Ex-Polestar designer on joining BMW: "I noticed the difference immediately on social media"

When Max Missoni’s appointment at BMW was announced, Top Gear compared it to Succession. It’s not as fanciful as it sounds.

Missoni, 47, is an RCA graduate with long stints at VW and Volvo on his CV. Most recently, he was Thomas Ingenlath’s right-hand man as the Polestar project came to life. BMW’s director of design, Adrian van Hoydoonk, isn’t going anywhere – yet – but securing Missoni’s services whilst promoting the highly regarded former Mini design boss Oliver Heilmer has created a dual-attack powerhouse at BMW.

As a reminder, Heilmer has oversight on the company’s small and mid-size cars, as well as M Division. Missoni, meanwhile, controls the visual destiny of the 5 Series and up, and will also give new life to Alpina, the beloved cult tuner that BMW acquired in 2022.

Top Gear caught up with Missoni whilst previewing the BMW concept Speedtop, the Villa d’Este Shooting Brake special slated for limited series production. He arrived too late to have much say in it, or indeed in the Neue Klasse cars set to redefine BMW’s entire model portfolio over the next few years. Instead, as is the way with the car industry, he’s getting his head around what BMW does after that, a challenge with few parallels in the business as the rise of AI makes the transition to electrification look like child’s play.

In his first interview since arriving in Munich, Missoni is honest about what lies ahead. And about the responsibility he feels for a brand that isn’t afraid to poke the bear that is BMW’s online fan community.

TG: How difficult is it to take on a job like this?

MM: Honestly, it’s a challenge. I was thinking about this, and thinking, ‘it gets better… you know more than you did before so it’ll be easier’. But then again, things get bigger at the same time. There are more responsibilities. So you’re never really ready, is the truth. One of the challenges in a big, established company is learning a new language, even though this one is my mother tongue. The second thing is the methodologies, understanding the systems and processes. But I’m through all that.

What point have you reached now?

Now it’s about bringing in your own experience and intuition, trying to move the needle a bit. The bigger the organisation, the harder it is to do that. You need to come in with your own vision and say, ‘listen everyone, this is what I would like to do and how things should be’, and everybody feels like, ‘well, why should we change?’ But we understand each other now. I know where the team’s strengths lie, and once you’ve uncovered those, it’s easier to put people where they thrive.

Presumably you liked what BMW was doing or you wouldn’t have been tempted to join. Or would it not have mattered?

That’s an interesting question. I think it did matter. I have to be able to believe in something, believe in the philosophy. Adrian [van Hooydonk] talks about the purification of the design and going back to the essence at BMW while modernising it. I like that.

Look at the new car companies emerging and look how similar the recipe is. That’s when tapping into the emotional cues of a brand like BMW and still modernising becomes so important. That’s what Neue Klasse does so well. It’s the translation of an emotion rather than literally quoting the past.

I really want to give the Neue Klasse cars the stage they deserve. We can talk about what’s next after that

You have oversight on the 5 Series and up, and Alpina. I’m particularly intrigued by that.

I’m as intrigued as you are. Things had gone quite a way in a certain direction but we made some adjustments. I’m really confident that this will be an exciting journey with Alpina. When we dove into the brand and all its peculiarities, there were so many wonderfully whimsical things to discover, beyond the technology and performance side but also on the design and storytelling side. There are many new brands that struggle to be seen and heard because they have no history or relevance. Alpina might be small but it still creates an emotional connection.

Polestar and Alpina aren’t so dissimilar, if you go back to where each started.

There are some parallels, but Polestar’s history was much shorter. Looking back, the degree of freedom we had there was stunning. We decided that we wouldn’t apply any of the classical design codes, it was a completely blank sheet of paper. That’s not the case with Alpina and I’m looking forward to tapping into that. And with BMW… there’s such a rich history there, it shouldn’t be ignored. The opposite, in fact.

Do you feel a great responsibility?

