Speak with younger car designers and a different picture emerges. They don't focus on the form of individual designs but instead on the bigger picture of BMW and of the wider discipline of car design. For most of those we spoke with, BMW now stands as a brand that is innovative, modern, diverse, rich, and very much of-its-time. They find individual BMW designs generally fresh, engaging and attractive. When pushed, many agree that there are some aspects of the designs they're not totally convinced by, but most see this as a necessary part of pushing forwards; avant-garde design cannot please all the people all of the time.

It must be tough to have so much personal and professional criticism leveled at you, to have a 'Stop Chris Bangle' petition created and face threats of violence because of your work. There would have undoubtedly been considerable internal pressure on the American designer as a result of this, yet his decisions are arguably vindicated by the sales performance of the company and, even more demonstrably, by the large influence BMW design continues to exert on other brand's designs.

Perhaps the jury will forever remain out on the more expressive and contentious designs that have emerged from BMW during the last 10 years of Bangle rule. But there can be little doubt of his contribution to the progression of car design, or of his skills as a leader. Only with the respect and hard work of his colleagues has he been able to effect such radical change in the face of adversity and criticism.

Bangle has also championed the value of design inside and outside the company, as a result moving design further up the automotive industry's agenda to the benefit of all car designers. And if he is not a hero of car design for all these reasons, then perhaps he is for a more prosaic reason: If the common man has one singular, oft heard, criticism of car design it is that ‘they all look the same nowadays'. By listening to the needs and wants of the wider automotive design audience instead of those in the industry, he's played a huge part in addressing this complaint.

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