Live blog: Car Design Dialogues Shanghai

Car Design News is back in China and boy is it shaping to be a good one. The show itself is already up and running and there are lauches aplenty, no doubt fuelling discussions ahead of this evening’s expert panels at CDD Shanghai. 

Coming to you live from the Andaz Xintiandi, we will be joined by designers from the likes of BAIC, Kia, Dongfeng, GAC, Changan, Nio, Zeekr, SAIC and Zeiss. 

Before things kick off, we must give an enormous shout out to our partners for the show. Our marquee partners Dinamica and Zeiss; premier partners BASF, Covestro, Pangea, studiokurbos and Swarovski Mobility; plus supporting partners Granstudio and Sekurit. 

“Car Design News is delighted to be back in China after five years away,” noted editor-in-chief James McLachlan ahead of the first panel. “It feels long overdue.”

”We came back to Shanghai in September last year to take the temperature and to see what we’d missed in the time we’d been away. It turns out we’d missed quite a lot: the speed of development and creativity is utterly mind blowing. We got a taste of it a little bit at the show today.” 

Now, it just so happens that it is the 100th anniversary of an art movement that began at the Paris Exposition in 1925: Art Deco. This was a short lived design movement in the broad scheme of things, but incredibly powerful and it soon moved across the globe.

In particular, it found very fertile soil here in Shanghai, says McLachlan, “where the new aesthetic merged with traditional Chinese forms to create Shanghai Deco, an incredible architectural design legacy that we see around the city today. I feel that synthesis – the cultural exchange between two different continents – and bringing creativity together across the world is very much the spirit with which we come with you to today.”

A solid opener from the editor-in-chief, we’d say. With the scene set, how will the first panel unfold?

Session 1: Redefining Interiors: technology, entertainment and material innovation

To get CDD going, we will first delve into how China is leading a transformation in car interiors through a convergence of cutting-edge tech and innovative materials.  

The session is underway, although there’s still a little bit of a queue outside to squeeze people in. Hopefully they can filter in quickly, which brings us to the first point: speed of development and technology leadership. Zeekr’s Javier Garcia-Gallardo moved to China roughly a year ago to head up the studio here, and has observed some new working practices and consumer trends. 

“The Chinese customer relationship with technology is very different to what I have been used to in Europe, and this is visible in many aspects of life,” he says. “From the way  people order their groceries, interface with vehicles or other types of consumer products. Both society and legislation here is much more open to try new technologies.” He adds that, in general, “the relationship with technology is evolving and [imporantly] the trust in the technology is very different here.”

Roman Kleindienst, head of Zeiss Microoptics, addresses the notion that some designers might find it challenging to figure out how to integrate bleeding-edge technology within the car. “We can all see that technology has to be put into the car, and at the same time we hear from designers that it is not always the best thing if tecchnology is visible,” Kleindienst observes. “What we are offering designers is a kind of toolbox to seamlessly integrate infotainment, entertainment, safety features, detection features and more into the cockpit.”

It’s important to have a design story that Chinese customers can relate to

Kia’s Seungmo Lim gives his view on the kind of entertainment that Chinese drivers and passengers seem to be after. Rather than pinning down specific features, he points to the underlying function of over-the-air (OTA) software updates that allow designers to continue offering new things (or tweaking old features) as time goes on. “It starts to become something more meaninful for the customer for a much longer time,” he notes. “In a way, technology closes the gap between designers and customers.”

Dongfeng’s Yang Chao highlighted the concept of feng shui when it comes to interior design, creating harmony not only in terms of layout but also the integration of technology. Building on that, Zeekr’s Garcia-Gallardo says it “is very important to have a good design story that the Chinese customer can relate to.” In particular, designers should pay attention to the different forms of luxury which are evident in China’s landscape, from modern high-rises to the temples and palaces of the Forbidden City. “We try to take these design philosophies from Chinese history and represent them in the portfolio of products through a more modern and progressive interpretation.”

