Forget voice activation, in another 20 years cars will use mind control to turn on things like the indicators, adjust the radio volume or move the seat. If that's not crazy enough, some cars will imprint your genetic DNA to become a part of you.

Others will use high-tech polymers that change a car's shape and colour to accommodate the driver's needs. These far-out sci-fi ideas are being presented as part of the Design Challenge at this week's Los Angeles Motor Show.

Called Youthmobile 2030, this year's challenge has attracted more than 30 young designers who have cut loose to create what they think we'll be driving in 2030. Youthmobile 2030 snared gifted young designers from Audi, Honda, General Motors, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota.

Technology is a key component of the Youthmobile 2030 cars so the concepts connect with a new car buying generation aged between 16 and 23 raised on mobile phones, web cams and on-line communities.

Using next-generation vehicle control logic, the driver activates and drives the eSpira through small body movements or gestures. The eSpira's designers say that even most direct, fluid form of vehicle control like flicking the indicators or adjusting the seat "is only a thought away".

Joining the eSpira is the sportier eOra. Distinctly small and agile, the eOra is pitched at young buyers looking for an agile sportscar with a small greenhouse gas footprint. It shares the same control logic as the eSpira.

Like a downhill skier, the eOra carves the road with precision and is constantly reacting to the driver's movements and intentions. Audi says these vehicles encompass the brand's core experience - progressive, imaginative and visceral.

It will also challenge your skills against the car's autonomous drive systems. Its designers say the concept will actually teach a beginner to drive or challenge the experienced driver to improve their skills. Getting started is easy.

Drivers can enter their destination into the navigation application on a smart phone and the car takes care of the rest. It will let you ‘play along’ and try to match the skill level of the system. As you become more proficient, the Car Hero ‘unlocks’ vehicle controls to the point where the autonomous system is overridden and the driver is in complete control.

This is where things start to get interesting. As the Car Hero gamer demonstrates skill and mastery, the car's ‘transmorphable’ architecture turns up the intensity by creating a more challenging driving experience.

Car Hero's configuration will reward a driver's increasing skills by gradually changing from a four seater, to three seats and then the ultimate challenge, a single-wheeler. Car Hero also has peer-to-peer applications like ‘friends drive’ where anyone can come along for a digital joyride.

GM likens the experience to having a Twitter with wheels. For those bored and stuck in peak hour traffic, ‘fantasy drive’ gives the driver access to insane environments such as running with the bulls in Pamplona or taking on ace US rally driver Ken Block in a drifting contest.

It looks like an RX8 of the future yet boast some cutting edge technology that will keep tech-savvy youngsters happy.

By 2030 Mazda expects Los Angeles to be a centre for young entrepreneurs. They expect car buyers to be able to customise their own vehicles straight from the factory. Mazda's young designers have made the Souga compatible with new-age thinking.

They propose a high-tech virtual world called VMazda so young people can experiment, build, and share their automotive dreams in a virtual world at no cost.

With the help of a virtual design mentor, an owner's individual design can then be rapidly manufactured at one of Mazda's sustainable direct digital manufacturing plants, using the Souga as the base.

The Souga designers believe the whole car will cost $2000, with a monthly bill for the energy the electric car uses. The Souga is minimalist and lightweight with experimental shapes, ornate detailing, and a dramatically proportioned exterior.

Mazda's designers believe most digital communication and information devices will be integrated into our clothes, eliminating the need to include these systems into the car.

For that reason they have come up with their own creation of a new ultra-efficient, high-speed network called the ‘Grid’. Nissan's Grid-compliant car for 2030 is the V2G - for Vehicle-to-Grid.

With the Nissan Leaf leading the company's electric car push, the designers think EVs like the V2G will be very popular with consumers thanks to their low cost and dynamic styling.

Nissan proposes that the V2G will be sold like mobile phone plans, making it affordable for everyone and allowing customisation. The designers also expect tech-savvy buyers to be able to hack into the Grid system and untap the V2G's performance potential off-line in a completely different vehicle segment.

They have already configured a name for that model, the V2G Unlimited.

However, they will still be cash poor and that's where the eco-friendly Toyota Link comes in. The Link is an affordable customised, mass transit vehicle for students with high social networking demands. With little-to-no disposable income, students will be able to pick up a Link via various inter-connected transport Hubs.

Once on board, the Link seamlessly links on to a transportation social network, allowing connections with other drivers to share the commute, trade music, or compare diaries. Made with Toyota's newly patented electro-fibre technology, the designers see different in-car applications.

Drivers will be able to download applications like the ‘Link Skinz’ to digitally transform the car's shape into a personalised exterior design. In place of traditional wheels, the Link drives on spheres made of an electro-conductive material. This converts friction into energy and recharges the on-board batteries.

