[wheelguy]

Came across an interesting article wherein the design heads of Renault, Kia, and Great Wall Motors gave various insights into the design philosophies of their respective companies and design perceptions around the world, at Auto Expo 2020.

Sharing few snippets from the lengthy article:

Ramon Ginah, Brand Director and Studio Director, HAVAL (Great Wall Motors), Design Studio, Shanghai, has an Israeli father, a Dutch mother and an Italian wife. “I’m a mix of everything,” says Ginah, who worked in Italy for Alfa Romeo Maserati, before moving to China six years back. “What I have seen in China, in the last five-six years is quite amazing,” he says. “The approach of starting with cars that were pure copies, GWM, was trying not to, but a lot of companies were copying, they are now trying to move towards improving their designs. I actually see that 90% of Chinese brands, are focusing a lot on design, trying to distinguish their brands from other famous global brands. For example, a BMW, has its design DNA. In China, most brands don’t really have a design DNA because their life cycles are much shorter,” says Ginah. He goes on to explain how GWM, just over 30 years old, does not have its design DNA imprinted on it, which according to him, makes a very big difference. “If you look at car brands such as Audi, they work a little bit like Matryoshka, the Russian doll, where they have the big one, then smaller one, then the smallest one, our design philosophy is not to do this, so every car is different, but it needs to have a design DNA in them, so you can still understand it is a HAVAL. That way, “you see more freedom and more change in the design,” says Ginah.

Ginah says that the Chinese are aware that they cannot just attract clients merely by offering quality design, so they have added one extra feature – technology. “This is what I have seen in the last few years, all the brands try to show that they can put technology in their cars, a lot of companies are still waiting, but it will come in five years, and the price is still lower. That’s a huge advantage and a huge strength of the Chinese market and Chinese brands. GWM is also focusing on this, focusing that design will become better, more global, grow stronger, and become a leader in design as far as technology and quality are concerned,” explains Ginah.

Lonay Alain, General Manager, Renault Design India, has been living in India for the last three years and working at the Renault Design Studio, opened in Mumbai, in 2008. He believes that the days of “Made in Europe and Sold in Europe” are long gone, and that all the car manufacturers are now looking at Asia, (with China being a big market and India an upcoming one), and that is why a lot of cars that we see today, and are also on sale in the European market, are mainly done with Asian tastes in mind. “There isn’t such a thing as Europe creating something and it later on coming to other parts of the world, that gap does not exist anymore, everything happens at once, the Asia influence in general is much stronger,” he says.

Karim Habib, Senior Vice President, Head, KIA Design Center, has been inspired by his personal journey of late. Having lived in Japan for two years before, now he lives and works in Korea. The Canadian car designer, of Lebanese descent, is visiting India for the very first time. “The way design is perceived in different parts of the world, in different cultures, how it is used, how it is understood is really fascinating. In Japan there is an entire culture around minimalism and in Korea there is a similar aspect but there is an added level of sort of, not ornamental, but it is a little more playful maybe, and the aspect of embracing technology as well as tradition, that is really fascinating. In India, I have just been here two days,” he says laughing.

Source & full article at: Turn Of Speed