The 5 series GT
The idiot in chief
No wonder he got fired. Too bad it took so long.
The idiot in chief
Chris Bangle steps down
We have been waiting for this day too long ! Today BMW suddenly announced the departure of Chris Bangle !! The short statement only said that he is leaving BMW with immediate effect to pursue his own design career beyond automotive industry. His position as the design director of BMW Group has been replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, currently the design chief of BMW brand.
It is not known yet why Bangle left so suddenly, even without a chance to say goodbye to the press. It might be somewhat premature to assume that he had lost the support of top management or had severe disagreement with them, but from my experience of observing the auto industry leads me believe that his departure did not come as his plan. Let's wait for insiders to speak out.
American Bangle started his car design career at Opel, then turned to FIAT, where he designed the Fiat Coupe (though the car was built by Pininfarina). BMW hunted him as design chief in 1992. His first car was Z3, a very retro, un-BMW car. In the first few years his designs were overseen by product chief Wolfgang Reitzle, but when the latter left, Bangle began realizing his unusual taste in the production BMWs. This came the famous / notorious "Flame Surface" design theme and a series of controversial designs.
The motoring public appeared to be shocked at first, then gradually accepted his new design languages. Some press even described his new designs brought BMW unpreceding sales success, something I cannot agree with. In fact, BMW increased its investment into new cars and technology development drastically in the same period. The availability of a wider and more diversified model portfolio was the prime reason for the increased sales. There is no evidence that the sales was stimulated by his new designs. On the contrary, the disappointing sales of Z4 and 6-Series are down to their controversial designs.
However, don't think the forthcoming BMWs will be beautiful again anytime soon. Adrian van Hooydonk has been the right-hand man of Bangle and shares much of his taste. Some of the existing BMW cars, such as 6-series, 7-series E65, Z9 concept and CS concept, were penned by him under the watch of Bangle.
To say goodbye to Mr. Bangle, let us have a look back to his masterpieces through the years:
Bangle's Ugliest Designs:
Z3 (1996) - first retro BMW
1-Series (2002) - first "Flame Surface" experiment
X3 (2003) - rough and unimaginative
Bangle's Most Controversial Designs:
7-Series E65 (2001) - "Bangle Butt"
5-Series (2003) - like a heavily bruised tin
Z4 (2002) - proportion seriously distorted
Bangle's Silliest Concept Cars:
Mille Miglia (2006) - tried to redo a 1936 BMW 328
CS Concept (2007) - American-style bulldog
GINA Light Visionary 2008 - cloth skin is pointless from engineering viewpoint
We have been waiting for this day too long ! Today BMW suddenly announced the departure of Chris Bangle !! The short statement only said that he is leaving BMW with immediate effect to pursue his own design career beyond automotive industry. His position as the design director of BMW Group has been replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, currently the design chief of BMW brand.
It is not known yet why Bangle left so suddenly, even without a chance to say goodbye to the press. It might be somewhat premature to assume that he had lost the support of top management or had severe disagreement with them, but from my experience of observing the auto industry leads me believe that his departure did not come as his plan. Let's wait for insiders to speak out.
American Bangle started his car design career at Opel, then turned to FIAT, where he designed the Fiat Coupe (though the car was built by Pininfarina). BMW hunted him as design chief in 1992. His first car was Z3, a very retro, un-BMW car. In the first few years his designs were overseen by product chief Wolfgang Reitzle, but when the latter left, Bangle began realizing his unusual taste in the production BMWs. This came the famous / notorious "Flame Surface" design theme and a series of controversial designs.
The motoring public appeared to be shocked at first, then gradually accepted his new design languages. Some press even described his new designs brought BMW unpreceding sales success, something I cannot agree with. In fact, BMW increased its investment into new cars and technology development drastically in the same period. The availability of a wider and more diversified model portfolio was the prime reason for the increased sales. There is no evidence that the sales was stimulated by his new designs. On the contrary, the disappointing sales of Z4 and 6-Series are down to their controversial designs.
However, don't think the forthcoming BMWs will be beautiful again anytime soon. Adrian van Hooydonk has been the right-hand man of Bangle and shares much of his taste. Some of the existing BMW cars, such as 6-series, 7-series E65, Z9 concept and CS concept, were penned by him under the watch of Bangle.
To say goodbye to Mr. Bangle, let us have a look back to his masterpieces through the years:
Bangle's Ugliest Designs:
Z3 (1996) - first retro BMW
1-Series (2002) - first "Flame Surface" experiment
X3 (2003) - rough and unimaginative
Bangle's Most Controversial Designs:
7-Series E65 (2001) - "Bangle Butt"
5-Series (2003) - like a heavily bruised tin
Z4 (2002) - proportion seriously distorted
Bangle's Silliest Concept Cars:
Mille Miglia (2006) - tried to redo a 1936 BMW 328
CS Concept (2007) - American-style bulldog
GINA Light Visionary 2008 - cloth skin is pointless from engineering viewpoint
No wonder he got fired. Too bad it took so long.
R.I.P 07/01/09 - 04/23/10 :(
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