le Quement came to work for the French manufacturer in 1987 when, as a condition of him working for Renault, asked the then CEO Raymond Levy to make the design department an independent structure, instead of being a subdivison of engineering.
He also demanded that the design staff would be doubled in size and that the design department would get a seat on the executive board.
In his 22 years with Renault, the 64 year-old French national raised in England has lead the team which developed vehicles like the Twingo, the Megane (first and second generations), the Scenic, the Espace or the more recent Vel Satis.
Undoubtedly, le Quement team has helped establish Renault as the "Createur d'Automobile" it is today. His "design=quality" motto has spawned a new breed of vehicles, at least in terms of design, with most of the Renault models making for a distinct guild, as recognizable (visually speaking) as veterans Mercedes or Audi.
His successor, Laurens van den Acker, left Mazda on April the 10th, being replaced with Ikuo Maeda. Seita Kanai, Mazda’s Senior Executive Officer of Research and Design, said about Acker that "he and his team have taken Mazda Design to new heights and we wish him well for the future."
It remains to be seen whether the 43 year old designer will be able to fill in the big shoes left behind by Patrick le Quement.
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