Interview: Tony Williams-Kenny, Design Director, SAIC Motor UK

What’s the biggest challenge for you now? “Quite honestly, it’s the number of programs. We’ve got a lot of cars to do with not a massive team.”

Guy Bird

Published 9 May 2015 - 12:27 Modified 2 July 2025 - 15:35

Tony Williams-Kenny poses with the W2 concept at the 2007 Shanghai motor show. Click for larger images

Roewe W2 concept previewed the 550

Roewe 550 (2008)

Roewe 550 exterior and interior rendering

MG6 concept at Auto Shanghai 2009

What’s the biggest challenge for you now?
“Quite honestly, it’s the number of programs. We’ve got a lot of cars to do with not a massive team.”

What is the design structure now at SAIC?
“Ken Ma is the Roewe design director and I’m the MG design director but we help each other out when required. MG has some color and trim people in China and the rest of the team do get involved in both projects. Here I report to the president of the UK David Lindley and in China to the VP of design and engineering Zhang Juehui.”

Roewe 350 was unveiled at Auto China 2010 in Beijing

Roewe W2 concept was revealed at Auto China 2007 in Shanghai

Clay model of the MG TF (2001)

How do you think you’ve changed as a designer over the years?
“Confidence I guess, allowing designers to feed into the way we design a car gives me the freedom to make decisions. You take it less personally I think is the best way of putting it. If someone draws a particular sketch it doesn’t matter who that person is to some extent. If it’s a cool sketch, it’s a cool sketch, and can go forward. It’s then having the confidence to make the decisions we believe are correct and the confidence to present [those ideas].”

Where does that confidence come from?
“Understanding the process better, being in position to lead and seeing people respond, and actually having delivered as well.”

Are you referring to your work on the Roewe 550?
“Absolutely.”

Is that the design you most proud of as a designer?
“If you were to ask me now I’d say the Zero concept and if you were to ask me in a few years’ time it would be whatever’s next. But you can probably say from my point of view the Roewe 550 has probably been the most seminal in that it’s triggered what followed. In terms of character the Zero’s probably the one though.”

How do you define good car design?
“Firstly, does it have an impact? But then if it has too much of an impact the design can age very quickly.”

Do you think that is always the case?

“No, there are some exceptions, the Audi TT and for me the CLS, they have impact and longevity - that’s the Holy Grail.”

Is design seen as fundamental from the start of the program with SAIC or to some extent are you still fighting the styling tag?
“No, on all the projects we work on we’ve very definitely had an influence on the basic proportions. That’s one of the values of the design center being so close to the technical center.”

With such a small team do you have a chance to future-gaze?
“We have some design strategy and have a couple of designers who are very good at understanding customer perception, plus we get feedback from our various markets and customer clinics.”

But those clinic customers are living ‘in the today’. How do you predict tomorrow’s customers?
“That’s fair, we do outsource some of that stuff too.”

At least due to the blip in the brand’s history you’ve had a chance to pause and reassess what the brand should be about?
“Yes. One of the differences with our new work is that we’re having to apply the new MG character to a series of products that have never been MGs before so that’s another one of the challenges we face and have to get feedback on.”

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