays 45 Works From Azerbaijan to Venezuela at 2005 NAIAS

DETROIT, Jan. 11, 2005 -- After two intense days of deliberation, six international jurors, including designers from leading European studios, selected the design concepts that will be showcased at the 2005 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Cobo Center Jan. 9-23, 2005.

The panel reviewed more than 160 designs from entrants in 50 countries and selected those that best depicted this year's theme: to create vehicles that demonstrated the influence of German design, the events, people and icons that have inspired the international automotive design community and the Bauhaus principle "form follows function." Their thoughtful deliberation resulted in the selection of three full-size vehicles, 14 scale models and 28 computer- generated drawings from 41 designers representing 20 different countries.

"With a record number of entrants this year, the jury had their hands full deciding which designs best fit the 2005 theme," said Tom Chubb, vice president of marketing, Michelin Automotive Industry Division. "We've seen more than a 200 percent increase in the number of submissions in two years, and the caliber of the work coming from such disparate locations as Azerbaijan, Venezuela and the Republic of Moldova continues to impress the professional vehicle designers associated with this program."

Stewart Reed, a three-time juror for Michelin Challenge Design(TM), and founder of Stewart Reed Design in Holland, Mich., said he was intrigued by the variety of expression showing German design influence.

"Each entrant uniquely viewed German design through the lens of their particular culture making this year's competition very interesting," said Reed. "This year's theme attracted outstanding talent from around the world. It is clear that German design is considered profoundly powerful and influential."

  Full Size Vehicles
  Opel "Insignia"
  Mercedes-Benz "F 500 Mind"
  Volkswagen "Concept R"

  Scale Models
  Carlos Alfredo Pereyra, Argentina
  Carlos Eduardo de Carvalho, Brazil
  Raymond Hwang, Canada
  Wang Jin Dong, China
  Dan Ka, China
  Michael Cerva, Czech Republic
  Steven van der Veen, Netherlands
  Wen Chieh, New Zealand
  Jaka Verbic, Slovenia
  Soo Yeon Choi & Sung Hoon Kim, South Korea
  Jonas Sandstrom, Sweden
  Sumit Sharma, USA
  Mercedes-Benz (two scale models)

  Drawings
  Ricardo Dillon, Argentina
  Samir Suleymanov, Azerbaijan
  Julien Bilodeau, Canada
  Shen Yi & Wang Wei, China
  Huang Xuefei & Peng Youyou, China
  Waldemar Namyslo, Germany
  Alejandro Vaca Torres, Germany
  Paolo Corcagnani, Germany
  Aman Midha, India
  Richard Vink, Netherlands
  Ryszard Szymanski, Poland
  Michael Latko, Poland
  Alexei Gontsov, Republic of Moldova
  Artem Neretin, Russia
  Andrej Stanta, Slovenia
  Je-Sung Ahn, South Korea
  Jorge Rios, Spain
  Diego La Magia, Sweden (two designs)
  Michael Heasman, United Kingdom
  Fang Liang Zhu, United Kingdom
  Byung Kang Cho, United Kingdom (two designs)
  Vincent Gardner, USA
  Radu Vasilescu, USA
  Wesley Rhoad, USA
  Anthony Sims, USA
  Omar Pirela, Venezuela

For complete information on Michelin Challenge Design, including specific entry requirements, entry process, rules and theme details, visit http://www.michelinchallengedesign.com/ .

The world's largest tire maker, Michelin (http://www.michelin.com/ ) manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle. The company also publishes travel guides, maps and atlases covering Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America employs 23,000 and operates 21 plants in 17 locations.

Further information is available on-line at: http://www.michelinmedia.com/naias_2005/