Former Mazda Design Chief Kevin Rice Moves To Chery

Design plays a crucial role in the automotive industry. That message is not lost on Chinese automakers, which have been tapping European talents to style their cars – either by hiring established design firms (like Pininfarina for example), or by hiring their own, like Chery has just done.

One of China’s largest automakers (and its leading exporter of automobiles), Chery has hired longtime Mazda man Kevin Rice to run its design department. In fact Rice had already started in his new job over a month ago, long before his employers made the announcement.

Rice has worked for Opel, Italdesign, and BMW, where he lead the exterior styling of the 1, 2, 3, and 4 Series. But the bulk of his experience has been at Mazda – first as a senior designer, and then as head of its entire European design studio. In that capacity, he helped shape the MX-5, CX-3, and concepts like the RX Vision and Vision Coupe, which was lauded as “the most beautiful concept car of the year.”

The British graduate of Coventry University in the UK’s automotive heartland, Rice left Mazda in August, with no indication of where he’d be going next. But the announcement confirms that he’ll now be lending his talents to Chery and its new Exeed brand, serving as a global vice president and working out of the company’s new European R&D center in Raunheim.

“Contrary to what some people believe, this is currently one of the most exciting times in the history of car design and it is the amazing energy and ambition in China that drives it,” said Rice. “Things are moving so fast that even the best designers are challenged to keep up and try to predict the direction the automotive design of the future will take.”