Stefan Sielaff to head up Geely design; Peter Horbury moves to Lotus
Chinese car giant Geely has appointed Bentley’s former design director Stefan Sielaff as VP of global design, replacing Peter Horbury who moves to Lotus as senior VP of design
Former Bentley design director Stefan Sielaff is joining Geely as VP of global design, replacing the outgoing Peter Horbury who is set to join Lotus. Sielaff will oversee the portfolio of Geely brands, including Geely Auto, Lynk & Co and Geometry while helping develop premium EV brand, Zeekr.
Sielaff will be based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and brings 30 years of design experience to Geely, beginning his career at Audi before moving on to Mercedes-Benz and VW. From 2015 until early 2021, Sielaff was design director at British luxury brand Bentley where he oversaw a design team of just under 100 people.
Speaking to Car Design News in 2020, Sielaff stressed the importance of working with smaller teams believing “smaller, highly dedicated teams are more efficient and flexible and produce greater results.” Recent work at Bentley included the EXP 100 GT concept, which he described as a “lighthouse project for Bentley and the future of luxury.”
Meanwhile, Peter Horbury will move across to join Lotus as senior VP of design. Reinvigorated by investment by Geely to the tune of £100 million, the British sportscar maker has ambitions to become a lifestyle brand in a similar style to Porsche with the launch of the electric supercar Evija and the well-received petrol-powered Emira. An SUV crossover is reportedly on the way later this year.
Horbury may be more synonymous with Volvo – a brand which he set on the road to transformation during three stints at the Swedish stalwart – but since 2011, the British designer has been executive VP of design at Geely. Horbury is credited with introducing a more confident design language that helped establish Geely on the world stage as well as supporting the Lynk & Co, Geometry, and Zeekr brands through a network of Geely design studios in Sweden, Spain, China and the US.
Geely Holding group president and CEO of Zeekr Technology Andy An Conghui, said: “We are highly appreciative of Peter Horbury’s contribution and dedication to Geely over the past decade. Peter led one of the most creative global teams in the automotive industry and helped Geely to redefine its brand image globally. At the same time, we also warmly welcome Stefan Sielaff to the Geely family, we believe that his years of design experience will further enhance Geely Auto Group portfolio of brands with the goal of providing the best products to consumers.”
The design world has been a fairly turbulent place over the last 18 months with many high profile designers shifting roles and companies. Car Design News charts the comings and goings while examining what these moves mean for the brands in question.