New designer for MINI
Another German to head design at BMW’s small-car brandUnion Jack-waving car brand MINI has chosen its third consecutive continental European and German speaker to interpret its Britishness for the world.
Munich-born Oliver Heilmer will return from a stint heading BMW’s Designworks studios to give the British brand its first design boss in nearly a year.
The 42-year-old will start at MINI on September 1, BMW has confirmed, scotching rumours that Frank Stephenson, who resigned as head of McLaren design this week, would be returning to Munich, where he designed BMW’s first ‘new’ MINI.
Heilmer’s return averts something of a crisis at BMW design, with well-liked BMW design head, Karim Habib, moving to Infiniti and MINI design boss, Anders Warming, moving to born-again Borgward.
Heilmer joined BMW in 2000 and rose to head BMW’s interior design department before becoming Designworks president in 2013, covering the group’s advanced concept design studios in Los Angeles, Shanghai and Munich.
One of his first jobs, reporting to BMW Group design boss, Adrian van Hooydonk, will be to massage the MINI Vision Next 100 concept car into a workable, practical production zero-emission electric car.
“The MINI Vision Next 100 provided an impressive demonstration of MINI’s future viability,” the head of BMW Group Design, Adrian van Hooydonk, said.
“I am confident that the MINI design team under Oliver Heilmer will implement this vision of the brand in future vehicle models and win over MINI customers. With his design expertise and experience, Oliver Heilmer combines continuity with the freshness and vision MINI stands for.”
Heilmer’s senior design team at MINI, whose studio is based inside BMW’s at Munich, retains Christopher Weil as head of exterior design, Christian Bauer as head of interior design and keeps Kerstin Schmeding in charge of colour and material design. All of them are German.
Van Hooydonk isn’t just breaking in new MINI and BMW brand design heads, either, with Domagoj Dukec only in the chair overseeing BMW i and BMW M design since March.
Giles Taylor remains in charge of design for Rolls-Royce and is the longest tenured BMW Group design head, with Edgar Heinrich responsible for BMW Motorrad design.
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