A very forgiving BMW welcomed the designer back and put him in charge of Exterior Design BMW Automobiles, replacing the current holder of the position, Anders Warming, who is leaving for unspecified reasons. The reasons behind Habib's decision to come back after nearly two years remain as hidden as the reasons BMW had to get him back.
“I’m really delighted about coming back to the BMW brand and being given the opportunity to help shape the future of BMW as part of an outstanding team,” Habib said.
The man behind the BMW 7 Series range and the BMW Concept CS worked for BMW for 10 years before announcing his departure in March last year. That move came soon after Chris Bangle, at the time BMW’s chief designer, sent the 5 Series GT into the world and left to pursue his own agenda.
At Mercedes, Habib was supposed to have been in charge with the F series cars, an experimental range of concepts which will be used by Mercedes Benz as the starting platform for the company’s future design themes.
“Karim Habib is an excellent designer who has already made a major contribution to the BMW design with the current BMW 7 Series. I look forward to resuming our collaboration,” added Adrian van Hooydonk, BMW Group Design director.
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