François Leboine becomes new head of design at Fiat & Abarth

François Leboine has been appointed the new head of design at Fiat & Abarth, effective 1 June 2021. He will oversee all production and concept cars coming from the two marques.

Leboine will report to Jean-Pierre Ploué, Stellantis chief design officer. “[I am] glad to welcome a talented designer with recognised professional skills,” said Ploué. “His forward-thinking design approach and his great personality will be core strengths to lead Fiat and Abarth future changes.”

Leboine’s last role was head of advanced design at Renault, during which he lead the team to create the Morphoz concept and Renault 5 prototype. This suggests that he could bring some pizzazz to the Fiat and Abarth brands. Before this, he was chief of exterior design, and developed the latest Renault Clio and Captur models as well as the Dacia Sandero.

Fiat has been relatively quiet since releasing the 500 Electric, and we haven’t seen any new Abarth production car designs for a long time.