I noticed the difference immediately on social media, switching from a company that was ‘hey guys, you’re new, good luck’ to one where there’s so much emotion in both directions. People have strong opinions. That was new to me. People approaching me directly on social media and saying, 'OK, listen up now, I’m going to tell you exactly what I think…'

We’re all people that struggle every day the same way as we do in smaller companies to do the right thing, you know? You tend to forget that because [BMW] has been around forever, and because it’s become a symbol of something.

You’re following people like Chris Bangle [BMW’s design chief from 1992 until 2009]. It could be a bumpy ride.

He was on a different level, he was very conceptual. The grand idea was his turf and he relied on the team to translate those big ideas. But look, the 6 Series from that era is definitely a future classic, if it isn’t one already. Actually I remember Chris [Bangle] visiting the RCA in London when I was studying there, to give a speech. This was when there was lots of criticism and we were eager, competitive students.

We said, ‘OK, we’re going to give him a really hard time and ask all the unpleasant questions'. Then we all walked out of the auditorium saying, ‘That’s it! He’s a visionary, that’s the only way to do it…!’

Well, he was originally planning to be a preacher…

[laughs] What can I say? Being in a similar role now is quite surreal. That will never change. You have to have commitment. Remember also that the company was way less complex back then than it is today, which means it’s an even bigger task. So yes, I’m very aware of the emotions and the responsibility that comes with it. The anticipation of feedback and the connection to people is an exciting part of the job. I’m looking forward to the conversation. But I also admit that I’m rather sensitive. And I don’t like being shouted at.

Have you drafted a Missoni mission statement?

We’re working on our design vision, Oliver and myself. It’s an interesting situation because for the first time we don’t only have our individual expressions of a vision, we also have to align it so there’s coherence across the brand. We’re in the middle of that and it’s working well… but this is aiming at 2030 and beyond.

Have you confirmed the pillars of your approach?

We’re at the point now where we’ve established the ‘why’ – basically the values we’re working to. Within BMW, but also with M, which Ollie is in charge of, and Alpina. These can deviate from the core to a certain degree but they should all clearly be BMWs. The second layer is in the codes we give to the team to translate those values into products. We’re defining those and communicating them right now. And of course, in parallel, the machine doesn’t stop.

When will we see the first application of your philosophy?

There’s a whole cadence of concept cars that companies normally adhere to, so you can definitely expect that to happen. But honestly, I really want to give the Neue Klasse cars the stage they deserve. We can talk about what’s next after that. There have been dramatic changes within the design language, there’s been controversy and some pain, but that boldness is part of what makes BMW so vibrant. Now we have to be courageous and take our own step, even without that feedback.

How tricky is it actually pinning down the ‘future’?

Autonomous driving hasn’t materialised in the timeframe we thought it would, and cars have been prepared with all those sensors in them… a lot of the design language is based on an awareness of what was to come. But what’s interesting on the generation we’re defining right now is that this is the one where these things really will happen. Plus the impact of AI. So I’d say there’s been a rehearsal for something that we cannot deny. We’ve been talking about it for so long that there’s a risk of an anti-climax, but now it’s our job to motivate everyone… ‘listen, this is going to happen so we better be ready.’

Don’t be different just to stand out. Improve something and you’ll be different

What do we need to get ready for?

I think what’s coming will lead to an even tighter link between our personal devices and the car. And in people’s behaviour. You’ll be even more impatient than you are today. We’ve built so much complexity into our systems so one big task is to simplify them while still providing all the services. The car will anticipate what you like, much as the algorithms on social media do now.

By which point we’ll have got used to the Panoramic Vision head-up display that’s about to launch…

That’s a courageous step. Everybody was talking about it in the industry… should we do this? Extending the head-up display with that sort of fidelity is a brave move for a big company, despite all its processes and complexity. That’s one of the reasons I’m here, actually. I think it takes the essence of BMW and rethinks it from scratch. It’s very impressive.

As you say, modernisation without needless complexity.

We don’t have to do something differently for the sake of being different. We just have to improve it and that in itself, if it solves enough problems, will allows things to be different. That’s the key. Don’t be different just to stand out. Improve something and you’ll be different.