Audi TT, Seat Leon Designer Lands Top Job At Mitsubishi Europe

They may be less popular than Premier League transfers, but in recent months a notable number of leading automotive designers have also been changing teams.

In less than a year, we’ve witnessed Rolls-Royce’s design boss Giles Taylor move to China’s Hongqi, Mazda’s Kevin Rice transfer to Chery and Lincoln’s David Woodhouse departure to Nissan Design America.

Now, Mitsubishi has announced the signing of former Seat and Audi designer Jorge Diez, who will head the Japanese automaker’s European division. His official role will be head of Mitsubishi Motors Europe Design (MMED) that’s located near Frankfurt, Germany, as well as Vice President of Mitsubishi Motor R&D Europe (MRDE).

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Founded in 2014, MMED works in close cooperation with other global design studios in Tokyo and Okazaki developing both concept and production design projects for European markets.

Jorge Diez presents Audi’s lunar rover

Diez is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London and was a longtime Volkswagen Group employee, having spent 18 years at the German company. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was a senior exterior designer at Audi from 2001 to 2010, head of exterior design at Seat from 2011 to 2014, and head of Audi Concept Design Munich, among other assignments within the group. During his career, he was responsible for designing models including the Seat Leon and Ibe Concept and the Audi A7 Sportback and TT.

“I am pleased to announce that Jorge Diez is joining our design team and will lead it in Europe,” said Tsunehiro Kunimoto, corporate vice president of MMC’s Design Division. “He combines both strategic thinking and creative leadership. I look forward to him enhancing the creativity and quality of future Mitsubishi design as we expand our European studio,” the executive added.