Massimo Frascella, formerly of Jaguar and Land Rover, has been named Audi's new head of design, succeeding Marc Lichte, who has served in the role for a decade.
Frascella's move to Audi follows his recent departure from JLR, where he spearheaded the design of several key models including the Land Rover Discovery, Defender, and Range Rover.
Before joining Gaydon in 2011, the Italian designer had stints at Kia and Ford.
Frascella expressed his excitement about joining Audi: “Joining Audi is a very special moment for me. I am deeply honored to assume the role of Chief Creative Officer and to guide such a talented team in shaping the future of the brand to new heights of innovation and distinction. I believe in the emotional power of design to inspire, connect, and drive change, and I am here to nurture and promote creativity as the beating heart of our brand."
He cited “simplicity” as a key pillar of his approach to car design and said he was “passionate about creating designs that are free from superfluous ornaments and do not merely follow trends”.
“Instead,” he said, “we will rely on a timeless and sophisticated design language.”
Lichte is moving to an unspecified role elsewhere in the Volkswagen Group. He was responsible for the design of Audi's first wave of EVs and a number of as-yet-unrevealed models due to go on sale in the coming years.
As well as being responsible hugely significant production models including the R8, A4, A6, Q8 E-tron and E-tron GT in his time as head of design, he also set the tone for Audi’s future design language with a trio of radical ‘Sphere’ concepts.
Source: Audi
