Jozef Kabaň has had an interesting career. He penned the mighty Bugatti Veyron while still in his 20s. The Slovakian automobile designer started his career at the Volkswagen Group where he was involved in multiple projects. Not all were as high-end as the W16 hypercar as he also designed cars such as the VW Lupo, Skoda Octavia, and other mainstream models.
He switched jobs in 2019, deciding to leave Czech brand Skoda for BMW following the unexpected departure of Karim Habib, currently Head of Design at Kia. Before his departure, Kabaň had briefly changed jobs to design cars for BMW Group subsidiary Rolls-Royce by replacing Giles Taylor. The latter is now vice president of design and chief creative officer for Hongqi, part of the Chinese state-owned FAW Group.
Jozef Kabaň returned to his first employer in early 2020 when Volkswagen hired him again. At the beginning of this year, he was replaced as the company’s design chief by Bentley designer Andreas Mindt. This brings us to his newly appointed role as the man in charge of design for MG. Technically a British brand at its core, it’s owned by China’s SAIC. The 51-year-old talented man has been tasked to create a new design language for the marque.
SAIC issued a statement this week announcing the change at the helm of MG’s design. “Jozef Kabaň will significantly increase our design expertise and the level of internationalization to accelerate SAIC Motors’ global market entry.”
It is worth noting that MG is the most popular Chinese brand active in Europe. It sold more than 230,000 cars last year on the Old Continent. In 2024, it wants to increase deliveries to over 300,000 units.
It’s not unusual for a top car designer to switch jobs often. After holding multiple roles at the Volkswagen Group and BMW Group, Jozef Kabaň starts a new job at a lesser-known brand that parent company SAIC wants to turn into a global player.
Source: Automotive News Europe