What role do suppliers play in all of this? Do designers come up with these incredible products and simply lean on off-the-shelf products to enable that? Not exactly. “We talk with all the people involved in such development processes,” affirms Kleindienst of Zeiss. “The most important thing for us is to understand the expectations of the customers and to develop products alongside our partners, and of course the designers play a very important role in that.”

We have access to a lot of data. The challenge is in finding the gems

The panel circles back to the idea of technology integration. Should it be in your face, celebrated and visible wherever possible? Or, should it be hidden in the background, ready to serve like a good butler. It’s difficult to say because consumer expectations and desires are constantly evolving, in China more so than anywhere else. The constant feedback loop of what consumer want is useful, but does that also present challenges to designers who work to much longer timelines?

“We have access to a lot of data – how often our customers use a voice assistant and whether they activate it by a button or by voice; or how many times the customers use the memory buttons in the door or wherever,” says Zeekr’s Garcia-Gallardo. “But the big challenge is how to filter it find the real gems. From a design perspective, this data can definitely add value, it’s just a very complex world.”

Now, a session on automotive technology, interiors and innovation would not be complete without a mention of autonomous cars. “There is definitely a race in that specific industry,” notes Garcia-Gallardo. “Yes, a race, but no one’s actually driving,” laughs McLachlan.

But this is not necessarily the forum to discuss LiDAR versus camera or The Trolley Problem, and more about interior layouts. “We do have to think about different user scenarios and the user experience, whether we are facing each other, taking a nap while you wait for your children or re-charge,” says Kia’s Seungmo Lim. “The vehicle itself has a good sound system, display, noise isolation, everything. It is the perfect space whether you want to nap, play some games if you are bored. There are so many different user scenarios.” However, he adds, “even today when the car is stationary there is also plenty of opportunity.”

Zeiss’s Kleindienst points out that in order to create a relaxing, homely feeling in the cabin, it’s probably best to hide the necessary monitoring equipment relating to partially-autonomous driving systems, which check if a driver is paying attention. 

Session 2: Fireside chat with SAIC’s Jozef Kabaň

One-on-one, this time. Jozef Kabaň has promised us a first look at his vision for SAIC’s future, exploring the fusion of Eastern innovation and Western craftsmanship for a bold new design identity. 

This is a designer who has worked on everything from Bugattis to Skodas and is now at SAIC. Exactly one year in, how is it going? First off, it was not exactly a commute to reach us this evening.

“I actually live about 3,500 meters from this place, so I’ll be walking home afterwards which is nice,” he jokes. “To be honest, this first year has gone so quickly – like most of the things do in in China. I know Shanghai pretty well already as I used to work for Volkswagen Group for 20 years or so, and we’ve had this cooperation with SAIC. But being here one year, I’ve learned a lot.”

If you want to work quickly, come to China

Kaban embarks on a short story – which let’s be honest is exactly what we were hoping for. “Exactly 100 years ago there was one Slovak architect. He came to China after escaping from Siberia and the quickest way was to come to Shanghai at the time. He became a superstar in his trade, building around 50 to 60 buildings in Shanghai alone. One of them – Park Hotel, a few meters from here – is only 22 storeys high. This was built in 1934 and became the biggest building in Asia and was the biggest in Shanghai until 1983. It’s incredible [with today’s speed in China] to think that it took almost 50 years to build higher than 22 floors.” 

From then on, of course, even taller buildings would begin to shoot up in the blink of an eye, symbolic of the split in mindset between this Slovak architect and the ‘new’ way of doing things in China. ”We are all here because we are creative, we love art and design,” says Kaban. “But what we don’t love is low speed. It’s very difficult if things take too long. If you want to work quickly, come to China.”

But working quickly means it can be challenging to let something sit and mature. This is quite a stark contrast between Western and Chinese car design. It is symptomatic of designers having short attention spans, or consumers always wanting the next new thing? While he doesn’t necessarily address the notion of attention spans, he underlines that Chinese design teams are working quickly for a reason. 

