Auto Design

by Giancarlo Perini.

After “inventing” the convertible-coupé for their first generation SLK, first launched in 1996, Mercedes-Benz is keen to maintain their leadership in the speciality and further develop the “air and light” unique atmosphere inside their cosy Roadster. The third generation is being launched this year. With orders collected starting January 17^th. In Germany the starting price is € 38,675.00 for the SLK 200 BlueEFFICIENCY (€ 44,256.10 for the SLK 250 BlueEFFICIENCY).  Although not cheap the new Mercedes-Benz SLK is probably the most affordable convertible-coupé of this class. Read the rest of this entry »

I think it is time for Sergio Marchionne to present a gift to Italy, to his shareholders and to himself: sell Alfa Romeo to Volkswagen as soon as possible. At the best possible price, sure but without wasting time.

By selling now SM will avoid the embarrassment of missing to deliver what he has announced: sell half a million Alfa Romeo by 2015. There is no way he can do it, unless he is thinking of a range of Chrysler derivatives that would carry the Alfa Romeo shield but would be rebadged Chrysler. This can work for Lancia. Not for Alfa Romeo. Read the rest of this entry »

By Giancarlo Perini ©

The rush to conquer best design talents is faster and faster.

With the aesthetic appeal emerging as a key selling point for any new cars in a market that is becoming more and more sophisticated top brands compete also in the market of human resources. BMW is recovering one of “his own” stars that two years ago deserted to Mercedes-Benz. Read the rest of this entry »

by Giancarlo Perini ©

The name sounds very familiar and recalls the mid-ship supercar designed by Giugiaro that actually marked the birth of the M (for “Motorsport”) branch of BMW.  That was 32 years ago.

Comes January 2011 and a “second generation” M1 Coupé will makes its World premiere at North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Read the rest of this entry »

By Giancarlo Perini ©

BMW, the world leader in premium cars will not be the first to join the EV mass market but it will certainly be among the best dressed when it joins the party late in 2013. The number plate of the first Megacity Vehicle to come off the new production lines – to be built in the meantime within the Leipzig (Saxony, Germany) plant – has already been announced at a ceremony attended by German Chancellor Mrs. Angela Merkel and other local authorities. The plate reads L MV 2013, L for Leipzig, MCV for Megacity Vehicle and 2013 for the year of the planned launch.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ferdinand Piëch on the Future of Car Design

Giancarlo Perini ©

The other day I was searching a story through my collection of Car Styling and I also noticed an interview with Ferninand Piëch, shortly after the introduction of the new Audi 100, the Car of the Year of the time. I found interesting to read again his words and check his visions with the development of Audi (and the entire Volkswagen group) some 27 years later.

Perhaps you too may like to read them and share your comments with other readers.

Status and Trends of Automotive Design Development.

Q: How would you describe the present status of automotive engineering in general?

A: Automotive engineering is currently in a state of tension between numerous influencing factors, some of them mutually contradictory. Increased awareness of environmental problems is taking effect in the form of statutory limits on exhaust emissions and noise, but is obliging us to design engines with unfavorable fuel-consumption characteristics and to increase body weight unnecessarily. However, rapidly rising fuel prices and the drop in our potential customers’ available incomes on almost all volume markets oblige us to devote top priority in our development work to reducing fuel consumption. All in all, therefore, automotive engineering is striving to achieve the optimum compromise between economical running and long-term durability, with increased safety and environmental acceptability thrown in at the same time. Considerable progress in the field of electronics and in the materials sector has resulted in technical features appearing on production vehicles which would have been considered impossible to achieve only a short time ago. Read the rest of this entry »

BMW has release official pictures of its new 6 Serie Cabriolet. The superlative open air 2+2 sets new standard of beauty and elegance in its class. It will go on sale next year, before the 6 Series Coupé of which a “concept” was presented at the Paris Motor Show in October. More on this blog tomorrow. Here a selection of images.

From the Volkswagen press office I have just received the following report.

I like the idea of considering “car design” a popular subject but I would have expected more, much more, from an interview to three famous designers of such a high rating.

Fair enough, De Silva gives credit to the designer who actually drove the Golf VI design development under his direction and everybody knows Giugiaro (Giorgetto, not Giorgio as reported) designed the Golf himself. Did Warkuss designed the Golf IV himself or it was one of his designer who did the job? In this case who was it? Doesn’t he deserves due credit?
What is your opinion/reaction? I would really like to know.

