BMW has hired Polestar’s old design boss. Is it done with being polarising?

The car industry is not Game of Thrones but there’s definitely a hint of Succession about the reorganisation within BMW’s design department.

To recap, the mothership’s design destiny is now primarily in the hands of two individuals: incoming is former Volkswagen, Volvo and most recently Polestar designer Max Missoni. He’ll take charge of the upper mid-size and luxury cars, including whatever the company has planned for Alpina. Oliver Heilmer, previously head of Mini Design, will oversee compact and mid-size BMWs, as well as the M Division.

Emphasising the increasing significance of colour, materials and finish, the recently arrived Claudia Braun is now in charge of CMD across all the brands. Rolls-Royce design boss Anders Warming is taking charge of Designworks and advanced design, his former position now in the hands of Domagoj Dukec.

Holger Hampf assumes control of Mini design, while Christian Bauer, who runs digital and UX, remains in post. So what does it all mean?

“We are actually strengthening and enlarging our management team. Which is rare,” BMW’s vice president for design Adrian van Hooydonk tells TG.com. “Normally reorganisation is about slimming down and making things more efficient. You will have noticed that we have created some new positions in the organisation, and two new people – or relatively new – are taking up some first line management positions in my team.”

Of course, critical observers – many of whom patrol the inner and outer recesses of the internet with unmoderated glee – smell a rat. BMW may have sold 2.25m cars in 2023, but the design trajectory continues to redefine the word ‘polarising’. Van Hooydonk knows that BMW, more than most brands, has as many fans as it does buyers. People really care. This brings an extra layer of responsibility as the company continues to push boundaries, but perhaps things have got a bit out of hand as the product line-up has expanded.

The egregiously plus-size XM is a mis-fire, to say the least, while the 7 Series wilfully debunks the holy strictures of big car design. Meanwhile, the two recent Neue Klasse concepts suggest a return to the crisp surfaces and subtle modernism that helped elevate BMW back in the Seventies and Eighties.

So is this a mea culpa from the company’s design boss? Not exactly, for there are other significant factors at play here.

“I believe it will give everyone a fresh perspective and a new energy for the next generation,” Van Hooydonk says firmly. “Car design today is much more complex than it was 20 years ago. I felt that the structure we had was probably close to overload with that complexity. So that’s how we came up with this new set-up, which is probably unusual in the industry.

“The volume of work was the key trigger. The sheer workload and the competitive landscape led me to believe this was a good step. It’s unusual in the bigger OEMs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if others followed suit. Nobody was forced out of his position or forced into a new one.”

Missoni, of course, recently left Polestar, his departure in parallel with the resignation of CEO Thomas Ingenlath. Maybe he spied the writing on the wall; he may have been contemplating a move anyway.

Serendipity or not, he has a strong track record and a clear vision, so he’s a great hire. “Max is very level headed, he’s modest, but he’s also a very, very passionate designer who cares about detail. He has proven he can design strong characters which are not overly complicated. All of these things appeal to me,” Van Hooydonk notes.

Heilmer has done a stellar job at Mini and this promotion to BMW demonstrates the company’s faith in him. In this context, Dukec’s transfer to Rolls-Royce and Warming’s to Designworks will suit both, but surely takes them out of the race to succeed Van Hooydonk. He will now inevitably be thinking in terms of his legacy and how best to secure it.

“It’s still our intention that out of those two teams come products that fit together for the customer,” he asserts. “It’s my duty to ensure that BMW remains one brand globally with a recognisable design line. The new set-up could create tension or discussions, but that’s why I’m here. Nothing goes out the door unseen by me. With the competition ramping up in every segment, it’s more important to focus on getting the best product out than ensuring that it’s all one clean design family. First and foremost, I want the teams to produce winning cars.”

He continues: “[Neue Klasse] is a big departure from where we were, it’s like we’re skipping a generation. Max won’t be influencing that but we’re working on cars for 2029 and 2030, cars he and Oliver will be influencing. We don’t want it to become a formula that just prints out BMWs of different sizes. We didn’t hire Max Missoni to get Polestar design here, it’s not what we want, it’s not what he wants, either.

“We want him very much to get his head around BMW and we will give him some time to do that. I encourage differentiation, but that will happen automatically with Max and Oliver.”