Who's where
Gorden Wagener to leave Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz has officially announced the departure of chief design officer Gorden Wagener
In a clearly worded press release that leaves little room for speculation, Mercedes-Benz has announced that long-standing design boss Gorden Wagener will leave the company at the end of January 2026. The statement issued today confirms what some in the design community had already expected.
The Royal College of Art graduate would join Mercedes in 1997 and at one point was dubbed the youngest head of design ever at the age of 39. In 2016 he would be promoted to chief design officer, a role that is not being carried forward for now. Bastian Baudy, currently the head of AMG design since March 2023, will become head of design for Mercedes-Benz at large. Baudy will start on 1 February 2026, and it will be interesting to see how his time with the performance-first brand translates to the broader Mercedes portfolio.
In a post on his personal Instagram account, Wagener noted that "now feels like the right moment to close this chapter and move on to something new," adding that "the future for the next decade has already been designed, allowing me to pass Mercedes-Benz on with confidence."
News of his departure from Mercedes, where he has spent the last 30 years, is one of the few stories that could have trumped Wagener's recent press coverage following a poorly-worded interview on the role of AI in design. While that particular discussion ruffled feathers, he has actively championed the role of design at an organisational level.
Speaking as a judge in Car Design Review 11, he noted: "Design creates immense value, especially in the luxury segment and if a company wants to be successful, it has to count on design. The more influence design has the better. The design department doesn’t just get an engineering plot with dots and connects them."
We also visited Wagener not long ago, high up in the skyscraper-based Shanghai studio dubbed 'Cloud46', where he championed digital design but also the influence of global outposts beyond Germany. "Every design centre brings a unique perspective," he said, "and what’s especially exciting is the healthy competition among our studios.”
Recent production cars to launch under Wagener's tenure include the new-look EQC, GLC and CLA, all of which place a huge emphasis on exterior lighting and interior technology. Concepts have included the striking Vision Iconic and AMG GT XX.
With a new head of design at Audi and fresh faces at BMW (although still under the leadership of Adrian van Hooydonk), it now marks a new era for the Big German Three. Throw in the still hazy news around Gerry McGovern at JLR, Jeremy Offer's exit from Volvo Cars and Gilles Vidal leaving Renault, and there is no shortage of major moves this year. What will 2026 bring?
