February 2009
Chris Bangle, the design head at BMW Group since 1992 and one of the most controversial and well-known designers in the auto industry, resigned on Feb. 3.
Bangle, 52, the first American to be named head of design at a foreign automaker, will be succeeded by Adrian van Hooydonk, 45, a native of Holland, who has led design on BMW brand vehicles for the last few years.
As head of design for the whole group, Bangle, and now van Hooydonk, oversees design for BMW, as well as the German automaker's Mini and Rolls Royce brands.
Bangle achieved infamy in 2001 when he introduced the BMW 7 Series at the Frankfurt Motor Show to catcalls over its high, squared-off trunk lid that came to be known as the "Bangle Butt".
When Bangle began his career, BMW had a single brand with five models. As the Munich-based company closed out 2008, it had three brands and 11 products within the BMW lineup alone, with an additional model coming out later this year. BMW sold 1.43 million vehicles in 2008.
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