German Car Zone

Yannis · 07-30-2006, 10:24 PM

Have you ever heard of Peter Schreyer? He is well known in the automotive industry for his work which includes cars like the New Beetle and the Audi TT. Now Mr. Schreyer has been appointed by Kia to the newly created position of Chief Design Officer.

Read more details: http://www.newswire.co.kr/read_sub.p...rg2=&r g3=&tt

Brookside · 07-30-2006, 11:41 PM

Wow- Peter Schreyer is a top-tier world class designer.
This is very hard to believe- he is widely credited as the lead designer of the Beetle and TT...tho he wasn't...(JMays and Freeman Thomas)
but he did have a hand in most everything from Audi 1994-2002 and transferred to head of VW design 2002 until 2005.

Kia just took a step- and must have thrown down a passle of loot and guaranteed autonomy to get Schreyer who is still relatively young (53).
Even if he's burned out of ideas he still has one of the sharpest critical eyes- invaluable in spotting young designers and new trends- before they become cliche's.
Lesson learned? Don't just emulate German design- go out and buy the German designer.

Snake Vargas · 07-31-2006, 12:13 AM

I reckon it's a good move. Kia have been making progress in becoming a competitive car maker, and this can only help (no Olivier Boulay/Mitsubishi, hopefully).

It's like getting Guus Hiddink in to coach the South Korean soccer team - a bit of foreign influence can help broaden horizons and change mentalities, which is usually a good thing. Even if he doesn't become a one man show there, I hope they make the most use of him to train up their own designers.

Osnabrueck · 07-31-2006, 02:32 AM

It's a move by Kia that will pay itself off in dividends.

The Koreans have been very wise to realize that they need to poach foreign talent in order to stay on top of design currents. They've been honest whith themselves, and I deeply respect that. Funny how the perennially stubborn Koreans have been able to disabuse themselves of the notion that they could style cars themselves - while at the same time "pioneering" American brands have languished in a stylistic malaise for some 20 years.

It all comes down to admitting that the successful designers stand on their own merit - not the company that employs them. Kia and Hyundai have taken a very important step: Don't drink your own Kool Aid - instead let great designers mix it for you. Only if the American three would have made the same paradigm shift 15 years ago.

SDNR · 07-31-2006, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osnabrueck

...American brands have languished in a stylistic malaise for some 20 years.

That is undeniably true Osna ...and also quite ironic, considering all the top European and Japanese manufacturers have design studios in California to take advantage of the abundance of design talent in the US. It's Corporate America I blame for the continual torrent of utter rubbish that is churned out by the US auto industry. The US has some of the finest design schools in the world -- the most talented graduates mostly end up working for foreign (non US) manufacturers

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German Car Zone

Former Audi/VW designer to become Kia Motors’ Chief Design Officer.