Mercedes-Benz will install Gorden Wagener as its Head of Design, replacing Professor Peter Pfeiffer in the role in the middle of 2008, the company announced on Thursday. Pfeiffer, who held the title since 1999, will retire after 40 years of service with the German luxury car brand. Wagener, 39, will move up from his current post as the head of the Strategic Advanced Design department, and is the director of the company’s California- and Japan-based design studios.
Wagener was hired by Mercedes in 1997, and graduated from London’s Royal College of Art with a Transportation Design diploma. Two years later, as the head of the Exterior / Interior Styling department, his team designed the GL-, M- and R-class vehicles. He was also behind the F700 concept car. In 2002, Wagener designed all of MB’s smaller models, including the A-, B-, C-, E-, CLK- and CLS-Class.
