Curic turns up at McLaren
Exclusive: Kemal Curic to head up McLaren Automotive design
Former design boss at Lincoln and Ford Performance Kemal Curic has joined McLaren Automotive as chief design officer
Car Design News can reveal that Kemal Curic has joined McLaren Automotive to head up its design team, marking another leadership change for the British supercar manufacturer.
Curic most recently held senior leadership roles within Ford’s global design organisation and was previously global design director at Lincoln before moving over to Ford Performance. Curic left Ford quietly at the beginning of 2026.
Curic’s appointment would place him in charge of McLaren’s design direction at a pivotal moment for the brand following its merger with luxury start-up Forseven. Previous design boss Tobias Suehlmann stood down from McLaren shortly after the merger and has recently joined Porsche as vice president style.
Curic will lead all design departments, including interiors, exteriors, CMF and digital design teams and will be based at the carmaker's Bicester design studio.
Forseven’s Alistair Whelan was appointed chief creative officer in 2025 and remains with the business in that role.
Curic is best known for shaping Lincoln’s modern design identity, often described as “Quiet Flight,” which emphasised clean surfacing, minimalism and a sense of calm luxury in products such as the Navigator and Nautilus.
His earlier work within Ford was the well-received 2015 Ford Mustang to which Curic brought a refined, compact sensibility more in keeping with earlier iterations of the famous Pony car.
The move to McLaren represents a significant shift from large-scale OEM design to the ultra-specialised world of low-volume supercar development, where proportion, aero efficiency and technical packaging dominate the design process.
“McLaren is one of the most respected and aspirational brands in the world," Curic Said. "I’m excited to be part of their journey to help shape the design vision of a company so deeply rooted in engineering excellence and racing heritage. I look forward to working with the talented teams at McLaren to create the next generation of breathtaking, purpose‑driven cars.”
