Ford today announced that it has appointed Moray Callum as the Design Director of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars. Mr. Callum is credited as the man who “defined Zoom-Zoom design for the full Mazda lineup.” Patrick Schiavone — who lead car design at Ford up until today — has been shifted to Design Director of Ford trucks (which includes SUVs and crossovers). In a related move, Mazda has appointed Laurens van den Acker general manager of the company’s Design Division. Acker is said to have contributed to the Ford Model U, 427 and Bronco concepts.
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05/01, 1:29 PM
posted by:
stangmatt66
I guess I don’t unserstand why when a designer or other exec does something great for a brand, they move him to another brand. If Callum did an awesome job of giving Mazda it’s zoom-zoom, why not leave him in place to ensure that future Mazda’s will have the same zoom-zoom?
05/01, 1:50 PM
posted by:
Garris
From what I’ve read (I’m not in the industry, so who knows…) the reason is twofold…
1) These moves are moves up the career ladder towards bigger things, more responsibility, more pay, etc…
2) Most brands/companies keep a chief designer in place for one or two “generations” of a car line, then usually someone else comes in to define the next “evolution” of that look. I think almost all companies (including highly successful ones, like BMW, MB, Toyota, etc) do this.
That said, I don’t know a think about Patrick Schiavone, but I’m not sure anyone having anything to do with Ford Car Design in the last 5 years should be keeping their job to do anything else…
05/01, 2:12 PM
posted by:
Joe
Or he has done such a good job in one brand, that they move him to strengthen a weak brand.
05/01, 2:24 PM
posted by:
John
Why waste talent at Mazda? Mazda is a very low volume brand. Put those designs on the mass Fords.
Even if it’s the same design, if a Ford badge is on it, more people will buy it.
05/01, 4:23 PM
posted by:
JW
The Bronco and Model U where ugly, I hope that dude doesnt incorporate any inpsiration from them two cars into Mazda.
05/01, 4:33 PM
posted by:
JD
I wouldn’t say the Mazda3 and Mazda6 are low-volume. They’re EVERYWHERE.
05/01, 4:38 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
He got bumped; the guy who did such a great job on the Solstice/Sky got the boot by Lutz – because Lutz felt the pressure from a young bull.
Mazda get’s estatic with this new talent; Schiavone gets a ‘promotion’ … or he could have spent more time with his family.
j i m
05/01, 4:43 PM
posted by:
Chris G
I’d say Ford had been doing pretty well with design, at least with the Mustang and Fusion, and a facelift has been scheduled for the decidedly bland Five Hundred. If they bring Mazda’s designer into the fold, the cars may become more Japanese-looking. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I think Ford wants to differentiate itself from Mazda a little bit, as well as the Hondas and Toyotas with which it competes.
05/01, 4:50 PM
posted by:
John
http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_display.cfm?article_id=23027
Mazda sold 25,514 vehicles total in March 2006, with 8,087 Mazda3’s and 7,215 Mazda6’s.
the main car brands like Ford can sell 25k cars a month with a single model.
05/01, 6:10 PM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
Ford Europe is leaps ahead in design compared to Ford NA… Mainly because they’ve stolen from the Mazda RX-8, Aston Martins and Jags for their Iosis concept to showcase this, with great response.
Ford america is also recycling – Mustang and GT for example, but these were classics… Ford Europe is taking from other modern designs in its brand portfolio and applying them well… I see a good future for Ford Europe’s design and build quality, and I see America nodding in agreeance, with eventual acceptance that this is the way forward.
I should SO work for Ford.
05/01, 8:51 PM
posted by:
Thing2
Why doesn’t Ford give us the Pinninfarina designed Focus Convertible?
05/02, 7:08 AM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
Thing2 – I don’t know – it’s a beautiful piece!
Oh well