Luc Donckerwolke Named VW Group's Head of Advanced Design

The man that’s usually associated with the design of SEATs, especially the sportier one, will make the jump from the Spanish brand to becoming VW Group’s Head of Advanced Design starting August 1st of this year. The 46 year old will report directly to Design Chief Walter de Silva in the VW hierarchy, while at SEAT he will be replaced by Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos.

Donckerwolke is a very multicultural man, having been born in Peru, he is currently a citizen of Belgium, yet studied in Africa, Europe and South America. His career reportedly started out with Peugeot in France back in 1990, and after two years he moved to Ingolstadt for a 2 year stay at Audi Design. Between 1994 and 1996, he worked with Skoda Design Center Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic, where he was involved with the 1996 Octavia and 1999 Fabia.

The designer returned to Audi in 1996 as head of the exterior department at the Munich design studio, subsequently becoming studio director in Ingolstadt. In 1998 he joined the Lamborghini brand as design project manager and was named Head of Design at Lamborghini in 2003. After that, he became Director of Design at SEAT in 2005.

Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, his replacement at SEAT, joined the Volkswagen Group in 1995 and was involved in designing several models at the Spanish firm. He became part of the Group’s Design Center Europe in Spain from 1997, where he took charge of exterior design on various projects for the SEAT, Volkswagen and Audi brands. Mesonero-Romanos moved to Renault in 2001, assuming responsibility for several design projects.