All change @ BMW Design.

[SCOTT27]

Munich. Since 1 August 2013 there have been a number of personnel changes within the BMW Group Design team. Adrian van Hooydonk is in overall charge of BMW Group Design, which embraces all the Group’s brands, and is thus responsible for design at BMW, BMW i, BMW Motorrad and MINI, as well as Rolls-Royce. The various design studios, Advanced Design, design research, design strategy and DesignworksUSA all fall within his remit.

BMW Design
In the BMW Design Team led by Karim Habib, Domagoj Dukec has taken over as head of Exterior Design, Oliver Heilmer as head of Interior Design and Martina Starke as head of Colour and Material Design.
Domagoj Dukec, 38, the new head of Exterior Design, was born in Frankfurt and has worked in the Exterior Design BMW Automobiles team since 2010. He was responsible for designing the Concept Active Tourer.
Oliver Heilmer, 39, replaces Marc Girard as head of Interior Design. The Munich native has been part of the Interior Design BMW Automobiles team since 2000 and was responsible for the design of the BMW 5 Series, among other assignments. Marc Girard, 43, will assume management of Automobile Design at DesignworksUSA, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the BMW Group.
Martina Starke, 42, is head of Colour and Material Design. The qualified textile designer joined the BMW Group in 2001 and her responsibilities have included Colour and Material Design for the larger series cars as well as for BMW Individual.

MINI Design
The MINI Design team led by Anders Warming welcomes Christopher Weil, 38, as its new head of Exterior Design. A Bavarian by birth, he has worked as a designer for the BMW Group since 2000, most recently for Automotive Design at BMW Group DesignworksUSA. Marcus Syring, 49, leaves his post as head of Exterior Design to join Rolls-Royce. Oliver Sieghart remains responsible for Interior Design and Annette Baumeister for Colour and Material Design.

“As head of BMW Group Design I’m very proud of the wealth of talent in my team. I am convinced that through this restructuring we have given a significant boost to design in the individual brand studios and will continue to shape the future of BMW Group Design with success,” says Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design.

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/pressclub/p/pcgl/download.html?textId=179933&textAttachmentId=224345.

 

[bombardier01]

Hope the new team will bring BMW back to its traditional yet modern design (like Concept Active Tourer) & leave that "connected headlights to the grille" design for the BMW i brand only.

 

[SCOTT27]

Many love that look , that the first BMW to showcase this new design interpretation - the 3er has led to the exterior designer Christopher Weil to be promoted and become responsible for MINI exterior design. Christopher Weil also designed the exterior for the BMW 5er Gran Turismo and Oliver Heilmer done the GT interior also.

Heilmer is responsible for the interior in the new BMW X5 which brings layers , surfaces and miminalism giving the cockpit a very spatial theme.
Something we will also see in the next generation 7er.

 

[klier]

Going from designing the 3er to designing Minis is more like a downgrade if you ask me...

 

[EnI]

^ All those are MANAGERIAL positions ...

It's an upgrade. It's an award for a great work as a designer - of course you have to show great managerial skills too to get promoted to such post (eg. exterior designer of model xxxxx -> chief exterior design of brand xxxxx ).

When taking managerial positions all those people are removed from base designing tasks (eg. making sketches) ... They are there to LEAD the design teams, to supervise the designing process, to COMMUNICATE with higher ranking chiefs (eg brand chief design, group chief design etc) & with other chief designers of same ranks etc ... Communicating & working with project managers / leaders etc etc. They also DISCUSS the future design projects & language, and PARTICIPATE at decision making on future design language etc They also DELEGATE team leaders to specific projects etc.

 

[7saen]

Going from designing the 3er to designing Minis is more like a downgrade if you ask me...

I t's not going from designing BMWs to designing Minis (which is not a downgrade at all) but going from being an exteror designer to leading a team of exterior designers.
Your argument is like saying: Peter Schreyer's move from Audi to Kia was a downgrade. And we all know that is not the case

 

[SCOTT27]

I would not say that leading exterior design @ MINI is a downgrade?

MINI as a brand is in its most exciting phase as it seeks new ideas for further growth . Because MINI is now directly aligned with BMWs UKL strategy there will be many new MINIs on top of what we have available on the market today.

Exciting times for MINI , due to its continuing success Mercedes dealers want a MINI rival with a star on its nose, they need this car as according to industry rumours at the IAA.
And shareholders want such a car by the end of the decade. Whether it is on a shared Nissan/ Renault platform or stand alone architecture. Using the Renault/Nissan platform will not just cut costs but bring the car to the market quicker.

And other industry rumours - The C-Klasse hatchback , nee 3er GT rival is going to happen , first prototype pictures are expected around the end of the year.