Lamborghini’s outgoing CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, announced that Porsche’s exterior and former advanced design director Mitja Borkert will replace Filippo Perini as the Sant’Agata based supercar maker’s new Design Director at this year’s Geneva motor show. We caught up with him immediately after the announcement and snapped the photo you see above.
Borkert — who is a fan of Formula 1 and Moto GP as well as an avid rider of Ducati and MV Agusta sport bikes — was obviously enthused to have been named Perini’s successor, joking that while he had big shoes to fill he also welcomed the opportunity to further the company’s design objectives. He will start his new role in April.
A graduate of Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences’ Transportation Design program, Borkert started his career as an exterior designer at Style Porsche in Weissach in 1999, then under the direction of Harm Lagaay. Whilst he contributed to a number of design programs from the outset — and did a brief a stint at Porsche’s now defunct California studio — it was under the direction of current Porsche design director and new VW Group design chief Michael Mauer that Borkert’s career really progressed.
Mauer appointed Borkert general manager of advanced design at Porsche, where he was responsible for the Panamera Sport Turismo concept that debuted in 2012 as well as a number of in house proposals. He also contributed to the production Porsche Boxster 987 facelift, Cayenne E2 and Macan models as well as the Mission E concept that made its debut in Frankfurt last year. Borkert became Porsche’s director of exterior design in 2014.
In his new role, Borkert is responsible for the design of future Lamborghini models and the coordination of the design team at the supercar maker’s Centro Stile in Sant’Agata Bolognese, a small commune in the Northern Italian province of Bologna.
Borkert will report to Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini’s research and development chief and a member of the board of managment. Reggiani reports to Stefano Domenicali, former principal of Scuderia Ferrari’s Formula One team, who has been appointed to replace Winkelmann as Lamborghini’s new CEO.
