Skoda’s Kaban Tapped to Head BMW Brand Design

MUNICH – BMW confirms Jozef Kaban, the man behind the bullish look of the Bugatti Veyron EB16.4, will join the German automaker to head BMW-brand design.

Kaban replaces Karim Habib, who recently left the automaker.

Currently head of design at Skoda, the 44-year-old, Slovakia-born Kaban is credited with overseeing the design of the current range of Skoda models, including the recently introduced Kodiak CUV. He will lead a team of designers responsible for the BMW brand working under the guise of overall BMW Group design director Adrian von Hooydonk.

Kaban, a specialist in exterior styling, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia in 1991. In 1997, as a student supported by VW, Kaban received a Master of Arts at the Royal College of Art in London.

During his studies, he took part in a Skoda design competition, taking second place. He subsequently was offered a job at parent company Volkswagen Group, initially as a junior assistant of design and later as exterior designer.

During this time he penned the exterior design for the original Bugatti Veyron EB16.4 under the direction of VW’s former design head Hartmut Wartkuss. He also created the designs for the Volkswagen Lupo and SEAT Arosa.

Kaban moved to Audi in 2003, where he was made head of exterior design in 2006. He was named of head of Skoda design operations in 2008.