BMW Is Losing Its Chief Designer

The way Bimmers look could be changing in some big ways, because the brand’s chief designer has left the company. Karim Habib has departed from his post, but it might not have been of his own choosing, because he might not have a new job lined up.

This is happening after Anders Warming, the head designer at Mini, left last summer to join Borgward. The BMW i head designer Benoit Jacob took off during the summer as well, joining up with Future Mobility Corp. in China.

In other words, BMW Group has a bit of a design problem right now, with three top vacancies.

BMW has been losing ground to Mercedes-Benz recently, so that might have been at least part of the reason for this shakeup. Other brands like Jaguar have been surging, applying even more pressure.

The interesting thing is BMW seems to not have a new head designer lined up. Questionable design choices in the past have alienated some longtime fans and potential buyers, so what the company does next could either continue that trend, or maybe help BMW return to dominance.