ONE OF EUROPE’S FOREMOST AUTOMOTIVE DESIGNERS JOINS KIA
What if we told you that the creative mind behind designs such as the Lamborghini Murciélago, Audi TT, and VW New Beetle is now on Kia’s team?
It’s true. Peter Schreyer—one of the automobile industry’s most celebrated and influential designers—is now Kia’s Chief Design Officer. What does this mean? Lots of exciting things.
The Future Is Here
Generally, a car purchase decision comes down to one of two factors, occasionally a combination of both: it’s either a practical decision, or you’re passionate about the car. If a car doesn’t elicit passion, many buyers won’t give it a second glance. Kia has a reputation for building cars with practical value, thanks to Kia’s talented engineers. Kia is an engineering leader, which is why we stand behind our cars with a 10-year /100,000- mile limited warranty. Our engineers take pride in continually improving our vehicles’ engines, transmissions, suspensions, brakes, and safety features. Though we build excellent cars, Kia is not regarded as a design leader. That’s about to change.
With the addition of Peter Schreyer, Kia’s engineering will be married with Peter’s cutting edge designs. That means practicality and design excellence that inspire passion, the best of both worlds, together in one superior package.
A History of Excellence
The 53-year-old Schreyer was born and raised in Bad Reichenstall, Germany. He began his university studies at Munich’s Industrie Design Fachochschule in 1975. He then joined Audi for a “student stage,” or internship, in 1978, and received his Industrie Designer FH diploma in 1979. Schreyer’s eye for design so impressed Audi that they immediately sent him, with a full scholarship, to the Royal College of Art in London, where he graduated in 1980 with a masters in Transportation Design.
For 25 years, Peter worked in ever-increasingly responsible positions within the design departments for Volkswagen and Audi. His earliest assignments were with Audi Design’s Exterieur, Interieur und Konzept. During 1991 and 1992, he came to the U.S. to work in Audi’s California Design Studio, before returning to Germany and the Audi Design Concept Studio for another year. He then served briefly at Volkswagen's Exterior Design Studio prior to accepting his biggest appointment, as Audi’s chief designer, in 1994. In 2002, Schreyer took over the reins as Volkswagen’s chief designer, a position he held until 2005, when he was promoted to be the head of advanced design for the entire Volkswagen Group, which includes not only Audi and VW but Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini.
But it was his eight-year tenure in the lead at Audi Design that gave Mr. Schreyer his first taste of international renown. His classic, almost minimalist, Bauhaus-inspired styling influence first appeared on the Audi TT Concept, which debuted at the 1995 Frankfurt Auto Show. And while design credits for that specific car are generally given to J Mays and Freeman Thomas, both (then) of Audi’s California Design Studio, as chief designer, Peter’s imprint is most definitely there.
Other Audi designs, both for concept and project vehicles and for production, credited to or created under the direction of Mr. Schreyer include the Quattro Spider; the A2; the production TT and TTS Spider; the A3 and A3 Sportsback; AL 2 and AL 2 open end concepts; the A4, A4 Avant, and A4 Cabrio; the incredible Steppenwolf concept; the A6, A6 Avant, and A6 Avant Allroad Quattro; the A8; the stunning Avantissimo concept; and the Rosemeyer, a one-off 21st century homage to the Auto Union Silver Arrow Grand Prix racers of the 1930s. He is also credited with penning the lines of the nearly unbeatable Audi R8 Le Mans roadster prototype racers.
Audi has also owned supercar brand Lamborghini for several years, and the forms of the two most popular Lambos, the Murciélago and Gallardo, are also credited to the prolific German.
On the Volkswagen side, Peter is responsible for the New Beetle, the current Jetta and Passat models, and the Golf GTI, just to name a few.
