Gert Volker Hildebrand, aged 57, has been in charge of the design development of the MINI brand since January 2001, shaping the development of the MINI brand portfolio along with his design team. Countless MINI vehicle concepts, as well as the entire design development can be credited to the head of the MINI Design studio over the last 10 years. The third generation of the classic MINI, the MINI Cabrio and MINI Clubman were all created under his leadership, joined this year by a real four-door version, the MINI Countryman, launched in September. The MINI Coupe and Roadster concepts presented in 2009, which will hit the market in 2011 and 2012 respectively, were also created under his management.
Aside from heading the MINI Design studio, Gert Volker Hildebrand held public conferences, encouraging young designers to pursue their dreams.
His successor, Anders Warming, head of Exterior Design at BMW Automobiles, begun his career working for DesignworksUSA in California in 1997. He was employed in various positions as an automobile designer before joining the BMW Group as a Team Leader in Advanced Design. He took over as head of Exterior Design at BMW Automobiles in 2007, creating the BMW Z4, MBW 5 Series and the BMW Concept 6 Series Coupe, which was presented at the Paris Auto Show.
"I would like to wish Gert Hildebrand all the best for the future and thank him for working with us so well and so successfully", says Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design. "Anders Warming has the expertise, the necessary experience and the intuition to take the MINI brand, with the support of the entire MINI Design team, into a ever more successful future."
Google News