Saic Motor launches tenth Design Competition
Long-time readers of the magazine will know that we have followed the annual design competition staged by SAIC – MG Motor’s parent company – with great interest; indeed, prior to the pandemic, we were even present in guest judge capacity, at a time when travel to and from China was less of an issue.
Despite these ongoing challenges, the competition – by now split into two sections, a Chinese centred heat, and a parallel competition centred on SAIC’s London Studio – managed to continue, upholding a magnificent tradition which involves opportunities almost without parallel in the automotive industry. This year, the competition has reached its tenth anniversary, and was launched in April with a tight deadline of June for suitably placed design students to submit their initial design entries.
As with last year, entries are being considered across the three ‘sister brands’ of ‘R’, ‘Roewe’ and ‘MG’ – although we anticipate that the greater interest amongst the European contingent will be with the last of those, not least because the first two remain China-only brands at present, whereas MG is regarded as SAIC’s international shop-window, with European design input a key factor – hence the continued support of the influential ‘Advanced London’ design studio, which is the subject of a separate article by Craig later in this issue.
The brief for the MG entries is to explore what could follow in the future even beyond the already futuristic MG Cyberster sports car concept, which was intended to offer a blend between the worlds of sports and gaming. Entrants are invited to ‘create the new MG Halo, showcase the next chapter, use virtual sub-cultures and tech mutations to re-awaken the passion for sports cars.’ As part of the launch of the European competition, SAIC Advanced London’s Director Carl Gotham played host to Cynthia Charwick-Bland, tutor from Kensington’s Royal College of Art, the world-famous post-graduate design college which counts many great designers amongst its distinguished alumni. Baltimore native Charwick-Bland is an industry veteran with over thirty years of hands-on experience in studios such as Ford, Volvo, SAAB, IAD and MG Rover, and heads up the RCA’s ‘Intelligent Mobility’ MA course.
Carl Gotham is the Design Director if SAIC’s ‘Advanced London’ studio in a building shared with MG Motor UK HQ in London’s Marylebone.
RCA students admire some of the design artwork associated with the MG Cyberster
concept, which was largely designed in the London studio.
Cynthia Charwick-Bland, tutor from Kensington’s Royal College of Art, attended the launch of the 2022 competition as one of Carl Gotham’s guests. Past winners have come from the RCA as well as other leading UK and European design schools.