Starting April 1, 2019, Jozef Kaban will take over as the head of design for Rolls Royce. Previously, Kaban was the head of BMW core brand design. During his time in that position, BMW has developed several good looking cars and there will still be more to come with Kaban’s fingerprints on them. Now, though, he’s moving to a more specific role and possibly a more satisfying one.
“I am delighted to announce that Jozef Kaban has been appointed Head of Design. He is an exceptionally talented designer with a strong track record and a wide breadth of ability. It is testament to the success of our business that, as the world’s leading luxury house, we are able to attract the world’s very best design talent.” He continued, “This is an exciting time for our brand and I look forward to welcoming Jozef to the Rolls-Royce family.” said the CEO of Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Torsten Müller-Ötvös.
Kaban is no stranger to designing extremely luxurious machines. Prior to his time with BMW, he was the head of design for Bugatti, having been the man to design the famous Veyron. He also worked for Audi and Skoda, as he made his rounds through the VW Group.
Now, though, he’s the head of design for quite possibly the most prestigious brand in the automotive world — Rolls Royce. He’s up to the task, though. “The Rolls-Royce Design Team creates outstanding motor cars and luxury objects. I am convinced that Jozef Kaban will guide this phenomenal team into a very bright future indeed.” said BMW Group Chief Designer Adrian van Hooydonk.
The Slovakia-born Kaban surely has the resume to back up his praise. He studied car and art design in Bratislava and London, finishing up with a Master of Art in Car Design at the Royal College of Art in London. Combine those credentials with his work at Audi, Skoda and Bugatti, as well as BMW, and Kaban is more than qualified to handle this new position.
BMW has put out some of its best work in years under Kaban, so we’re very excited to see where he takes Rolls Royce, design-wise. It’s not an easy brand to design for, Rolls Royce. Sure, cost isn’t really an issue so there’s not constraints there but there’s a ton of brand heritage to work into new designs. And Rolls’ heritage has always been quite old-school and we’re in a very new-school time of car design. So it will be very interesting to see what he does with future Rolls Royces.