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Ford, Volvo top 2014 EyesOn Design awards

Each year at the Detroit Auto Show, the top vehicle designs are recognized with the prestigious EyesOn Design award for production and concept vehicles. This year, the 32 EyesOn Design judges (comprised of current and former vehicle designers including Chrysler designer and SRT president Ralph Gilles, Kia designer Peter Schreyer and retired General Motors designer Wayne Cherry) handed out three awards for the Best Concept Vehicle, Best Production Vehicle and Innovative Use of Color, Graphics, and Materials.
Beating out the Mercedes C-Class and Ford F-150, the 2015 Ford Mustang was named the Best Production Vehicle as the top auto show debut at this year's Detroit show. The 2014 Volvo Concept XC Coupe took home awards as the Best Concept Vehicle and for its Innovative Use of Color, Graphics and Materials.
Considering the Volvo's primer grey hue and subtle orange accents, it was a rather surprising winner for Innovative Use of Color, Graphics, and Materials over flashier concepts like the Toyota FT-1 and our Editors' Choice top pick, the Kia GT4 Stinger. Other vehicles in the running for the concept car award include the GT4 Stinger and Audi Allroad Shooting Brake

Ford ditching Microsoft in favor of BlackBerry QNX for next-gen Sync?

Ask the average consumer - at least, those who follow the goings-on in the automotive industry - which carmaker they'd most closely associate Microsoft, and the answer you'd most likely get would be Ford. The Blue Oval automaker, after all, was at the forefront of bringing Microsoft technology into cars with its pioneering Sync system, and, though reality didn't turn out as such, Ford's CEO was recently touted as a potential future head of the Redmond-based software giant. But that relationship, according to the latest reports, could be coming to an end.
Alan Mullaly kiboshed the idea of leaving Dearborn for Redmond, but more importantly Ford is tipped to be ditching Microsoft in developing its next-generation Sync system. In its place, Ford is expected to partner with BlackBerry's QNX division.
Now, before you go balking "BlackBerry?! But they're finished!" consider that QNX is (or at least was) an independent entity that Research In Motion (as BlackBerry's Ontario-based parent company was then known) just happened to have bought back in 2010. QNX provides control systems to everything from nuclear power plants and UAVs to automakers like Audi, BMW and Porsche.

Ford and Mercedes join Renault in French emissions investigation

The French government is investigating certain models from Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault because they allegedly produce more nitrogen oxide than the country's pollution rules allow, according to Automotive News, citing a French newspaper. After VW's emissions scandal, French regulators began checking more vehicles for evidence of defeat devices and excessive real-world pollution. According to Automotive News, the Mercedes S350 allegedly showed inconsistent results across these tests, and a Ford C-Max had NOx levels five times over the limit. The Renault Captur crossover, Espace, and an unnamed utility vehicle also had results that were too high. The French testing for this investigation includes an on-road emissions check that's not part of the EU's normal evaluations, which some automakers claim is unfair. "Unofficial on-road testing has varying conditions and can produce significantly different results," a Ford of Europe spokesman told Automotive News. Renault representatives met with French officials on January 18 to explain the situation. The company later submitted a plan to recall 15,800 examples of the diesel Captur, and said it would offer a voluntary software upgrade for about 700,000 other vehicles, according to Automotive News. Representatives from Ford and Mercedes will meet with the government soon, too. Renault's stock price plunged last week after investors heard that French regulators searched three of the automaker's sites as part of the emissions investigation. The stockholders feared an environmental scandal like the one currently embroiling Volkswagen. There's one major difference – as of now, there's no evidence Renault equipped any of the polluting models with defeat devices. Related Video: