The Volkswagen Group on Thursday named Klaus Bischoff as its new design chief.
Bischoff has been with the automaker since 1989 and since 2007 has been in charge of design for passenger cars at the Volkswagen brand. He starts his new role at the top of the design ladder on April 1, 2020.
In his new role, Bischoff will be responsible for design across VW Group's diverse range of brands. Fortunately, he has plenty of experience, having been in charge of exterior, interior and concept car design departments throughout his career.
Bischoff replaces Michael Mauer, who has been filling in since famed designer Walter Maria de Silva stepped down from the role in late 2015. Mauer has been heading the design teams at both VW Group and the Porsche brand and now will concentrate his efforts once again at Porsche. As for de Silva, since leaving VW he's expanded his talents outside of the auto industry, including launching a high-end women's shoe collection. He's also been designing cars for Chinese brands.
And replacing Bischoff in the head design role at the VW brand is Jozef Kaban, the man responsible for the exterior of the Bugatti Veyron. Kaban has worked at several VW Group brands, including Audi and Skoda in addition to Bugatti. He stepped away from VW Group in 2017 to join BMW Group, where he was initially in charge of design at the BMW brand and later Rolls-Royce. Kaban will start his new role at VW on July 1, 2020.
