Volkswagen's The People's Car Project: Hover Car

Chinese showcase concepts for the Volkswagen of the future

“People’s Car Project”: Volkswagen presents first results at Auto China 2012 in Beijing

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With 33 million visitors to the website and more than 119,000 ideas submitted, the “People’s Car Project” (PCP) launched in China eleven months ago has far exceeded all expectations. Three of the vehicle and technology concepts created by users of an online platform and further developed by Volkswagen are currently on show at Auto China 2012: These concepts are the “Hover Car”, the “Music Car” and the “Smart Key”.

With the "Hover Car", an environmentally-friendly two-seater city car which hovers just above the ground, Volkswagen is presenting the study of a zero-emissions vehicle that could in future travel along electromagnetic road networks. "The creative ideas from the ‘People’s Car Project’ give us a valuable insight into the wishes of Chinese drivers", Simon Loasby, Head of Design at Volkswagen Group China, said. "The trend is towards safe cars that can easily navigate overcrowded roads and have a personal, emotional and exciting design."

The "Music Car" expresses the wish of many Chinese for individual automotive design. Equipped with organic light emitting diodes, the exterior color of the vehicle changes with the driver’s choice of music. More than ever, the car thus becomes a means of self-expression and a fashion statement for young drivers.

The "Smart Key", also developed under the PCP and currently on show in Beijing, takes up the trend towards the stronger integration of online technologies in vehicles: The slim 9-millimeter key has a high-resolution touchscreen which keeps the driver up to date on the fuel situation, climate conditions and the car’s security via the 3G network. The driver can also monitor the vehicle from a bird’s eye perspective through real-time satellite transmission.

"The ‘People’s Car Project’ in China marks the beginning of a new era in automobile design", Luca de Meo, Director of Marketing, Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, commented. "We are no longer just building cars for, but also with customers and at the same time initiating a national dialog which gives us a deep insight into the design preferences, needs and requirements of Chinese customers", de Meo said.

Due to high demand and the exceptionally good quality of the contributions, the PCP, which was originally scheduled to run for one year, has been indefinitely extended. In addition, a new project phase will be launched during the coming months, when users will not only be able to submit their design, personalization and connectivity ideas for tomorrow’s mobility, but will also be able to contribute suggestions about the environment. The drafts will first be evaluated by the entire user community. In a second step, experts will then assess the concepts and award prizes to the winners.

"In a long-term context the findings of the ‘People‘s Car Project’ will influence Volkswagen’s product strategy", de Meo explained. "The design of our models will, however, continue to reflect the tradition of the Volkswagen brand. If at some time in the future we are to produce a vehicle from the ‘People’s Car Project’, it will be a combination of customers’ opinions and brand tradition", de Meo added.

The world of personal mobility transporters doesn't bring a whole lot of glamor. The Segway was never exactly an enviable ride, and newer concepts like the GM EN-V aren't any better. But a Volkswagen that hovers a few feet over the ground? That channels a mix of Back to the Future and The Jetsons that adds some excitement to the personal mobility segment.

Volkswagen has added a few new designers to its car development team - about 1.3 billion of them, to be exact.

The German car maker has tapped into China - the world’s most heavily populated country - to help it re-create the People’s Car, a modern-day interpretation of the original Volkswagen Beetle.

The project has already generated its first winning idea, a wheel-shaped hover car that uses a magnetic field built into the road to float just above the ground, and even turn on the spot to weave through China’s crowded streets and car parks.A video of the two-seater shows an elderly couple learning how to drive the concept car, quickly becoming familiar with the joystick-like controller as they take to the streets in front of an awe-struck community.

The video also takes the opportunity to spruik a few other emerging technologies that the car maker is believed to be working on, such as an automated driving function that takes over the controls in traffic, and a crash-avoidance system that can sense other vehicles around the People’s Car and avoid a collision if it detects that one is likely.

The concept car also shows a clever heads-up display that projects ont o the glass-fronted section of the car. The year-long online project aimed to tap into the 450 million people in China who have access to the internet.

“Volkswagen has set out to create the most innovative dialogue platform ever with the ‘People’s Car Project’,” Luca de Meo, Volkswagen’s marketing director in China, says.

“The platform is debuting in China because that is Volkswagen’s largest and most important market. However, we also see potential for launching the project in other markets as well,”

Will those other markets include Australia? Not yet, with the car maker’s local division saying it hasn’t yet had any discussions on whether locally influenced designs, such as Passat ute, could make it into the local product mix.

Other ideas floated by the China People’s Car Project include a musical car that uses externally mounted lights to change the colour of the car depending on what music is being played inside, and a compact smart screen that can show things such as how much fuel is left, what temperature it is inside the car and whether it has been stolen or someone has broken into it.