Klaus Bischoff named future Group Head of Design at Volkswagen
A few personnel changes are under way at Volkswagen Design: from 1 April 2020 Klaus Bischoff, currently Head of Design for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, will take over as Group Head of Design. For the time being, Bischoff will perform both roles at VW. From 1 July 2020 Jozef Kabaò will succeed Bischoff as Head of Design for Volkswagen Passenger Cars. Michael Mauer, who until now was serving both as Group Head of Design and Head of Porsche Design, will focus exclusively on his work for Porsche.
Bischoff, who is 57 years old and a trained designer, has been working at Volkswagen since 1989. He began his career in interior design in Wolfsburg. In 1996 he was promoted to Head of Design Concepts. Following a number of other managerial positions, Bischoff was made head of the Design Center in Wolfsburg in 2006. In 2007 he was named Head of Design for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. Jozef Kabaò, aged 46, began his career in 1993 working in exterior design at Volkswagen, where until recently he served as team leader. From 1998 he also worked as head of exterior design for Bugatti. In 2003 he transferred to Audi, and from 2006 he was in charge of exterior design in Ingolstadt. From 2008 to 2017 Kabaò headed up design for the Škoda brand. In 2017 he moved to BMW to serve as Head of Design, and in 2019 he transferred to Rolls Royce in the same role. Michael Mauer, who is 57 years old, studied automotive design and got his start in 1986 working at Mercedes-Benz, where he held a number of managerial roles in the design department until 2000. He then moved to Saab, and from 2003 he also headed up Advanced Design at General Motors Europe. Mauer has been Head of Design at Porsche AG since 2004, and since 2016 he has also been working as Group Head of Design at Volkswagen.
