Klaus Zyciora joins Changan
The long-serving Volkswagen designer has joined Chinese carmaker Changan where he will oversee global design activities
Following a surprise departure from Volkswagen late last year, design veteran Klaus Zyciora has taken on a new gig at Changan.
Zyciora was supplanted by Michael Mauer in December (returning for his second stint at VW Group) and it was unclear where he would land, but a release issued over the weekend confirmed that Zyciora had joined Changan Automobile as vice president and global head of design, a role that will have him oversee various brands including Changan Auto (SUVs and cars), Qiyuan and Shenlan (premium EVs) and Oshan (SUVs and MPVs.)
Established in 1862, Changan is considered China’s oldest automaker and is one of the domestic ‘Big Four’ alongside SAIC, FAW and Dongfeng. The central design studio is based in Chongqing, supported by Japanese and European outposts. The latter, based in Turin, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Zyciora had looked set to become a Volkswagen lifer. A graduate of Braunschweig University of Fine Arts, he gained a degree in Industrial Design before joining the automaker as an interior designer in 1989. By 2000 he was head of interior design, and in 2002 became head of exterior design. It was in August 2007 that Zyciora became head of Volkswagen design and eventually took on wider Volkswagen Group global design responsibilities in 2020. Part of the judging panel for Car Design Review 7 that year, Zyciora (then Bischoff) spoke about “embracing the brave side” of EV design and shunning the “conversative side.”
He was also candid about the challenges of handling such a significant role in design, overseeing multiple brands across multiple markets during a period of real change for the industry: “Running the design of each of our brands is a full-time job so if on top you have the role of steering the group ship it’s a very tough demand.” Indeed, it was Zyciora who led design during the Group’s transition towards electric vehicles and shaping the ID. brand. While Changan is by no means a start-up, it does count several new names that are looking to create a similar legacy in the EV space. Zyciora seems well positioned to take that challenge on.
Changan recently launched a sleek new electric sedan under its Qiyuan brand, the A07, which debuts a new design language inspired by Chinese culture and “phototropism”, which describes how a plant grows towards the light.