Summit Meeting of the Designers:

Golf I bears the signature of Giorgio Giugiaro

Golf IV and V evolved under the aegis of Hartmut Warkuß

Golf VI and the future of the Golf are shaped by Silva

Wolfsburg, 21 October 2010 – These three men have had a decisive influence on automotive history: Giorgio Giugiaro, Hartmut Warkuß and Walter de Silva. Designers of world renown. Each of them has designed icons that will stand the test of time. One thing unites these men: the Golf. Because the Golf generations that were most important in terms of style—I, IV and VI—evolved under their aegis. Now the three top designers got together in a kind of summit meeting of design to analyse the “Golf” phenomenon.

Giorgio Giugiaro (72), who was head of Italdesign and designed the first Golf generation (debut in 1974), casts a glance back on the design of the Golf: “From my vantage point back then, it was not difficult to make the transition from the Beetle to a new vehicle type.” The fact that Giugiaro was always true to his own rules might have had something to do with that. Giugiaro: “When it comes to criteria for fine design, the proportions top the list. It is always somewhat of a mathematical game.” And his ideas were a winner: The proportions of the Golf I were right; 6.78 million units of the first generation were sold up till 1983.

Just how much the head of Italdesign, a company belonging to Volkswagen AG since 2010, influenced the “Golf” product brand is emphasized by Hartmut Warkuß (70). The ardent amateur pilot was chief designer of Volkswagen AG until his retirement in 2003; Hartmut Warkuß and his team created the Golf of the fourth and fifth generation. Warkuß: “We began with the Golf IV in 1993. I asked myself at the time how Giorgio Giugiaro would design it.” What a compliment.

Warkuß: “And so we created a timeless form again and intensified the character of the Golf through the distinctive C-pillars, among other things.” What was of overriding importance to Hartmut Warkuß: “Design has to be balanced. Its proportions have to be right. It has to suit the time in which such a design is to be valid.” For many experts, the Golf IV, which has been built 4.3 million times, is already today a classic of tomorrow.

Walter de Silva (59) is also one of these experts. He has been Head of Volkswagen Group Design since 2007. “Messrs. Giugiaro and Warkuß have given the fundamental design to the Golf as a Volkswagen.” With a view to the Golf VI, yet also to future generations, he outlines why he has preserved these genes and will continue to perpetuate them:

“Basically, Giorgio Giugiaro and Hartmut Warkuß have written the score, a beautiful piece of music. And with my team, with Klaus Bischoff—Head of Design for the Volkswagen brand—and naturally all the others, we try to give a proper interpretation of this music. The basic score of the ‛Golf music’ has been written. What we’re carrying forward here is a further development.”

The sixth generation of the Golf shows what potential this music still has. De Silva himself is living in the future; he is already on the road driving the next Golf in his thoughts. And that Golf will—some day—follow the score defined by Giugiaro and yet remain one-of-a-kind. This is part of the secret of success of the Volkswagen brand and the “Golf” phenomenon alike. Walter de Silva: “Volkswagen will remain unique in the future and therefore universal. Constant changes make for unreliability for customers.” The latest figures prove him right: During the first eight months of this year alone, Volkswagen was able to convince around 250,000 more customers to buy a car bearing the label of Volkswagen, in a year-on-year comparison with the previous period. People seem to have been entranced by the music on a lasting basis.

The auto motor und sport trade journal has just published a discussion between the designers Giorgio Giugiaro, Hartmut Warkuß and Walter de Silva about the Golf—recorded within the framework of the Schloss Bensberg Classics 2010.

Can it just be a meaningless coincidence than 50% of the winners of the Car of the Century awards presented to top personalities of the Twentieth Century have been friends for almost 40 years and although both over 70, have a lot to share under the roof of Italdesign-Giugiaro?

Late in 1999, a jury of 132 professional automotive journalists from 33 different countries, under the presidency of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, awarded the title of Car of the Century’s to Ford’s T Model and the same awards to four top personalities in the car industry through the past century.

Their choice made up for a very impressive panel: Giorgetto Giugiaro was elected Car Designer of the Century, Ferdinand Porsche, Car Engineer of the Century, Henry Ford I Entrepreneur of the Century and Ferdinand Piëch Car Executive of the Century. Read the rest of this entry »

A commentary.

In the mid-sixties, the Milanese Inter foot-club was dominating the scene in Europe, under the leadership of coach Helenio Herrera and the ownership of Angelo Moratti. Herrera had a lot of talent and a simple, pragmatic strategy: buy all the best players, even if he could not use all of them. Read the rest of this entry »