CU-ICAR students unveil Deep Orange 4 concept vehicle in Michigan

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) is showing off its capabilities and automotive engineering students’ latest concept vehicle at an industry meeting.

The fourth generation of the concept vehicle program, called Deep Orange 4, is a BMW Manufacturing Co.-sponsored vehicle and will be shown Monday for the first time to the public in its finished form at the CAR Group Management Briefing Seminar. The project has both a manufacturing as well as product focus.

The vehicle is based on the BMW X3 and is defined as a versatile vehicle that targets the niche market of performance-oriented SUV customers who want both best-in-class utility and space and an aggressive sporty design.

For the Deep Orange 4 vehicle, a cost-efficient manufacturing plan was developed which details how a theoretical low-volume model could be assembled without negatively impacting existing BMW production processes.

“The ability to integrate more low-volume models without incurring capital- intensive retooling costs and efficiency losses will be key to success in the future as we strive to respond to changes in market needs faster and with more flexibility,” said Rich Morris, vice president of assembly, BMW Manufacturing. “The students working on this phase of the project did an excellent job of keeping costs down while finding optimal integration opportunities.”

After successful completion of an in-plant analysis of all manufacturing technology areas, the students moved on to product design, which transformed the trunk compartment to an open-bed configuration with the utility of a pickup truck.

Suzanne Dickerson, director of international business development at CU-ICAR, said this was the first Deep Orange concept vehicle to focus on both unique approaches to manufacturing as well as transformative design.

“This project has a bit of dual personality,” Dickerson said. “It’s really the best of both worlds for our students to not only consider consumer lifestyles in the conceptual design process but to also look at the very practical elements involved in manufacturing it in the most capital-efficient way.”

Students in Clemson’s graduate automotive engineering program are required to create and manufacture a new vehicle prototype. The program provides students with experience in vehicle design, development, prototyping and production planning. Each year, a prototype vehicle is developed with a new market focus and technical objectives and is sponsored by a major manufacturer and a number of suppliers, including Dow Automotive, Sage Automotive and others.