For more than 15 years, most of BMW’s vehicles have followed the same initially controversial look that former design chief Chris Bangle brought forth with the E65 BMW 7 Series. There have been updates and evolutions over the years, but the “flame surface” styling has remained. A change may be on the horizon, as BMW and design chief Adrian van Hooydonk announced former Volkswagen group designer Jozef Kabaň will be in charge of BMW core brand design while current employee Domagoj Dukec will take over as head of BMW’s i and M vehicles.
The move comes just a few weeks after former BMW brand design chief Karim Habib’s departure. Habib took over in 2011 after spending two years at Mercedes-Benz. He left BMW in 2009 around the same time as Chris Bangle. Habib’s replacement, Jozef Kabaň, is the former chief of exterior design at Škoda Auto. He also worked on other Volkswagen Group products, including the Bugatti Veyron.
Domagoj Dukec, like van Hooydonk, has been with BMW for a number of years, although he too previously worked for Volkswagen as well as French automaker Citroën. According to BMW Blog, his work with the latter included the C4 coupe and the C5 Airscape.
Don’t look for a full overhaul of BMW’s design anytimes soon. Production cycles take years, so look for concept cars to reveal hints as to what BMW has in store.
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