Following our previous reports, Audi has just confirmed the appointment of Marc Lichte to the Head of Design position. Wolfgang Egger will vacate the role following his appointment to Styling Director at the company’s subsidiary Italdesign Giugiaro. The changes will take effect on February 1, 2014.
Marc Lichte, a Pforzheim university graduate, is currently in charge of exterior design for the Volkswagen brand. He is credited with the design of the Scirocco, two generations of the stalwart Golf and a number of other vehicle programs over the last decade.
Volkswagen Scirocco (2008) is credited to Marc Lichte
In his new role, Lichte will be tasked with further developing and differentiating the design of Audi’s model families. We’ll likely see the fruits of his labor appear on the new Audi A8 sedan and forthcoming Q1 crossover due out in 2016 as well as the rumored Q8 crossover coupe. He will also need to integrate the Audi design teams into a new facility that’s currently being built in Ingolstadt and work closely with Egger to leverage Italdesign’s facilities and creatives.
“Marc Lichte places emphasis on expressing the core values of the brand in emotional form and with maximum quality,” said Ulrich Hackenberg, Board of Management Member for Technical Development, who has cooperated closely with Marc Lichte in his current role. “With a view to Audi’s core competencies such as the quattro drive system and intelligent lightweight construction, that will be an important element of his work.”
Wolfgang Egger (left) will move to a new role at Italdesign, Marc Lichte will head Audi
With his move to Turin, Wolfgang Egger will become a member of the management team as well as Styling Director of Italdesign, Audi’s Italian subsidiary.
A creative think tank for all the brands of the Volkswagen Group, Italdesign Giugiaro also provides services to external clients through its Industrial Design unit. This is an area in which Egger has experience: he took charge of Audi Brand Design following Stefan Sielaff’s appointment to head interior design for the Volkswagen Group and the company’s Design Center in Potsdam in 2012.
“Wolfgang Egger has made valuable contributions to this process in his work at Audi and will continue to deliver important stimulus in the future through his work in Turin,” said Audi CEO Rupert Stadler.
