Bangle rumored to resign over Project i
Earlier this week, the automobile world was shocked with news that BMW Design Chief Chris Bangle was not only retiring from his duties at BMW, but leaving the auto realm entirely. Say what you want about the direction that Bangle took BMW styling, but there's no evidence that the automaker wanted to see him go. In fact, all indications are that the German automaker wanted him to stay, even extending offers to take on other roles within the company. So, this begs the question: What made him leave? According to BMWBlog, the designer and his minions – especially his successor Adrian Von Hooydonk – disagreed on what direction to take on the upcoming Project i, which could either be released as its own brand or under the existing BMW or MINI tents. At this point, we don't have any indication which way Bangle was leading, but we should find out soon enough as the automaker has already given the project the green light.
[Source: BMWBlog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
BosGav 10:25AM (2/06/2009)
That seems farfetched.
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slicecom 10:21PM (2/07/2009)
Yup.
Monkaroo 10:35AM (2/06/2009)
I agree. Considering he's the man in charge of design, those "minions" would have to fall in line with his direction.
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Nobody Special 10:51AM (2/06/2009)
Time will tell. But really, wasn't it time for him to go? His designs were more attention grabbing for the off-visual balance of them than their over-all elegance. Whether they Board directed or nor not, they were approved. They won't go down in Bimmer history as the high-point in their designs.
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Coco 10:58AM (2/06/2009)
There's only so much of Quandt a man can take :)
what's the point of all the hard work designing when the end products turn out to be nothing but quality control nightmares that are poorly built... rampant cost cutting running wild with engineered parts that are designed to fail prematurely so that customers get screwed with expensive repairs for life... ie., Bangle must have gotten disillusioned by the whole "Blasphemous Motorized Wrecks" experience.
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John Johnson 11:16AM (2/06/2009)
Autoblog's New Years Resolution '09: One Bangle story every day.
So far so good.
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Fazzster 11:33AM (2/06/2009)
" i " don't know about that....
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why not the LS2LS7? 11:39AM (2/06/2009)
Who cares, as long as he is gone.
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hyundaifans.com 11:37PM (2/06/2009)
+1.
MBS 11:42AM (2/06/2009)
Van Hooydonk is a jerk, I can see it being frustrating to work with him.
On top of that Bangle suffered all the blame for the designs that were actually Van Hooydonks... Though obviously Bangle is to blame also since ultimately he let those design directions continue.
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tuna 1:57PM (2/06/2009)
Probably the most accurate comment I've read so far in all of the blogs.
eurofordy 2:08PM (2/06/2009)
so it's Blame Surfacing then.
Bangle acheived a lot by doing European cars with larger scale styling which really looks OK against US traffic. His work is done ?
ken_aisin 10:19PM (2/06/2009)
I agree totally. This is why I have always wanted BMW to get rid of both Bangle and Van Hooydonk. The fact that Van Hooydonk is taking over is no good news to me.
Mike 11:46AM (2/06/2009)
Let's just be happy that with him gone, the designs will change, hopefully for the better.
Then, not only won't we have to look at and be sickened by the current line of Bimmers, but the Asians will have a different design theme to copy, thereby reducing the gag reflex inspiring Asian cars too.
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Katie 11:47AM (2/06/2009)
*If* this is true, drama queen much?
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Jim 11:51AM (2/06/2009)
Gimme a break, you are tlking about his guy the same way the media talked about Obama during the election. He doesn't walk on water, he won't save the universe. Come on, he's just another car company employee.
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dave0mary 1:55PM (2/06/2009)
Good, er, excellent point! What, pray tell, will we talk about with our hairdresser's now though? Get my point?
Jason 11:58AM (2/06/2009)
The Bangle era (error?) at BMW has come to a close. Best of luck to Adrian Von Badonkadonk.
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Deeoh1 12:17PM (2/06/2009)
I guess opinions vary on designs. After my initial "WTF" reaction to the first 7-series under Bangle, I've grown to like to looks of the current lineup overall and I think the current 3s are possibly the most beautiful BMWs ever. Love him or hate him, there's no denying the influence of "his" designs across the industry.
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Richard 12:39PM (2/06/2009)
So what does BMW do now?
Mimic cars that aped Bangle (Honda, Mercedes, Kia, Subaru...)?
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