By then Honda's young designers believe we will have emerging technologies, such as genetic integration and advanced adaptive polymers. These polymers will be capable of shifting shape, colour or even material properties.

When mated with the driver's DNA genetic code, it will allow a vehicle to be an extension of the owner, evolving in parallel with them throughout their life. The Helix will have three distinct physical shapes - A, B and Z.

A is short and wide for cities with crowded roads, where agility and speed allow it to more easily navigate peak hour chaos. B is long and low for high-speed country drives over longer distances. Z is tall and thin for congested cities, allowing the occupants sit vertically on two levels to lessen the car's footprint on streets.

The Helix will also be able to adapt to the different needs of the occupants by changing the orientation of the cabin and individualising its controls.

Bio-receptors will allow the vehicle to micro-adjust even further to meet the drivers' demands. The Helix will be a global car designed to adapt, evolve and conform to user needs anywhere in the world. It will use insight gained from the human genome, biotechnology, and environmental forecasting, to conform to the driver and environment.

A lot of optional equipment depreciates far faster than the car it is fitted to, and rapid changes in standard equipment can overtake impressive showroom choices in as little as three years.  Extra safety equipment is hit among the hardest by depreciation, as used-car buyers are reluctant to pay extra for additional airbags or ESP stability control.

Yet a sunroof or leather trim or flashy alloy wheels could get a payback at trade-in or resale time as upmarket additions can add extra appeal.  Even the right colour choice can make a difference to a car's secondhand value, as trendy colours become unpopular quickly while staples such as white, silver and black tend to be timeless.

"You have to be very careful. If you start by spending $3000 on options it might all be worthless in a few years," the spokesman for car-price authority, Glass's Information services, says.  "If the car depreciates at 40 per cent, some of these options can depreciate at twice that, or more," says Chris D'Sousa.

He says flashy extra gear, including sunroofs and leather trim, might not put extra cash in the wallet but could make it easier to get a sale.  "They don't really add resale value. They add resale appeal," D'Sousa says.

Glass's tracks values for more than 40 items of optional equipment, currently tracking it backwards to cars sold in 2000. The list includes everything from extra airbags to CD players, body kits, bullbars and Xenon headlamps.  A range of extras is rated with zero value after 10 years, including anti-skid brakes, cruise control (which hits zero at seven years), and a six-stack CD player.

Glass's believes the best approach to new-car shopping is to choose a car that is already well equipped, only adding optional essentials such as a towbar.  "If you take a basic car, it's better to take a higher-spec model because options deprectiate a lot more than the car itself. Some, like towbars, will be value for about four years," he says.  "A good option will add value for up to 10 years. Then it becomes irrelevant.

"It is better to buy the higher-spec car because resale will be better."  Digging into specifics, D'Sousa says buyers need to be careful what they add to a car.  "There are certain options, like the visual touch-and-feel stuff _ that's sunroofs, alloy wheels and leather trim - that will always enhance a car. Then there are hidden options that are more in tune with today's market needs, like ESP and curtain airbags, that have no perceived value.

"Turn the clock forward, and this stuff is standard. It adds no value.  "We believe side airbags will have some value now for about six years.  Then it will be an expectation.  Satnav might have an average new price of $5000, but after a year we believe the value falls to only $2000. Then at 10 years it falls to $300.  A body kit will depreciate less than a rear cargo barrier."

Glass's tracks the whole car market and D'Sousa says there are different rules in different price classes. A $15,000 Hyundai Getz should not be tweaked, a Commodore or Falcon only deserves dressing if it is already a premium model, while BMW and Benz buyers should avoid going overboard.

"If you take a Hyundai Getz and spend a lot of money dressing up, people buying it secondhand don't perceive it as premium," he says.  "If you were looking at a base-model Falcon or Commodore I would suggest no options beyond a towbar. But if you look at a G-Series Falcon then a sunroof and leather trim will add some value.

"Even with a BMW, there are some options that add a lot more, and luxury brands have options' lists that run to small books. You can take a car and add 50 per cent to the purchase price, but does that add value?"

On car colours, D'Sousa warns about going for fashion colours that change rapidly. Holden is famous for using 'hero' colours on its V8- powered SS Commodore, switching rapidly from gold to light blue, green and even purple in recent years.  "These days everyone wants a black or silver car. A few years ago everyone wanted a green car, but these days no-one wants a green car,"  he says.

There are also regional differences between what sells and what sits on the lot.  "Convertibles don't sell well in Queensland, but they are popular in Sydney or Melbourne. White cars are not so popular in Melbourne," D'Sousa says."A fuddy-duddy car like a Mercedes-Benz sells well in Melbourne. 

