"The carbon fibre reinforced plastic parts are at least 30% lighter than aluminium and 50% lighter than steel for identical component use, so the vehicle weighs 300kg less than an ordinary vehicle, " Mr Bauman explains.

BBC: Knitting and baking the cars of the future

And as a student he had worked during the holidays in various factories belonging to the Fiat group: on a car-production line in Poland, in a dealership in France and in a component factory in the English Midlands, where he boarded with a very ordinary English family.

ECONOMIST: Face value