I think to even be talking about a new Teutonic design language is really a moot topic. Design today is a global business, German cars are conceived by designers from Italy, Korea, Japan, Yugoslavia, The U.K., the U.S.A., etc... Many have studied at design academies in Italy or the U.S., so there really is a global vision in the world of design, particularly with todays instant access to information and ideas - design is now a universal language - from London, Brasilia, Manama; to Murmansk, Hanoi, and Melbourne.

Bangle's design team are influenced by many other designers working all over the world. I don't think there really is a new Teutonic design language so much as just new global design trends - the designs of the latest BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes are more style-conscious than the clean and functional designs of past models - this all fits with the current global trends...where, in spite of global economic instability, (rising oil prices, terrorism, and an ever looming environmental crisis) consumers, particularly those in the west, seem to be in a kind of self-indulgent overdrive - the "decorative" designs currently favoured reflect this current preoccupation with ostentatiousness and general over-indulgence - this will undoubtedly change if the world's economy goes into free-fall, as some analysts believe it might.