Kia’s chief design officer Peter Schreyer has been appointed to the post of president at the Korean carmaker, and will be the first non-Korean to hold the position in Kia’s history.
The celebrated design chief brought a design renaissance to the brand, and to say that design has transformed the global reputation of the Kia brand is an understatement. This move can also be seen as Kia’s commitment to continuing design-led development.
Schreyer, 59, joined Kia in 2006 from the Volkswagen Group to create a new design-led product strategy for the brand and quickly became known for his “Tiger-nose” family look, as seen on the Optima K5, Sportage and upcoming Rio.
Schreyer is married with two children and is originally from Bavaria in Germany. He studied at the Royal College of Art before becoming part of VAG’s design team. The Audi TT designer has publicly commented on his commitment to Kia and his desire to remain with the company.
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When will Proton hire world class designer like him? Is Chris Bangle hired by any automotive company right now? If not… DRB apa tunggu lagi??? :P
Proton is a ‘Malaysian’ company as envision by M. A by Malaysian for the world or so was the dream.
So naturally, Proton throughout the years try to keep this identity by hiring a majority of Malaysian to work on their product.
So if Proton were to hire a ‘World-class designer’it will have to be Malaysian. And I believe there are world-class designers among us, being in the design industry, I find that there are alot of talented people in Malaysia.
The problem is this, will Proton ever hire them? Most of this people will find job overseas, finding opportunity in this line in Malaysia is rather hard .
I actually grew up dreaming to design for Proton as a child because I had a two P1 on my driveway than , but I guess right now, that dream right now will remain a dream.
Kucing bumi atau kucing bulan, asalkan ia pandai tangkap tikus, kita mestilah peliharanya.
Kia now is in the list of top 100 brands already, ya?
I never like proverbs, Englsih, Chinese or Malay, though inspirational quotes got my attention. Did’t really get what you say.
Ya, last check, Lia is at #87 while it’s sister brand Hyundai is way higer at #53.
Surprisingly Kia is ahead in the brand recognition ranking of popular brands like Ferrari [yes!], ralp Lauren and Starbucks and Backbarry
It boils down to cost. Do you think Proton cannot do better? Just look at the original Preve interior, it beats shitoutof the techno design FD2 (for those who admires it). But then the prod cost will be higher and ends up with higher price
those proton blind supporter.
stop talking about cost, u know nothing about that.
because you only has a saga doesnt mean you know proton at all.
so if the budget is one million, proton can make a car to beat ferrari? stop siok sendiri. they dont even have a decent engine.
the global car, is a global joke.
I don’t think so, I think it boils down to R&D and designers.
The Preve’s interior reflects it’s rear end design, simple unimaginative. Black plastic and faux dark wood makes it looks like, I have to say, boring. The Gen 2/Persona did a better job on this sector.
In comparison to a Daihatsu Sirion or Perdua Myvi here, at 45k on some models they are able to make the interior better looking than the Preve. Not only the Myvi, The Mirage and Swift already had better overall interior. If you are talking about production cost, if we take away the Guv text, most car will immediately e on par with the Preve with better interior. Fiesta, City ,Forte, Elantra, etc…..
1 million for making a car is not enough, exora and saga already needed 500m each. Hyundai could do 6 times more for a year. Per prod vs per year, the difference is so huge.
Proton hiring kroni & stupid for their personal employment/political legacy..to maintain Sombong & bongkak
Talented Malaysian ending their support with dream..
People without taste design/approve Sawwi/Preve & when falure – it was Lotus design..
heard production operators hate/cursing their own product/boss/designers many time..
Even if Proton decides to hire a world class designer. They have to check to see if he or she is bumi first before the appointment.
S Korea lived by 99% Korean, while Malaysia lived by 50% Malay, and they’re still able to get Schreyer to lead them!
As far as my opinion is, we need a leader such as their Park Chung-hee who engineered the transformation of their national character with one of their well known “ppalli ppalli” (hurry-up, hurry-up) motto.
We too have PM Dr. Mamak.
Replace Proton with Toyota or Honda. Same rules apply.
He is not the best I am the best. But if I even were to be hired I will not accept the offer because Proton concept and business design is flawed and stupid since inception.
Congratulations Peter.
Only good news may come from this. The usual Japanese and European rivals should be wary now, and I highly doubt they aren’t considering Akio Toyada once said in 09 that he formally considered Hyundai and Kia ‘A respectable opponent’.
Well Increase competition is always stressful but healthy. Now Peter, improve the driving dynamics of Kia please, It’s the only real flaw of Kia.
wow
epic!
harusnya harus kita bilang Double ‘WOW’ gitu
Congrats Mr Schreyer! You deserve it!
