Volkswagen design director to make electric cars look more ordinary

Andreas MindtHead of Design for volkswagen brand, said the brand’s next generation of electric vehicles (EVs) will not try to look like EVs, but just cars without internal combustion engines.

In an interview with Motorcycle Trends, says Mindt, “There is a trend towards short hoods and long windshields; Everyone believes this should be the design for electric cars, but it’s not.”

While he made no attempt to defend the curvaceous, forward-looking styling of ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 and ID.7, Mindt did try to justify it by claiming that they are designed to appeal to “early times”. adopters,” although Volkswagen has spoken openly about these vehicles accounting for about 20 to 25 percent of sales by mid-decade.

Mindt believes that “you don’t have to convince people” about electric cars and don’t need “artificial things” or “too much care”. As for future models, Mindt is adamant that Volkswagen will “make it good, make it right and it will work”.

The first hint of the direction Mindt is heading with Volkswagen’s next series of electric vehicles is the ID.2all concept, which previews a Polo-sized car, likely to be badged ID.2.

“I want to take that stance across the entire portfolio,” Mindt said of the ID.2all concept.

In addition to making the exteriors of future Volkswagen EVs more appealing, Mindt also wanted to improve the look of the brand’s interior.

Under the direction of former Volkswagen Group CEO Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen has pushed itself to the high-end market with soft plastic, high-quality imitation metal, soft closing handles and noise-reducing trim.

Recent models have shifted the interior focus to high-tech interfaces, which have been dampened by sluggish responses and poor design, such as overreliance on capacitive buttons and sliders no lighting.

Thomas Schäfer, Volkswagen brand CEO, admitted recent interiors “have certainly done a lot of damage” position of the brand in the hearts of customers.

Volkswagen’s mission, according to Mindt, is to create “beautiful cars for decent people”. This mantra is “what we did, and [it’s] what we have to do”.

“This is the secret sauce,” Mindt announced. “The car is better than you expected, and you start to love it. Our goal is to become a favorite brand.”

Mindt was commissioned to design the Volkswagen brand in February 2023. He replaces Jozef Kaban, chief designer from 2020, whose upcoming designs do not sit well with Thomas Schäfer, who has become Director. CEO of the Volkswagen brand in mid-2022.

Andreas Mindt started working at the automaker in 1996 after graduating from the University of Pforzheim School of Design and has dedicated her entire working life to the company.

His original credits include the exterior of the first generation Tiguanand the seventh generation Golf. He became Audi’s head of exterior design in 2014.

In 2021, he was promoted to chief designer at Bentley, where he was tasked with coming up with a new design language for the ultra-luxury brand as the automaker transitioned to being a car-only manufacturer. electricity by 2030.

Mindt’s only Bentley design that has seen the light to date is Mulliner Batur coupeOnly 18 of those will be built, with prices starting at £1.65 million ($2.88 million).

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