Baby, You Can Design My Car

More than a year ago, Volvo asked its female employees to design a car. The result: a stylish, high-powered coupe that's practically maintenance free. The oil needs to be changed every 31,000 miles, and when an engine inspection is needed, a local service center receives a wireless message from the car -- and then contacts the driver.

"If you meet women's expectations, you exceed those for men," says Volvo's president and CEO. While the company doesn't plan to actually produce the prototype for sale -- why not? -- it will begin to incorporate some of the design elements into their other vehicles. Like Freeman Thomas says, "Car designers need to create a story."

We'll see how this particular story unfolds.