Gordon Murray Design Tackles Full Lifecycle CO2 Damage in Automotive Design, Development and Manufacturing

T.25 program reduces cost, weight and environmental footprint

MENLO PARK, Calif. and SHALFORD, England, July 7 -- Gordon Murray Design announced today that it has completed work on a new manufacturing process that promises to revolutionize the future of automotive production and the impact that personal transportation has on the environment.

Led by automotive icon Professor Gordon Murray who headed up the design of supercars such as the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Gordon Murray Design's initial focus is a new class of novel city cars. His 25th car program, the T.25 (see accompanying image), is not just about innovative vehicle packaging and lightweight design, it also offers solutions to reduce congestion and parking problems while at the same time addressing the problem of full lifecycle CO2 damage.

"The T.25 is designed to protect our mobility, personal freedom and driving 'fun' while greatly reducing the environmental damage from vehicle manufacturing and running," said Murray. "In short, the T.25 architecture, packaging and manufacturing process promises to be the biggest revolution in the mass production of cars in the last 100 years."

Customer and partner interest in the T.25 program has been worldwide and Gordon Murray Design is currently in discussion with several prestigious companies and groups regarding both the sale of the T.25 program for volume production and other versions of vehicles using the same manufacturing process. The T.25 concept will not only support a variety of power trains and fuels, the same manufacturing technologies will support different body styles specifically adapted for customers. First markets are expected to be in Europe and Asia.

"The manufacturing process is a complete re-think on the way we build cars and will revolutionize automobile production," said Jonathan Feiber, a board member and general partner with Silicon Valley venture capital firm MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures. "The most exciting aspect of this milestone in the program is that 'real world' costs for the new manufacturing process have shown that all of the company's ambitious targets for a massive reduction in manufacturing, running and lifecycle CO2 damage reductions will be met or improved."

With 12 months of its 24 month program completed on the T.25 city car, the company has completed work on its prototyping workshop, which includes full-size CNC (computer numerical control) machining capability and leading-edge art structural rapid prototyping equipment. Its workshop is fully equipped for prototype build and development and integrates traditional skills and processes with fully mechanized machining facilities. Component design is almost complete with the first prototype build scheduled to begin in early 2009.

About Gordon Murray Design

Gordon Murray Design promises to revolutionize the future of automotive production and the impact that personal transportation has on the environment. A world leader in automotive design, development and manufacturing, the company will reverse the current industry trend for sub-contracting by offering a complete in-house capability for design, prototyping and development. The company is focused on delivering efficient and breakthrough automotive programs with a multi-skilled team that has worked together on leading design and engineering projects that range from Formula One to city cars. Collectively they have over 300 years experience working in the auto industry and in excess of 1100 man years of collaborating on design, prototyping and manufacturing processes unprecedented in the automotive world.