Last year's "The Saddle" entry, by Atilla Tari/Hypo-Design, Hungary

Pursuant to the current prevailing business wisdom that less is more, Michelin has announced the theme for their 2013 Michelin Challenge Design Competition: "HALF! Lightweight with a Passion."

Participants are asked to explore lightweight vehicle development by designing a family vehicle capable of transporting between four and six people. The designs should also meet consumer demands for safety and comfort, be usable on the current road infrastructure and be production feasible using materials, powertrain solutions or manufacturing solutions that are in use today or in development for use in the foreseeable future.

Michelin's got a good track record for drawing entrants, with last year's design comp drawing over 1,800 concepts from 88 countries. And we like the company's line of thinking: As tire producers you'd imagine they'd focus on engineering or materials research competitions, but as they simply put it, "Design is central to the process of innovation. Design influences the marketplace... Michelin wants to assist in the evolution of transportation. Michelin's corporate culture places a high value on design and innovation...."

Last year's "Marketruck" entry, by Pai-Ching Hu, Taiwan

Last year's "Supple" entry, by Sadegh Samakoush Darounkolayi, Iran

Last year's "Aiolos" entry, by Kyoung Soo Na, South Korea

Registration starts this Saturday, October 1st, and then you'll have until June 1st of next year to get your 2D renderings in. Sign up, or check out previous years' entries, here.