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On the marque: Rob Melville is credited with leading the design of the McLaren 720S, the first model in the second-generation Super Series.

MCLAREN Automotive has promoted Rob Melville to design director with immediate effect, replacing Frank Stephenson who has left the company.

Overseas reports had indicated that Mr Stephenson would be returning to the BMW Group to retake the design reins at Mini, where earlier in his career he was responsible for reinventing the small British hatch and bringing it into the modern era with the now-classic R50-series ‘New Mini’ that launched in Europe in late 2000.

However, BMW quashed that speculation with the subsequent announcement overnight that the president of its Designworks subsidiary, Oliver Heilmer, will take over as head of Mini Design in September.

Mr Melville had worked under Mr Stephenson since 2009, joining McLaren as a senior designer and rising to chief designer in 2014, playing a key role on models such as the P1, 675LT and the Sports Series.

Most recently he led the design of the 720S, which marks the first model in the second-generation Super Series, while the company says he has also just initiated a set of “design pillars” that outline the core principals of the brand and will guide the team as it moves forward with new vehicles.

McLaren says that Mr Melville’s promotion to director of design makes him responsible “for further developing the company’s design strategy, philosophy and principles working with the engineering and manufacturing functions, as well as the customer insights team”.

He now reports to chief operating officer Jens Ludmann and has plenty of opportunity to leave an indelible mark on the British supercar brand, with no fewer than 14 new models or derivatives promised under McLaren’s ‘Track22’ business plan in which about $2 billion is being invested and two new cars are set to emerge every year until at least 2022.

Oliver Heilmer

“I remember when I got the call to come and join McLaren back in 2009 and the joy I felt then is the same today,” Mr Melville said.

“We have developed a fantastic design team and have integrated a design philosophy that I feel passionately about. I have always believed that great design tells a great story and that is what we do here at McLaren. I’m incredibly proud.”

Mr Melville started his career at Jaguar Land Rover and rose to prominence with his work on the 2007 LRX concept – first shown in Detroit early in 2008 – which previewed the Range Rover Evoque.

He later joined General Motors as a senior designer within its advanced design group based in the UK, taking responsibility for evolving Cadillac’s design which culminated in the Converj concept that made its debut at the Detroit motor show in January 2009.

Mr Stephenson has left McLaren after nine years in the top design job, having joined the British marque in 2008 from Fiat Auto where he was design director for Alfa Romeo and, before that, Fiat/Lancia and Ferrari/Maserati.

He led the design of a wide variety of cars including the Fiat 500, Alfa MiTo, Fiat Bravo, Ferrari 612, Ferrari 430, Maserati Quattroporte and Maserati MC12, while at BMW Group – where he spent more than a decade – he not only brought Mini into a new era but designed the BMW X5.

At BMW Group/Mini, Mr Heilmer fills the vacancy created last year when Anders Warming left the company to become design chief of reborn German brand Borgward.

At around the same time, Mr Heilmer, who has worked for BMW for the past 17 years, switched from his role as interior design chief for the BMW brand to head of Designworks, which has studios in California, Munich and Shanghai.

Since then, Mini’s interior design chief Oliver Sieghart has taken over Mr Warming’s responsibilities, but he is now moving to a new position – believed to be at Designworks, under newly appointed president Holger Hampf – while Christian Bauer will handle interiors.

Christopher Weil remains in charge of exterior design, with Kerstin Schmeding responsible for colour and material design.

Among other personnel changes made under BMW Group chief designer Adrian van Hooydonk, Gernot Schmierer will take over as head of ‘user experience design’ for the group – a move that reflects the increasing level of digitisation in automotive design processes.

As previously announced, Jozef Kaban will also take over as head of the BMW Automobiles design team in the second half of the year.

“The whole team is highly motivated and excited about leading our brand design into a new era,” Mr van Hooydonk said.

“The decisive success factor in our industry remains the customer experience. The BMW Group design team will ensure that this experience remains emotionally-rewarding in the future, increasingly digital, world of mobility.”

By Terry Martin

Rob Melville

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