The Brains Behind Land Rover's Head-Turning Looks

I think design is becoming more and more important because once technologies become comparable from one brand or one company to another, once engineering becomes comparable, once quality, reliability, they almost become givens... Design is now very much the key differentiator, since it resonates on an emotional level.

I don't believe you can ever design by committee. If you listen to too many points of view, you'll end up with mediocrity. If the Evoque failed and didn't sell because it was seen as an ugly vehicle, I'm the one who gets fired.

After we did the Evoque concept car [called the LRX] in 2008 and decided to put it into production, the engineers said, "To get the suspension travel that we want for off-road capability, the car needs to sit higher off its wheels. To get really competitive rear cargo room, you need to lift the roof." But the great thing about the LRX and now the Evoque is that it's got killer proportions, and first and foremost you have to get the proportions right?wheel at each corner, falling roof, dramatically rising belt line, good body side section. It looks like it's planted.

So I said, we're not doing any of that. I put the onus back on the engineers: Be creative and figure out how to keep the concept-car design. And they did. The production Evoque changed very little from that original concept.

People say to me, "Oh, this DC100, it's gone too far." And I say, "What do you mean?" "Well, it should look just like the old [Defender]." What's the point of that? Why design a vehicle that looks like it was designed 60 years ago?

Now we're working on the next generation of Land Rovers, like the Range Rover. That vehicle has to have certain design cues?a floating roof, a clamshell bonnet [hood], short overhangs, high sills, and a relatively equal glass-to-body relationship. How do you modernize those design cues? If you go too far, you'll be perceived as generic and you'll fail. If you don't go far enough, you'll be seen as retro, and that's the kiss of death. Recognize your past, but don't be harnessed by it.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/industry/the-brains-behind-land-rovers-head-turning-looks-12437833?src=rss

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