JC Pavone talks Volkswagen promotion and regional design strategy
Volkswagen’s longtime design lead for Brazil has been promoted to head of Volkswagen design for both North and South America
José Carlos “JC” Pavone has been promoted by Volkswagen bosses to head up design for the Americas. A longtime servant to Volkswagen design, Pavone will be in charge of handling design for both the North and South America regions and will be splitting his time across a trio of studios.
His resume certainly seems to fit the bill, having spent long stints in São Paulo, Wolfsburg and California – serving most recently as head of the Brazil Design Centre for the last seven years. During his time at Volkswagen of America, he worked out of the Santa Monica Studio first as a design manager and then a decade as head of exterior design.
It could have gone in a slightly different direction (although perhaps still within the VW Group at the Caminhōes e Ônibus division) having started his career working on truck and bus design at Mercedes-Benz do Brasil in the late 90s. Now very much a car guy, some of his recent projects at VW include the Tarok pick-up concept, the Nivus coupe SUV and the Jetta sedan, among many others.
In the midst of a busy travel schedule, Pavone took the time to speak with CDN about the new job, how a letter to Volkswagen Brazil’s then chief designer kickstarted his (and his brother’s) career, and the nature of designing cars for different regions.
Car Design News: What will the expanded role mean in terms of your responsibilities?
JC Pavone: In my previous position, I was responsible for VW Design in South America, developing cars for the region like the Virtus and Nivus, which was positively accepted as a European product (called Taigo in Europe) and produced in Spain. We also developed the Tarok pickup showcar presented at the São Paulo auto show in 2018 and subsequently at the New York and Frankfurt auto shows. We have a few products in the pipeline that will also reach markets with similar profiles like South America.
In my new role, I will oversee the work of two extra studios beside the one located in São Paulo: the studio in Puebla with 22 designers dedicated to CMF, and the studio in Oxnard in the Los Angeles area, with around 25 designers dedicated to the development of exterior, interior and CMF as well. These two studios are fully dedicated to the North America region.
CDN: How does it feel to be a long-term Volkswagen designer – is there anything in particular that has made you stick with the company over the last two decades?
JCP: First of all, I feel very lucky to have this job. When I was 12 years old, my father showed me an article about car design, where Luiz Veiga, former head of VW in Brazil, was explaining the paths to become a professional designer. He also mentioned that lots of kids used to send him letters, and that was the hook that engaged me and my twin brother Marco Pavone (VW designer responsible for the exteriors the of Up, Tiguan, Polo, ID. family among others) to sketch some cars and send them to the VW Studio in São Paulo. We both had been drawing cars since a very early age, like seven or eight years old, but we had no idea about the possibility to actually become a professional car designer.
It was an honour to take over from the chief designer who cared enough to write a letter back to two kids
CDN: A bold move. Did you get a response?
JCP: Luckily, Veiga replied to our letter, and mentioned that we had lots of potential considering our age. He gave us lots of tips and even sent two original sketches for each of us. Approximately ten years later we had joined his team – and the door to car design had opened. Later on, we moved to Wolfsburg, working on many production cars like the Polo, Passat and Jetta, and in 2011 I got an assignment to go to the Californian VW Group Studio as head of exterior design. It was an amazing experience, since I could work on multiple brands like Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Volkswagen and even Ducati bikes.
After five years in Santa Monica, in 2016 I was invited to go back to Brazil, to succeed Luiz Veiga who was about to retire. To me it was a huge honour to take over the studio from the chief designer who cared enough to write a letter for two 12-year-old kids that changed their lives. After 22 years in the VW brand, having worked in Germany, Europe and South America, I still feel very motivated to face this new role.
CDN: Are there any particular design ‘needs’ or ‘wants’ for the Americas compared to Europe? One would assume things like “ruggedness”…
JCP: From my experience, a volume brand like Volkswagen that is present in so many different markets needs to differentiate and “adjust” the products for each specific region. All the global studios are working very closely with Andreas Mindt in Wolfsburg to define the new Volkswagen design direction and its different regional interpretations.
These interpretations are all based on local tastes, which varies from the body style treatment to the interior trim, colours and materials choices. For example, I usually have to explain that the Brazilian market is quite conservative in terms of colours, even though there’s a cliched idea that the colourful and vibrant atmosphere of the Carnival could be translated to interiors.
CDN: You’re now in charge of two huge regions. Where will you spend most of your time?
JCP: I will be primarily based in São Paulo, where I have a bigger team of around 50 people. I have weekly meetings with the studios in Mexico, the US and Germany, and I’m trying to be physically present at the studios on a monthly basis, so we can also consider the airports as a sort of base to me.