“Many people think that designers are dreamers, but they’re actually working hard and they know what they are doing. It feels disorganised, but it’s not,” says Kaban. “The reality is we are not dreaming about egoistic things like just being successful. Maybe we did when we were young, but then you start to dream bigger. How to change something, how to maybe move something, how to improve. And there’s a lot to improve. Lots.”

Looking ahead to the future, how does Kaban view his role as a designer in China, and the trends that are seemingly laid in stone ahead of the industry? “I’m actually an optimistic guy and this is a job where we would probably even do it for free, just because we love it. And here [in China] the crazy thing is that speed is not simply about following and catching up, it’s about running ahead.” We get a strong sense of confidence from Kaban and his enthusiasim for the job and his new setting in Shanghai is quite infectious. 

Session 3: Bridging cultures in automotive design

Some big names here too. This panel will explore the contrasts and synergies between Chinese and Western car design, among other things. Grab the popcorn. 

First up is Anthony Lo, who joined BAIC recently from Ford where he spent much of his time split between Dearborn and Paris. The question? How can designers fight against the notion of homogeneity in Chinese design? 

In China we have to deliver good results very quickly

“Most foreigners coming into China would have the impression that there’s a lot of homogeneous design going on, particularly on interiors. But now I’ve had a chance to be on the inside and understand this a little better,” he says.

“From my point of view, we have an extremely shortened design development process compared to other OEMs around the world,” Lo continues. “In China we have to deliver good results very quickly – something that will probably do well in surveys or in the market in a very short timeframe. What happens when you have a short timeframe is you tend to choose something that is easy to like, and something that is working well already on the market.” 

Lo continues: “I think this is working to a degree, but at the same time, one of the issues is that we don’t actually have enough time to prepare for the start of a project. What I discovered now – and something I’ve been fighting for since I joined BAIC – is that we need to create a space for strategic design, for advanced design, to be well prepared before we start a project. Then we can actually solve this problem of homogeneous design. I think many other designers in China may agree with me. Hopefully.”

What then of the ‘cultural exchange’ as Western designers head East? Is there a flow of ideas from different studios within the same group? For Nio’s Kris Tomasson, the dynamic is pretty much bang on as he splits time between Munich and China through a collaborative process. “Our design team is pretty international and it’s important to think about the experiences those designers get. The Chinese designers here get certain types of inputs, exposure to different types of design, users and things like that. In Munich we’re getting the same but from a European point of view. That cross pollination is really working for us, having designers on both sides influence one another.”

GAC, with its new Milan studio but also the Los Angeles outpost, has a similar dynamic. Design boss Fan Zhang says as much, giving kudos to studio leaders Stephane Janin and Pontus Fontaeus, respectively, in the process. “Pontus and his team have been great assets to GAC, contributing a lot of great ideas. And I think this is now the longest he has been with a car company, so thanks, Pontus! And then with Milan, in the past we used to think we in China were working quickly, but Stephane and his team showed us a lesson on just how quick designers could work in Europe… They are working in a totally different way.”

For Zyciora, formerly of Volkswagen and now of Changan, he completely disagrees. Just kidding – he too is of the opinion that a merging of cultures is productive and pushes Chinese car design forward into new areas.

He also brings us back to seemingly the main differentiator – speed. “I’ve collaborated with the Volkswagen Group joint ventures here quite a bit, so I already knew it could be faster. The pace is different and I’d actually say it’s a designer’s dream,” Zyciora says. “The time to market is much shorter and thus customer responses are also fast. But you have to be very disciplined and think like it’s a chess game. I make that move, what comes after? How do I build up a brand and a strategy moving forward, not just playing from model to model. That requires a lot of strategic thinking.”

Networking: have at it! 

That’s the evening’s content wrapped up, folks. Take a look at the galleries below and if you spot yourself (or your company) feel free to share on socials. It goes without saying, but this is an abridged overview of the evening and does not reflect the entireity of each discussion. For that, you’d need to be here in person. 

But what a return – thank you to the hundreds that could make it and we will see you again at the next one.