Do Europeans still hold the design leadership in cars?
No one speaks about emotionally charged American or Japanese vehicles. They make normal, high-volume products. Chris Bangle really shook up the world of auto design with the new look at BMW. He provoked a huge controversy within the industry. I respect Chris for what he has done. It takes a lot of courage to go against the grain, and to do it with a company that has BMW’s weight in the industry. There’s an element of having done something correctly, and there is a period of refinement to smooth out some of the new styling. Bangle has been a hero — he took courageous steps. Who is really leading the car design industry today? It’s not Mercedes, not BMW, not Ford (F ). We are living through a moment of confusion. Chrysler (DCX ) had it. The French had it, but it didn’t stick as well as it should have. There is nothing beautiful like in the 1960s, where you really drooled over cars. Design was like sculpture — artisans made those surfaces. We’ve gone to aggressive-looking cars — you do
