Chris Bangle quits BMW

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Chris Bangle, one of the most well-known and controversial people in the auto industry, is leaving premium carmaker BMW after heading up its design department since October 1992.

"Bangle's plan to pursue his own design-related endeavours beyond the auto industry marks the start of a new phase in his life while maintaining strong ties with the BMW Group," the company said in a statement.

The 52-year-old American, who was the object of multiple online petitions calling for his sacking, first grabbed headlines in 2002 with his redesign of the 7 Series sedan.

The vehicle was voted one of the 50 worst cars of all times by Time magazine, along with such other infamous models as the 2001 Pontiac Aztek and the 1998 Fiat Multipla.

Adrian van Hooydonk, 44, responsible for BMW Automobile Design, will replace Bangle as head of group design.

"Love or loathe his work, Bangle's impact on auto design has been profound. No other designer, not even legendary GM design chief Harley Earl, has so rapidly become a part of the industry lexicon," wrote enthusiast magazine Motor Trend following an interview with the BMW designer.

"To 'bangle' a design is now an auto-industry verb for ruining it. Auto writers use 'Bangle butt' to describe a tail with an extra layer of metal on the trunk."

BMW enthusiasts turned off by his work may find however that little will change in the future.

"Throughout his career with the BMW Group, Bangle's right-hand man has been Adrian van Hooydonk," the company said.
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I quit liked his designs...
Some people will be happy to see him go...
 
He pulled out some stunning bmws.
 
Chris Bangle should just quit automotive design . . . period. He keeps on churning out the same thing, time after time, and then the other automotive yatzies still copy him.
 
VernD said:
Chris Bangle should just quit automotive design . . . period. He keeps on churning out the same thing, time after time, and then the other automotive yatzies still copy him.
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I like his designs, Its hard to fault them, they not BMW but they damn sexy. He set a new standard in automotive design and thats hard to beat, whoever takes over now will have their hands filled!

Which are the "ugly" cars you talk about? The 6 - series? 3 series? all awesome looking cars imo.
 
Which models did he do?

The 7 Series is revolting - but I like the new 3, 5, Z etc ...
 
All designs since about 1999 would have been approved by him.

VernD I think unwittingly shows how the world has praised Bangle. Look at the S-Class. Whose design is that? Look at the number of 7 series alone he sold compared to his competitiors.

I also happen to think he signed off well with the X6
 
Ex-BMW design boss slams current styling ‘banality’.

Chris Bangle, who quit as the BMW Group’s chief of design back in 2009 after 16 years with the Munich-based automaker, has lamented the lack of “freshness and change” in current car design, calling for an end to the “banality”.

Speaking to Automotive News at the Frankfurt Motor Show after visiting the stand of a former rival automaker, the Ohio-born 60-year-old said that he had “seen this all before”.

“It’s a wonderful stand, it has a wonderful amount of technology they are showing. But as a designer I am used to a set of uniqueness and freshness and change … for the life of me I can’t find a new idea,” he said, according to Automotive News.

“I would love to and they have really good designers, but I’ve seen this all before in other places,” he added. “Companies like that are getting so good at putting a sheen on what you already know that they’ll convince everybody that it’s new,” Bangle said.

“And the young designers don’t know their own history. There is very little understanding where the past came from for car designers today because they are worried so much about just learning the tools. They’re being asked to do little more than just ‘give me a little twist on what we just did’.”

Bangle suggested that the majority of today’s car designs are mere rehashes of older ideas.

“I know this stuff from the past. I know these graphics, I know these surfaces, I know these proportions,” he said.

So, how can the industry get away from this apparent “sameness”?

“When people ask me what is the problem with cars of the future, I say it is the mental barriers in the heads of designers. It is not the management’s fault or the customer’s fault or technology’s fault, it is these things in our heads. We’ve got to end the banality. We’ve got to get rid of the normal,” he said.

http://www.carmag.co.za/news_post/ex-bmw-design-boss-slams-current-styling-banality/
 
WaxLyrical said:
Did this guy design that 7 series abomination.
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Yes.

I do agree to an extent. There hasn't been a new 3-series, S-Class ,E-Class, 5-Series etc for a while. Technically there has, but they really do look the same. Each new model is a facelift of the prior. Even when it's a whole new chassis design etc, it still looks the same.

The Merc Project One, McLaren P1, La Ferrari, Caterham, X6, these things are new and exciting, but the average fare from designers is copy/paste. The A8 hasn't changed in years.
 
UrBaN963 said:
Yes.

I do agree to an extent. There hasn't been a new 3-series, S-Class ,E-Class, 5-Series etc for a while. Technically there has, but they really do look the same. Each new model is a facelift of the prior. Even when it's a whole new chassis design etc, it still looks the same.

The Merc Project One, McLaren P1, La Ferrari, Caterham, X6, these things are new and exciting, but the average fare from designers is copy/paste. The A8 hasn't changed in years.
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When it comes to vehicle design you always retain something that is familiar and combine it with something that is new, to avoid alienating your fan base. The top brands have done this well with success.

As soon as you go too radical, you'll get the familiar "fugly" comments. Toyota is trying this daring move but they know the brand name will see them through.
 
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