Reports claim Mindt will replace Jozef Kaban at Volkswagen as soon as 1 February.
Bentley design boss Andreas Mindt is poised to replace his counterpart Jozef Kaban at Volkswagen, according to reports from Germany.
The shock move, first reported by Automobilwoche and Automotive News Europe, could happen as soon as 1 February – according to unnamed sources at Volkswagen.
Mindt will reportedly be replaced in Crewe by Tobias Suehlmann, who already oversees Bentley’s exterior design department, having joined in late 2021 following stints at Bugatti, Aston Martin, McLaren and Volkswagen.
According to Automobilwoche, the high-profile job shuffle is a result of internal reaction to some of Kaban’s recent designs; it had been widely reported that one of his most recent creations, the 2021 ID Life concept, was taken back to the drawing board for a redesign after its reveal in Munich, and VW CEO Thomas Schäfer is said to have asked for the brand’s delayed Trinity EV to be redesigned as a crossover, rather than a sedan.
Kaban is said to have been given another role in the company.
Andreas Mindt has headed up Bentley design since January 2021, having moved over from sibling brand Audi, where he was responsible for the styling of the Audi Q8 and Audi E-tron, as well as a series of concepts. He was not a newcomer to the brand, though, having created the show-stopping Bentley Hunaudières concept in 1999, which was a key influence on the shape of the Bugatti Veyron.
More recently, Mindt previewed a radical new design direction for Bentley with the highly exclusive Batur coupé – a Bentley Continental-based creation that celebrates the firm’s legendary W12 engine while ushering in cues that will define its future electric cars.
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