BMW‘s current design era has been controversial, to say the least. Beyond the massive grilles that attract criticism, some of its designs have been described as “ridiculous” by its past employees. And BMW says it’s listening to the criticism.
The BMW Group‘s head of design, Adrian van Hooydonk, recently told Top Gear that the automaker doesn’t “ignore the chatter.” In fact, he said, “we hear it. We see it.” He also suggested that the company will react.
“I think in the future what is going to be important is our design will be cleaner,” said van Hooydonk. “We will design the grille according to the proportion of the overall vehicle, or according to the expression that we want to give it.”
However, he was clear to add that the current era of BMW brand design, led by Domagoj Dukec, has not been a failure. Despite the criticisms, he said that the company looks at its sales figures when considering design directions, and that “they look good.” But it isn’t all about reacting, there is a method to the madness.
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“We feel that in our job, we need to keep adding new elements to the design, we cannot keep repeating what we have,” said van Hooydonk. “Sometimes we have to depart and do new things. The reason for that is we also want to have success in 10 years.”
That’s not just rhetoric, it’s a practical reality, he explained. Right now, BMW’s designers are working on vehicles that will come out in 2025 and 2026. They’ll be on the road until 2033, so the department has to come up with vehicles that will still look good in a decade.
To do that, van Hooydonk said his designers have to shift their goal posts. He suggested that BMW is willing to create something that is controversial at first if people agree that it has aged well by the time its mid-cycle update is ready. That’s a sign that the vehicle will continue to look good at the end of its life, and beyond, when it reaches the used market.
“We have a pretty clear idea of where we’re going to go, so it’s not like we’re experimenting or throwing things out there to see what sticks,” he explained. “It’s a very deliberate process.”
Despite being the head of design for the BMW Group, van Hooydonk says that he doesn’t view the group or the brand as his. Rather, he is a custodian, stewarding the legendary automaker into the future. He wants to build on what came before him, not simply sit on those laurels.
So, while you can expect the BMW brand’s design to keep changing, you shouldn’t necessarily expect it to stop being controversial.
