After 21 Years, Porsche Hires A New Chief Designer

A significant change of the guard at Porsche. For a full 21 years, the now 63-year-old Michael Mauer was at the helm of the design department, but he’s now calling it a day. The reason for his departure remains unclear. He may be retiring. Mauer himself says this is a good time for Porsche to seek new perspectives and that this is part of Porsche’s “strategic restructuring.”

Under Mauer’s leadership, the Porsche 911 was redesigned several times, and Porsche’s styling was incorporated into several new models. This gives Mauer quite a track record. Mauer isn’t leaving immediately. He’s first training his successor, Tobias Sühlmann. Also German, but with mostly British experience recently. Sühlmann, in turn, is leaving McLaren, where the 46-year-old was already head of design. He previously worked at the design table at Bugatti and Bentley, so he’s certainly no stranger to both the Volkswagen Group and sports cars.

Tobias Sühlmann (left) and Michael Mauer.

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