Jozef Kaban appointed Head of Škoda Auto Design

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Who's Where: Jozef Kaban appointed Head of Škoda Auto Design

by Eric Gallina

Jozef Kaban will become the new Head of Škoda Auto Design on February 1, 2008. Click for larger images

Jens Manske will join the VW Group Design

Jozef Kaban, a manager who has been responsible for exterior design at Audi until now, is set to become the new Head of Škoda Auto Design Department on 1 February, 2008. While at Audi he became responsible for the design of various mass-produced vehicles and concept cars. Since 2006, Kaban has been working as Head of the Audi AG Exterior Design Center.

Born on 4 January, 1973 in Námestovo, Slovakia, Kaban studied at the Academy of Fine Arts & Design in Bratislava, Slovakia (majoring in Product And Industrial Design). When still at the Academy, he took part in a Škoda brand designer competition organised by the Volkswagen Group, finished second and was offered a job at Volkswagen, first as a Junior/Assistant Designer, and later as an Exterior Designer.

In 1997, Jozef Kaban received a Master of Art at the Royal College of Art (Vehicle Design), thus becoming the first Slovak-born graduate in the entire history of the Royal College of Art. Still in that year, Jozef Kaban received the "Giorgio Giugiaro Award for Design Innovation" for his futuristic car concept.

Commissioned by the Volkswagen Group, he became responsible for developing the design of the Bugatti Veyron in 1999, along with Hartmut Warkuss, lead designer on the Veyron project. Kaban, who was initially discovered by Warkuss, worked in that position from the time of the first sketches until the point of launching mass production. He worked for Volkswagen AG until 2003.

Kaban will become the successor to Jens Manske who is leaving to join the VW Group Design Department. Manske's team designed the next-generation Superb, several other vehicles which are being prepared for production and a number of concepts over his period employment at Škoda, including the Joyster concept.

Manske is also responsible for creating Volkswagen's IROC concept prior to his working at Škoda, a car which was unveiled at the 2006 Paris Auto Show. Along with other Volkswagen designs of the Murat Günak era, the design was poorly recieved by critics and falls foul of the new Walter de'Silva regime. At VW Group Design, a department led by Walter de'Silva, Jens Manske will be responsible for new tasks, as yet undisclosed.