Great expectations: Borgward claims to have become the first German car-maker to create a board of management position for design with the hiring of Anders Warming, who will oversee an all-new product portfolio.

REBORN German brand Borgward has announced the appointment of former Mini chief designer Anders Warming, who from January 1 next year will take up the newly created role of board of management member for design.

The 43-year-old Dane had worked for the BMW Group for the past 16 years before leaving the company last month, the previous six years as head of Mini design in Munich where he oversaw a variety of models including the current Mini Hatch, Convertible and Clubman.

He previously served as head of BMW exterior design and was team leader of advanced design for the entire BMW Group.

Earlier in his career Mr Warming had a stint at the Volkswagen Group, working as team leader at its European design centre.

Borgward has clearly recognised Mr Warming’s role in helping BMW establish Mini as a successful premium brand in the modern era, and will be hoping he can achieve a similar role with the born-again Chinese-financed and Stuttgart-based German brand, which is making a comeback after more than 50 years.

Borgward’s initial focus is on China, where it will launch the BX7 mid-size SUV this year, but the company plans to quickly move into other emerging markets such as Russia, India and South America before taking on established western European markets later next year with a particular focus on plug-in hybrid and full-electric vehicles.

As GoAuto has reported, Borgward, which is backed by Chinese truck-maker Foton, is also preparing to launch two smaller SUVs, the BX5 five-door wagon and BX6 coupe-style crossover, both of which were presented at the Geneva motor show earlier this year in near-production form.

When the BX7 made its world premiere at the Frankfurt motor show last September, Borgward Group chairman (and former Daimler executive) Ulrich Walker reiterated that the company was planning to introduce at least two new models every year and had set an annual sales target of 500,000 units in the medium term.

By 2025, Borgward plans to be selling around 1.25 million cars worldwide.

Mr Walker said the appointment of Mr Warming made Borgward the first German auto-maker to create a board of management position for design.

“The creation of a separate board of management position for design underscores design’s importance for Borgward,” he said. “I’m very delighted that we can fill this position with such an extraordinary and experienced designer as Anders Warming.”

By Terry Martin