Frank Stephenson, the man behind such memorable works like the Ferrari 430 and 612 Scaglietti, will be leaving his post as Head of Design at the Prancing Horse label to start a new job as Alfa Romeo’s Style chief.

Stephenson will be reporting directly to Fiat Group’s chief stylist Lorenzo Ramaciotti, the man in charge of design for Fiat, Maserati, Lancia and of course, Alfa Romeo. Moroccan born Stephenson will have some big shoes to fill. He’s taking up the position of Wolfgang Egger, who recently moved to head the design team over at Audi. Egger was responsible for such beauties as the 1998 Nuvola concept car, the current Alfa 159 sedan, and the stunning Alfa 8C Competizione, but we're sure Stephenson has a few aces up his sleeve.

The first tasks on his list will be to tackle the design of the new Alfa 149 hatchback due in less than two years. Designers have already gone through several different proposals and Stephenson will likely be keen to make the car’s design his own. Upon completion of the 149, he'll then turn his attention to the upcoming Fiat Junior hatch and then onto Alfa’s new 169 flagship saloon as well as a possible crossover model.