12-13-2002, 02:52 AM
On aura des 206 made by VW? Bonne nouvelle pour VW en tout cas, ca prouve qu'ils ont decider de changer leur design, trop predictible.
FRANKFURT, Dec 12 (Reuters) - German carmaker Volkswagen AG <VOWG.DE> said on Thursday it had appointed Murat Guenak, currently responsible for design at Mercedes passenger cars, as head of design for its Volkswagen, Skoda and Bentley brands.
Europe's largest carmaker said in a statement Guenak would take over as design chief of the three brands in April. He was expected later to head the design team for the group as a whole, which also includes the Audi, Lamborghini and Bugatti marques.
Guenak, 44, seen as one of the rising stars of the car design world, is jointly responsible for designing passenger cars at the luxury Mercedes unit of DaimlerChrysler <DCXGn.DE>, where he worked on models including the SLK roadster and the recently launched Maybach limousine.
"For the Volkswagen Group, this appointment is a further important step towards implementing the new brand group structure," the company said in a statement.
VW's wide range of brands was acquired under former Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand Piech, who was criticised by some analysts for his "platform strategy", which saved production costs by building several models on the same basic framework but diluted the identity of some of the individual marques.
New Volkswagen Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, who took over the helm in April, has made it one of his goals to cut out overlap in the group's brand portfolio.
Before moving to DaimlerChrysler in 1998, Guenak, who was born in Istanbul, spent four years as head of design at French carmaker Peugeot <PEUP.PA>, where he worked on a range of products including the small 206 hatchback.
FRANKFURT, Dec 12 (Reuters) - German carmaker Volkswagen AG <VOWG.DE> said on Thursday it had appointed Murat Guenak, currently responsible for design at Mercedes passenger cars, as head of design for its Volkswagen, Skoda and Bentley brands.
Europe's largest carmaker said in a statement Guenak would take over as design chief of the three brands in April. He was expected later to head the design team for the group as a whole, which also includes the Audi, Lamborghini and Bugatti marques.
Guenak, 44, seen as one of the rising stars of the car design world, is jointly responsible for designing passenger cars at the luxury Mercedes unit of DaimlerChrysler <DCXGn.DE>, where he worked on models including the SLK roadster and the recently launched Maybach limousine.
"For the Volkswagen Group, this appointment is a further important step towards implementing the new brand group structure," the company said in a statement.
VW's wide range of brands was acquired under former Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand Piech, who was criticised by some analysts for his "platform strategy", which saved production costs by building several models on the same basic framework but diluted the identity of some of the individual marques.
New Volkswagen Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder, who took over the helm in April, has made it one of his goals to cut out overlap in the group's brand portfolio.
Before moving to DaimlerChrysler in 1998, Guenak, who was born in Istanbul, spent four years as head of design at French carmaker Peugeot <PEUP.PA>, where he worked on a range of products including the small 206 hatchback.