An international consortium backed by the Singapore government Thursday launched ten research projects to develop technology for "next-generation" vehicles.

The Capabilities for Automotive Research 11-member consortium, which includes industry heavyweights such as German smart phone chipmaker Infineon, will work on areas such as anti-collision steering systems and wireless charging of electronic cars.

"The automotive sector today faces many challenges and therefore presents many opportunities," said Lim Chuan Poh, the chairman of state-backed Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

"The car of the future has to be increasingly intelligent and connected," he said, adding the consortium's work aims to "solve these increasingly complex and multi-disciplinary problems as well as to testbed some of these solutions."

Toyota Tsusho, part of Japanese auto giant Toyota, is also a member of the group and will be providing technical expertise on installing batteries that can be wireless charged onto a golf buggy-shaped car.

"The basic technology comes from A*STAR (Agence for Science, Technology and Research) but we support this car and how to use such a wireless battery" on it, said Yasuhiro Kakihara, the president of Toyota Tsusho Singapore.

earlier related report
Chinese brands on the rise in Brazil auto show
Sao Paulo (AFP) Oct 27, 2010 - Chinese brands made a strong appearance in Sao Paulo's auto show, which opened its doors Wednesday, with nine firms among the 42 Brazilian and foreign marques displaying their latest wheels.

While top-end offerings from Porsche, Jaguar and Ferrari grabbed the attention of the first of 600,000 visitors expected to pass through the 12-day event, the Asian giant's invasion was notable.

Some Chinese brands, such as Jac Motors, Brilliance and Haima, were showing for the first time.

Brazil's market is growing strongly on the back of a booming economy which is giving many ordinary citizens access to cars for the first time, and the well-off the means to afford even the most expensive models.

Porsche, for instance, was expecting to beat sales records by flogging 800 new cars this year. It presented its V6 Cayenne SUV, and its first four-door sportscar, the Panamera.

Britain's Aston Martin -- maker of James Bond's iconic ride -- showed off its V12 DBS which rockets from zero to 100 kilometers (60 miles) an hour in just 4.3 seconds.

So far this year, 2.5 million cars have been sold in Brazil, an increase of 8.7 percent for the same period last year, according to the national automobile manufacturing association Anfavea.

Most of them were US or European brands made inside the country, while 18 percent were imports.