Why BMW chose its new design chief from Skoda

Although there was much speculation about Karim Habib's successor, the final result surprised many people.

On February 8, local time, BMW announced that Jozef Kaban, former chief designer of Skoda, will take over the position of BMW brand design director, replacing Habby who left in January. At the same time, Domagoj Dukec, head of BMW brand appearance, was promoted to design director of the i brand and M department.

A BMW spokesman said Carbone will start work in the second half of this year at the latest, and Duke's promotion will take effect immediately.

Last year, MINI design director Anders Warming and BMW i brand design director Benoit Jacob left the company one after another. The former joined Borgward and the latter joined NIO.

▲During the Beijing Auto Show in April 2016, Jozef Kaban came to China to explain Skoda design and accepted interviews from media including Automotive Business Review.

Three senior BMW design executives have left in 10 months. The last time BMW experienced such a personnel turmoil was when Chris Bangle left in 2009 and Adrian van Hooydonk was promoted to vice president of group design.

At that time, as the style of the car models changed from radical to "restrained", the BMW design team was in constant turmoil, and it was not until mid-2013 that it basically stabilized. Habby left briefly in 2009 with the title of "BMW Design Rising Star" and worked for Mercedes-Benz for a while, but because he failed to integrate smoothly into the new team, he chose to return in 2011 and began to take charge of the styling work of the BMW brand in May 2012.

In the past five years, Habby led the team to complete the design of the new 7 Series, the new 5 Series, and the VISION NEXT 100 concept car that guides BMW's future 100-year strategy.

BMW did not give a clear explanation for Habby's sudden departure, but it seems to be a reasonable explanation that someone must be held responsible for BMW's loss of the global luxury car championship in 2016. After all, in the past few years, after Mercedes-Benz revolutionized its design quality, BMW's styling has been widely criticized for its lack of novelty and conservatism.

▲Habib: Who will be Karim Habib’s new club? Will it be a new car-making company?

As for the reasons for the job-hopping of Warmin and Jacob, it is not difficult to find out: MINI reduced its product line and i brand transformation. It is rumored that Weilai's products will complete the unfinished ideas of the original i team at BMW in many aspects.

Against this background, it is logical for BMW to choose Carbon.

Carbone, 44, was born in what is now Slovakia. He has worked for Volkswagen for many years and has served as a body designer for the Volkswagen brand and the head of the Audi body design center. During this period, he was commissioned by the group to complete the design work of Bugatti Veyron, Volkswagen LUPO and SEAT AROSA. In 2008, Martin Winterkorn, then CEO of Volkswagen Group, "personally selected" Carbone to be the head of Skoda's design department.

In the next nine years, under Carbone's leadership, Skoda completed a "gorgeous transformation" in design with two generations of products. Under the concept of crystal cutting and three-dimensional aesthetics, Skoda cars, characterized by simplicity, youthfulness and large space, have gotten rid of the names of cheapness and "Volkswagen sub-brand" and have become synonymous with fashion, sports and trends.

▲Domagoj Dukec was promoted to design director of BMW i brand and M department.

Now, BMW has chosen Carbone in the hope that he can also erase its reputation for being conservative and lacking innovation. Hoeydonk said in a statement: "I am very much looking forward to this expansion of the BMW design team. Josef Carbone and Domagoj Duke's experience, talent and vision are exactly what we need for future design."

Then, the other side of the question is, why did Carbone choose to take up the new position when Skoda is at its peak? You know, with Volkswagen's new strategic transformation and the departure of several design executives during the Winterkorn era, the Volkswagen Group is in need of talent. As of press time, Skoda has not made any statement on Carbone's departure or his successor.

As for BMW, can Carbone change his working style after working for his old company for more than 20 years and integrate into and lead the new team? Who will be the design director of MINI? Can Hoeydonk lead his sub-brands to truly implement the many concepts conveyed by VISION NEXT 100 and complete BMW's transformation and upgrading in this era of industry change?

In addition, who will be Habby’s new owner? Will it be a new car-making force?

The answers to these questions will probably take time.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.