Jozef Kabaň shuffles to VW mobility role as Mindt fills brand hole

Not one full month into 2023 and the car design jobs merry-go-round is in full-swing, particularly at VW Group. Jozef Kabaň, 50, is shuffling across from head of design at Volkswagen brand, to take on a new ‘creative art director’ role based in Potsdam, Germany with especial focus on mobility solutions, while Bentley’s former design boss, Andreas Mindt, is replacing him.

It’s a strange exchange of moves clouded by strong rumours of unrest. Kabaň’s tenure as the Volkswagen brand design boss was less than three years, after re-joining the group in April 2020 having bounced from Skoda-to-BMW-to-Rolls-Royce in the four years prior. Mindt, 53, takes up his new Wolfsburg posting on 1st February after fewer than two years at the VW-owned British brand, where he officially started on 1st March 2021. Meanwhile Bentley’s current head of exterior design Tobias Sühlmann takes over the top Crewe design job and Mindt’s former role. Sühlmann only joined Bentley in October 2021, after previous stints at Bugatti, Aston Martin, McLaren and VW.

The official line from VW on 24th January quotes Kai Grünitz, member of the board of management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for Technical Development: “As chief designer of the Volkswagen brand, Jozef Kabaň demonstrated that design involves more than simply styling individual models. Through his design vocabulary he has already left his mark on our entire range. In his new role as creative art director he will collaborate closely with the Future Center in Potsdam. On behalf of the board of management, I would like to thank him for his unwavering commitment as chief designer.

”At the same time, I am delighted that we have been able to gain Andreas Mindt – an internationally experienced and respected designer from the Volkswagen Group – for our brand. Mindt will shape Volkswagen’s design language in the upcoming decisive phase of our transformation. I am looking forward to working with him.”

But according to Automotive News Europe’s sources the real reason might be somewhat different and that VW brand’s new CEO, Thomas Schaefer, wasn’t enthused with some of Kabaň’s designs, in particular the production version of the 2021 ID Life concept which was due to herald an entry-level car within the full-electric ID range from 2025 and the brand’s forthcoming Trinity flagship EV. Sources say Schaefer wanted it to be a crossover instead of a sedan, which if true, is quite a difference of opinion.

After graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1997, Kabaň’s professional career started at the VW Group and early success came in 1999 when he penned the exterior of the production 2005 Bugatti Veyron as a rookie under then boss Hartmut Warkuss (and Car Design Review’s 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award winner). Kabaň also spent time at Audi from 2003 and became Skoda’s head of design from 2008, developing the brand’s existing models and designing new ones as it expanded into more vehicle categories, including bigger and more upmarket models like the 2016 Kodiaq SUV.

These latest people moves come hot on the heels of Michael Mauer replacing Klaus Zyciora as VW Group design boss effective from 1st January 2023. Mauer keeps his Porsche head of style role as part of a wider re-shuffle of the whole VW Group since former Porsche boss Oliver Blume took over as CEO from Herbert Diess in September 2022 (see our “Zyciora out, Mauer in (again)” story). It’s Mauer’s second stint as VW Group design boss, after holding the title from late 2015 to April 2020, when Zyciora took on the wider role. Zyciora is apparently no longer part of the group.

Currently only one VW Group design top job remains vacant over at Italdesign. The head of design role opened up earlier in January 2023, when it was officially announced that Carsten Monnerjan would be moving to head of design at the Porsche Lifestyle Group, starting 1st April 2023. Stay tuned for more news on his replacement when we have it.