The students from the Bachelor of Product Design at Unitec students are designing a homegrown concept sports car for their final year project that could potentially be cruising New Zealand roads one day.

Unitec design lecturer Cris de Groot says "The project was prompted by an entrepreneur interested in manufacturing a medium to high-cost sports car in limited numbers, buying in the parts from overseas and building the chassis and body here.

Image: Four for the Future at the New Zealand Innovation Festival from April 29 at the Vero Centre Shortland St.The students from the Bachelor of Product Design at Unitec students are designing a homegrown concept sports car for their final year project that could potentially be cruising New Zealand roads one day.

Unitec design lecturer Cris de Groot says "The project was prompted by an entrepreneur interested in manufacturing a medium to high-cost sports car in limited numbers, buying in the parts from overseas and building the chassis and body here.

Image: Four for the Future at the New Zealand Innovation Festival from April 29 at the Vero Centre Shortland St."The students are taking it from the research phase though to the concept stage. It's a difficult and complex design project for them because there are no right answers. It's about a bold emotional statement."

Cris says the students have been carrying out market research to gain insights into what makes their target market tick, attending exotic car club meetings and car shows, and even posing as customers at upmarket showrooms.

"We live in a post-functional age - every country can make things that work as well as the next, so why does a European sports car cost five times as much as a Japanese sports car that has the same performance?

"The students aren't designing a car that will go fast, but a fast car that will also sell fast. It's an experience-based product."

The students work in groups, splitting the work into five different areas for each person to concentrate on - exterior design, interior design, ergonomics, product management and communication/branding.

Product design student Dean Spence says that his group went as far as inventing character profiles on the type of people who would buy their car and writing comprehensive dossiers on them. "We did research on the clothes sports car enthusiasts wore and the type of objects they surrounded themselves with to get an idea of the shapes they liked."

There is a lot to think about, says Dean, from the look of the car to its weight distribution and suspension, and he is enjoying the challenge. Although it may be at least two years until it is known if the sports car has the financial backing to go to the next stage, Dean says he'd jump at the chance to be involved. "If I could carry on with the project I'd definitely take the opportunity."

He says that the brand is at the core of the design process and it is important for New Zealand to manufacture and export design-led products. "If we want to compete with places like China and India then we need to come up with value-added products."

Cris agrees. He says that, while the importance of market and design-led innovation is being increasingly recognised, New Zealand still has a long way to go to foot it on the world stage. "Intellectual property generated in New Zealand is exported far too cheaply. Design-led business start-ups don't need to focus on technical innovation, but on what New Zealand design is often missing - packaging, adding value and brand-led design."