The Volkswagen model may have a brand new design chief within the individual of Andreas Mindt beginning February 1, 2023.
Mindt, who beforehand headed Bentley’s styling division, will substitute Jozef Kaban, who took cost of the Volkswagen model design in 2020. Kaban has been appointed as Inventive Artwork Director Volkswagen and can report on to the member of the Board of Administration of the Volkswagen model chargeable for Technical Growth.
As a part of his new function with the Volkswagen Group Future Heart Europe in Potsdam, Jozef Kaban will develop forward-looking mobility options for the Volkswagen model, the automaker stated in a press launch saying the change.
Whereas Volkswagen didn’t reveal the explanations behind Kaban’s demotion, a report from Germany’s Automobilwoche doubtlessly sheds extra mild on what occurred behind the scenes.
Citing unnamed firm sources, the publication claims that Volkswagen model’s new CEO Thomas Schaefer had some design variations with Jozef Kaban. Extra particularly, Schaefer needed Kaban to remodel the retro-futuristic ID. Life idea, which debuted as Volkswagen’s preview of a future ID.2 electrical subcompact crossover on the 2021 IAA Mobility present.
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Schaefer apparently wasn’t pleased with Kaban’s restyled ID.2. Moreover, VW’s CEO reportedly requested Kaban to alter the Trinity flagship electrical sedan because of launch in 2026 right into a crossover, a extra common physique fashion amongst EV consumers.
It’s not clear whether or not Kaban opposed that, however the truth he was ultimately changed on the helm of Volkswagen model’s design division suggests he most likely wasn’t fully on board with it.
To his credit score, Jozef Kaban managed to get approval for the ID. Buzz’s retro-futuristic design, although Schaefer wasn’t the top of the Volkswagen model when the ID. Buzz was given the inexperienced mild for manufacturing. The electrical minivan is proving to be fairly common in Europe, with the automaker reporting 6,000 gross sales and a manufacturing of 10,800 items in 2022.
Bar a quick stint at BMW Group from 2017 by way of 2019, Kaban has been working for the Volkswagen Group since 1999, with numerous roles on the Audi, Bugatti, Skoda and Volkswagen manufacturers. In July 2020, he returned to Volkswagen because the core model’s chief designer.
His successor, Andreas Mindt, is a Volkswagen Group veteran, having joined the corporate in 1996. He held a number of positions on the Volkswagen model since 2014, then headed Audi’s exterior design till 2021, when he was appointed director of Bentley’s design.
At Bentley, Mindt shall be changed by Tobias Suehlmann, who joined the luxurious model in 2021 as head of exterior design.
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