Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs
BREAKING: Franz von Holzhausen leaving Mazda for Tesla Motors
by John Neff on Aug 4th 2008 at 4:29PM 
It's already on Wikipedia so it must be true. We've just received confirmation from Tesla Motors that the upstart electric car company has somehow managed to snag Mazda's top designer to become its new Design Director and head up a team of in-house designers at a new studio. Franz von Holzhausen is the current rock star of the automobile design world, having been the creative force behind the last few year's worth of Mazda concepts that include the Nagare and Furai, as well as overseeing the design of all Mazda production vehicles in North America since February 2005. von Holzhausen has also been a designer at both General Motors and Volkswagen.
This is a major coup for Tesla, as its current Roadster was designed entirely by Lotus. The company's chairman, Elon Musk, reportedly hand-picked von Holzhausen to design the rest of Tesla's electric car range that will include both a mainstream sedan and sport compact.
A press release is on its way from Tesla Motors and will be added to this post when it arrives. Thanks for the tip, Antontio and David!
[Source: Car Design News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Benfolio 4:37PM (8/04/2008)
Thank goodness.
I wonder how many of his designs we haven't seen yet, but the '09 RX-8 is fugly.
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Joce03 4:42PM (8/04/2008)
Really? There is one on display at my nearest Mazda dealership - all black, subtle spoiler and those gun-metal grey rims and it looks great.
Kax02 5:22PM (8/04/2008)
The RX8 is fugly? wow, then what classification does the Aztek bring about for design failure if your bar for successes is so remarkably low.
Benfolio 8:07PM (8/04/2008)
Maybe it's because I see them all the time at work and think they could have done better with the refresh.
The center grille is too wide, too happy looking, and the tail lights look silly compared with the ultra modern ones the original RX8 had.
I agree though, the wheels are the sex, especially the 19's on the R3 model.
BlackCanary 4:38PM (8/04/2008)
No loss for Mazda if those ugly ass concepts are any indication of what he will do at Tesla.
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jake 4:44PM (8/04/2008)
I think the furai is a pretty good looking car. Says in the article he also led the design of the saturn sky and pontiac solstice, and hands down, I don't think anyone can say the saturn sky isn't a good looking design.
2004m3driver 4:46PM (8/04/2008)
The Furai is ugly? I'd give my left nut for that car.
Zane 4:49PM (8/04/2008)
You must be on crack if you think the Furai is ugly. I'll admit that it's not the prettiest concept in the world but it's FAR from being ugly.
BlackCanary 4:50PM (8/04/2008)
I dont care for the "flow" design or whatever it is being called. The Sky and Solstice are nice looking and the I like the RX-8 but those two concepts are not attractive to me. Not a fan of all the creases and folds.
BowserUSC 5:18PM (8/04/2008)
You people are ridiculous. The furai is one of the most hideous cars that I have ever seen.
why not the LS2LS7? 5:42PM (8/04/2008)
The Furai is ugly.
azzo45 7:45PM (8/04/2008)
The Furai is an ALMS P1/P2 car for the street... its a bad mo-fo!!! The "flow" needs to be controled a bit, but it works on this racer inspired concept IMO.
Is the designer taking that speedy looking leather jacket (complete with white leather stripes...) to Tesla as well?
Joce03 4:40PM (8/04/2008)
"Franz von Holzhausen is the current rock star of the automobile design world". Does that mean that we can expect TV commercials comparing him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton?
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skiwithme 4:42PM (8/04/2008)
i really do approve. i like my cars nice and nuts. and with a digital punch.
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madgamer 4:49PM (8/04/2008)
The furai is an amazing looking car. If he can bring even a little of that to Tesla, it would be great.
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Dude 4:53PM (8/04/2008)
I guess good for him, but the man has done nothing but build weird concepts since coming to Mazda. The last real car he designed was the Pontiac Solstice.
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Aetius 4:54PM (8/04/2008)
Wow. Money talked eh? He's going from what has become one of the most well-entrenched car companies (in terms of design and product line-up clarity) to a start-up with significant issues and a patchy future.
To be honest...maybe now Mazda will actually give us a production model sports car, instead of investing in half a dozen "It's from 2050AD!!!" show cars.
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Caz 5:01PM (8/04/2008)
*yawn*
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User 8:19PM (8/04/2008)
Yawn?
Not an American?
Let me put this into context for you:
This is exciting news. A highly responsive up and coming American automobile company just hired one of the world's best automotive designers at a time when our other domestic automobile companies are doing/will be doing absolutely horrific.
In other words: Hope for America's future automotive industry!!! Whoohooo!
mk 5:14PM (8/04/2008)
I have to agree with the sentiment that the RX8 refresh was less than stellar. The front end was the big change, and it came out worse. the wheels, spoiler and tail lights are small things that aren't necessarily worse.
But the Kabura was fantastic, and one of von Holzhausen's first concepts that I have heard of. Nothing ever came of it.
The rest of the concepts were wacky, and bore no resemblance to reality.
The Furai is fantastic, and I wish that would translate into some sort of a car. But I doubt it will. Mazda has gotten too mainstream with FWD 3s and 6s, and CUVs.
They won't do what it takes to turbocharge the NC Miata, and the Kabura is a no-show, let alone an RX7 successor.
Zoom Zoom is loosing it's zoom. And I can't blame Franz for seeking a better deal. Hopefully the new teslas look great, if the company can actually make a go of it.
Considering how much the Tesla roadster costs, compared to the closely chassis-related Elise, I wonder how much a "sport compact" from tesla will cost... $50k? (120% more than other vehicles in it's class, like the tesla roadster)
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