Local automotive forever cannot compete in open market because we are too political and choose talent by looking at skin colour… How to improve???
That is not political, that is racist.
Now I know the real designer of Audi TT.
If Im not wrong, its the Audi TT MKI, not the current gen.
DRB is for Bukhary’s inner circle only
bukan ke PROTON ada Azlan Othman….
Why Proton cannot hire him bayar gaji besar sikit???
But for Lotus wastage, Proton willing to pay anything!
nanti saga peter schreyer version 120k sebuah sape nk bli?
OPTIMA K5 yang bertechnolgy tinggi pon baru 140k JER.. apa la ko merepek..
Sorry, I think it’s probably rm 50 k if without the stupid taxes. Anyway, made in Japan cars are cheaper than Malaysian or ckd cars. Inspira is more expensive than original made in Japan lancer (langkawi). Honda jazz ckd is more expensive than fully imported jazz from Japan. Do the maths and it’s probably end up with corruption with the high price for ckd cars.
It is not the money. Don’t you think VW could have paid him more? Schreyer got full control. He probably didn’t have to listen to some cost cutter telling him this design was 10 cent too expensive, so he needs to design something simpler. Design was made a focus at Kia, and he didn’t even have a history of car designs to draw upon, like he would have with BMW or VW. He could start from scratch.
Anyway Proton has good designers. They can get Lotus to do the designs, and Lotus has good designers. Problem is really the money. With similar taxes being paid Proton has to produce a C segment car for B segment money. That means they need to cut costs.
Stupid crap excuses!
Good design = Cost more?
Perhaps Savvy, Aztek, Multipla, Sssangyong, Mitsuoka etc all them cost even more lah. UGLY DESIGN = COST EVEN MORE! (for being a global joke, brand reputation tarnished)
Indeed, he is a gud designer but car is not just about design, it is a combination of many parameters. I still believe making car is a culture and Germany is proven in producing auto masterpiece.
When will Citizen build a golden bridge?
Someone like Peter will always have job…and Kia is lucky to have him…there is no doubt Kia, look wise are one of the best on the roads today….
Developed country is thirsty for talent without looking at skin color. Malasyia government is crazy for controlling power by looking at your skin & as long as U’re good at talking.
Proton all use syok sendiri designer.
actually started to feel sick of the tiger nose now. Kia should get new design-lead for fresher theme idea.
Are there any new vehicles, recently launched or otherwise, that are inspired by the current Sportage?
Do u feel bored to the bmw’s heritage nose? or Merc’s, Audi’s, Bentley’s, Rolls-Royce’s and others as well?
I was in the bank and outside there were 3 cars park side by side, a 2007 Civic,a Forte and an Elantra.
Schreyer is right ! Any car maker should have their own family look like when we see a Merc or BMW.
Yes, most car makers know it. Except for the Japanese… Even the Koreans realized it, that is why Schreyer was hired.
Picking the correct and consistent theme also important or else the car image become kartun lah eg. Wau bulan design by Proton. Sick and pathetic look.
Why there is a Myvi behind him in the pic? i can’t be wrong coz i recognized the rear lamp design..
well well, from the name, you could be the same person who calls the Honda S2000 a gay car and now can’t recognize a Kia Soul.
.
.
look it up on Google is one of the first good-looking Kias and I believe the first Kia designed by Peter himself.
Was it you who said that the Honda S2000 is a gay car?
That ,may look like a Myvi/Passo , It’s actually a Kia Soul. Google it, I think it was the first Kia designed by Peter Schreyer.
No wonder myvi is the best seller, Schreyer IS the designer lol
*sarcasm*
I second avh’s comment, so proton, pls organise a car design competition, i ‘d loved to give my little idea. Anybody?
Martian 90210.. It is the kia soul..
They can spend 50% of R&D funds on looks, but still kimchis will have poor RV
cannot agree more, choose Toyota, the best resale value cars in Malaysia
Yes, they cannot beat Toyota’s 50yrs old 4 speed auto
Long live T-Brand…Hail Sam Loo…
I hate kimchis, and sometimes euro beers
That is why i ve trained all my generations to hate those.
I wish Toyota would hire a European designer too.
They have a design centre in Zaventem, Belgium since 2007:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Motor_Europe
if PROTON hire this mamat pun serupa jer…
kalau Proton nak pergi tahap ‘world class’ mcm Hyundai-Kia, kene ‘hire’ designer mcm ni. Proton ada ke bende ni ‘design centre’ after 25years established ? I hope DRB do better for Malaysian & Proton. Too much differnt in design Kia 6 years ago compare to NOW design.