Twenty people already are gathered in a gymnasium-size design studio to signoff on a new model that Renault hopes to sell in eastern Europe starting in 2008.
In any event, the Fusion's weird Aston Martin-ness was a matter of board-level sign-off, the judgment of designer Chris Hamilton, design chief J Mays and CEO Alan Mulally.
Current regulations require independent wildlife biologists to signoff on these decisions before a project can go forward, at times modifying the design to better protect species.