People in Darwin will travel to Adelaide to get a secondhand four- wheel drive because they know it has had an easier life. It's the same for people in Perth, who will go to Adelaide for an SUV because they don't like the red-dust staining you get in WA."

Item                           new price     value after 10 years
Satellite navigation       $5000        $300
In-car television            $2800         $200
Electric sunroof             $2300         $200
Dual airbag package     $1400         $0
Alloy wheels                  $1000           $0

Source: Glass's Information Systems

The iconic British brand’s new flagship arrives late next year with more than 100 exterior colour options, 24 recommended two-tone combinations and a host of exterior chrome trims.

Product manager Hans Holzgartner said that inside there was even more choice with 24 leather trim colours, five coloured leather pipings, nine wood veneers, even 23 seat belt colours plus a range of optional extras such as cross or contrast stitching and extra Bentley ‘wing’ badges.  “Someone actually did the calculations and came up with a figure of more than a trillion combinations,” he said.

However, there is only one engine and one transmission.  The Mulsanne, named after a 1980s model and the notorious high-speed straight at Le Mans, will be powered by a lightweight aluminium 6.75-litre V8 with multi-displacement so it can cruise on just four cylinders.  “Why a V8, we have been asked,” Holzgartner says.  “We didn’t need the car to be any faster but we did want it to be more fun to drive and accelerate harder so we went for more torque for more strength at slow speed.’’

He says the engine is the ‘strongest production V8’ on the market with 1020Nm of torque from just 1600rpm.  The V8 is married to an eight-speed auto/manual transmission that can short shift and skip gears changing up or down to achieve a smooth drive, performance and efficiency.  Bentley claims the engine and transmission combine to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by more than 15 per cent.

Asia Pacific marketing manager James Barclay said the Mulsanne would arrive in Australia in the last quarter of next year and cost ‘more than the current top of the fleet’ which means more than the $744,132 Bentley Azure two-door convertible.  The new Mulsanne is 150mm longer than the Arnage with all of that extra length in the wheelbase to provide more interior space.

Despite the 23kg lighter engine, 10kg lighter gearbox and use of aluminium in all panels except the steel roof and polymer boot, Holzgartner says the vehicle would weigh much the same as the Arnage because of the extra interior features.  “Even the carpet is thicker to provide a feeling of quality,” he says.

Bentley Mulsanne

Price: about $750,000
On sale: late 2010
Engine: twin-turbocharged, 6750cc, alloy V8 with variable displacement
Power: 377kW
Torque: 1020Nm
Transmission: ZF 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive DIMENSIONS (mm): 5562 (l), 1926 (w), 1526 (h), 3266 (wheelbase)

Rivals:

Rolls-Royce Phantom 6.8L ($107,500)
BMW 760Li 6.0L ($386,000)
Mercedes-Benz 6.3L 63 AMG ($371,400) and 6.0L 65 AMG ($477,400).

One of Europe's most respected carmakers, Saab, is teetering on the edge of collapse.  Its future is in doubt after suitor, Swedish sportscar maker Koenigsegg cancelled plans to acquire the struggling brand.

Scott Whiffin, a spokesman for Saab Australia, which operates under GM Premium Brands locally, said the company and the 14 local dealers were still digesting the news.  "It wasn't something that was being anticipated," he said.

"What's happening now is that the GM team at the pointy end of this process have said they'll take a couple of days to work it through.  "So we won't see any next-step type developments until at least next week."

Whiffin said the local operations would continue business "as usual".  "Warranties will continue to be honoured, servicing arrangements remain unchanged and there will be no issues with receiving spare parts," he said.

The decision by the Koenigsegg Group AB has shocked General Motors executives.  US reports are suggesting that when GM meets next week the 60-year-old brand will be wound down. 

"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," GM President and CEO, Fritz Henderson, said."Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB.  "Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation."

Koenigsegg head, Christian von Koenigsegg, said delays in completing the deal "have led to risks and uncertainties that prevent us from successfully carrying out our business plan for Saab Automobile".  Saab has struggled globally and locally, with sales plummeting in recent years.

Local sales have dipped 34 per cent this year with the company selling just 653 vehicles.  Globally it sold just 93,300 cars last year with Europe accounting for the bulk of sales.  Along with Saab, GM has been offloading its underperforming brands.

In September a deal to sell its Saturn division to the Penske Automotive Group fell through and GM axed the brand.  It has decided to hold on to its European Opel group but the sale of Hummer to Chinese heavy-equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co is still pending.

GM acquired a 50 per cent stake in Saab in 1989, buying up the balance in 2000.