Chris Bangle Leaves BMW/Auto Industry

[Bogart]

BMW design boss Bangle quits auto industry
Paul McVeigh
Automotive News Europe
February 3, 2009 13:52 CET
UPDATED: 09/02/03 14:55 CET

ENLARGEBMW's Chris Bangle (right) is leaving the auto industry. He will be succeeded by Adrian van Hooydonk (left).



MUNICH -- BMW Group's design head Chris Bangle is quitting "to pursue his own design-related endeavors beyond the auto industry," the German carmaker said Tuesday.

Adrian van Hooydonk, head of design for BMW brand, will succeed Bangle with immediate effect, BMW said.

"Christopher Bangle has had a lasting impact on the identity of BMW Group's brands. His contribution to the company's success has been decisive," said Klaus Draeger, BMW's development chief, in a statement.

America-born Bangle, 52, joined BMW in 1992 and modernized the conservative styling of the premium brand's cars. Bangle's distinctive themes of flame surfacing and pronounced trunk lids aroused strong opposition from many in the industry but the styling was a commercial success, helping BMW to overtake rival Mercedes-Benz as the global No. 1 premium brand by unit sales in 2006.

Draeger said Bangle had mapped out a clear design route for BMW. He said van Hooydonk will continue and build on Bangle's philosophy.

After studying at the University of Wisconsin and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Bangle started his career at GM's German subsidiary Opel. He joined Fiat in 1985 and rose to become head of Fiat's styling center before quitting to join BMW.

Bangle and his team designed the current BMW 3-, 5- and 7-Series and other models including the Z3, X5 and X3 He also oversaw the design of BMW Group's Mini and Rolls-Royce cars.

Dutch-born Van Hooydonk, 44, joined BMW in 1992. He was director of BMW subsidiary Designworks USA in California from 2001 to 2004.

Van Hooydonk heavily influenced the designs of BMW’s upcoming Progressive Activity Sedan, which will debut at the Geneva auto show in March, as well as the 6- and 7-Series and Z9 and CS concept cars.

[E36is]

meh.. from bad to worse. bring in the person(s) who designed the e39.

[Manimillion]

I don't know about you guys, but I think Bangle's designes are great, maybe a little ahead of its time for people to like it, but I still think he designed really pretty cars.

[tominizer]

I like that............... "the design head is being replaced by the head of design". WTF !?!?!

[BMW_7]

BAh.. Hooydonk is even worse than Bangle

[Meth09]

Hopefully Van Hooydonk will not follow in his predecessors (Bangle's) stylings too closely. I personally disliked Bangle's designs and felt that his styling particularly of the rear trunk areas were a serious failure and eyesore.
Oh noooooo, having said that I just noted that Van Hooydonk did the new 6 series...what a disaster that one is!!!!

A BMW designed by famed Italian stylers Pininfarina would be interesting to see.

[summit425]

I don't know why people hate about e60's design when it first came out.

For me e60 5 series looks great.

[craigIS]

i personally like bangles designs.....i dont know how Hooydonk will do as design head, we'll have to see

[M3ti Compact]

Bangle did a good job. His designs are not accepted at first because they were radically different, but over time, the more you look at the car, the better looking it becomes. As opposed to a car that looks good at first glance when new, then looks dated within a few years.

[AceOfSpades]

Originally Posted by M3ti Compact

Bangle did a good job. His designs are not accepted at first because they were radically different, but over time, the more you look at the car, the better looking it becomes. As opposed to a car that looks good at first glance when new, then looks dated within a few years.

Old bmws have their own individual character. Doing softy lines and cars that blend with lexuses is not exactly the way to go.
As said before, E38s and E39 were DOPE cars!

[BMW_7]

Originally Posted by Meth09

Hopefully Van Hooydonk will not follow in his predecessors (Bangle's) stylings too closely. I personally disliked Bangle's designs and felt that his styling particularly of the rear trunk areas were a serious failure and eyesore.
Oh noooooo, having said that I just noted that Van Hooydonk did the new 6 series...what a disaster that one is!!!!

A BMW designed by famed Italian stylers Pininfarina would be interesting to see.

I think you're missing a few things.

Bangle was in charge of the e46.

Hooydonk did the 7 series and the 6 series, with the "bangle butt" thing wrongly being credited as Bangle's work.

[Qube]

April Fools? No... yay!

[Robb]

I applaud him for leaving...
Being in the auto industry sux nowadays..
The design, and rules and safety features brought down the industry...The cars are all junk.Ask Jay Leno.
I have never owned a car newer than 1991.. Theres a reason for this...

OLD SKOOL FTW !

[6appeal]

For the most part, I don't like a lot of the designs either conjured up or approved by Bangle. By the sounds of it, van Hooydonk doesn't sound too promising either. The latest 7 series is a hideous car, IMO. It has odd proportions, ugly tail lights, it lacks some sort of appeal that the E38 had. 6 series too. The rear end looks pretty mean but reminds me of a Pontiac, and when I heard Bangle came from GM....The E90 I like but I think it looks good only because BMW knew they couldn't **** that up being their volume seller. E91's and E92's are just as good. Long story short, I hope there will be some sort of departure from this style of design. BMW is getting killed right now by Audi, image-wise. BMW is not as iconic and sporty as it once was. Maybe this change in the company can bring about something different.

[Fel]

I don't know if this is good news or not.... Some of Bangle's designs really bugged me, some of them have grown on my over time. It hasn't been all bad, just a few missteps here and there. This new guy seems like he might be more of the bad. But I guess only time will tell....