Donckerwolke also posted “Do you want us to send the product tooling?” on Lincoln designer David Woodhouse’s Facebook page.
Bentley Motors today said that Stefan Sielaff as its new Director of Design, succeeding the outspoken Luc Donckerwolke who had been with Bentley Design since 2012, but now is leaving the Volkswagen Group, Bentley’s owner.
In April after Ford Motor unveiled the Lincoln Continental concept at the New York Auto Show, Donckerwolke in a post on his Facebook page accussed the designers of the 2016 Continental of plagiarism.
“I would have called it a Flying Spur concept and kept the four round lights,” he wrote.
Lincoln Continental is due to go on sales next year in North America and China.
Donckerwolke also posted “Do you want us to send the product tooling?” on Lincoln designer David Woodhouse’s Facebook page. That comment was deleted, but not before Car Design News had a screenshot of it.
Mr. Sielaff will join Bentley on 1 July 2015 from his current dual role as Head of Volkswagen Group Interior Design and Design Director at Volkswagen Design Center Potsdam.
Bentley Flying Spur.
Mr. Sielaff has a career spanning more than 25 years in the Volkswagen group.
In his role at Bentley Design, he will report to Rolf Frech, Bentley’s Member of the Board for Engineering. He will also retain his position as Head of Volkswagen Group Interior Design, reporting to Director of Volkswagen Group Design, Dr. Walter de Silva.
Mr. Sielaff has a career spanning more than 25 years in the Volkswagen group, most prominently with Audi where he started as an intern and progressed to spending five years as Design Director for the business from 2006. It was here where he led a team of over 350 with responsibility for exterior, interior, as well as color and trim design for the full Audi product portfolio including concept and show cars.
Starting in the industry with a Vehicle Design degree from the Royal College of Art in London, UK, Mr. Sielaff, 53, has been in his current role since 2012.
Ah, the palmy days have returned to some in the global economy.
