Our Ed Niedermeyer wrote that China may have a design deficit. Daimler thinks otherwise. Daimler’s Mercedes cars are already produced in China under a joint venture agreement with Beijing Auto. Now, the car with the star will be designed in China as well. Or at least some of it. Daimler is planning to open their Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Center in China’s capital Beijing, Gasgoo writes.
The center is expected to be headed by Olivier Boulay, who is currently the head of Daimler’s Japanese design studio in Yokohama.
“Boulay is good at extracting different cultural features and put these crucial cultural elements in future design applications,” said Hua Lixin, Board Chairman and CEO of Daimler Northeast Asia,
Olivier Boulay was once responsible for Maybach concepts, Mercedes-Benz F600 fuel cell concept, F400 concept Benz SLK production car, Mitsubishi Outlander, among others.
The Beijing design center, when completed, will become the fifth design center of Daimler, which has already established design centers in the U.S, Italy, Japan and Germany.
9 Comments on “Mercedes, Designed In China...”
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Considering the work China has done on its Buick designs I suspect this will work out well. Recent Mercedes design has been too silly for the brand IMO. With Buick, GM’s Chinese venture showed a better feel for the Buick brand than the home team has of late.
It seems to be (From a Very Far Way Away) that part of the problem of car design in China is Chinese consumers get very excited when a new car looks like a knock-off of a western car. Cars are status symbols, and when Chinese consumers start demanding design with chinese characteristics, I suspect the car companies will oblige.
Yeah, if a Chery looks like an MB, it’s an shameless imitation. If an MB looks like a MB, it’s done right.
What’s wrong with that picture? Nothing. It is the perfect portrait of the truth about Chinese economic greed, lust, and failure. :-(
Bertel… I think DaimlerChrysler doesn’t exist since 2007.
Does the design brief include corrosive gasses eminating from the door panels (like the craptastic Chinese plasterboard sold in the south post-hurricane within the past few years), leaded paint (no children allowed within 50 meters of the cars, please) and collapsing center-of-car (to keep the population growth down)?
menno, you are missing the point. This is MB that we are talking about. Whatever good or bad that comes out of this, it’s MB.
The majority of the design staff that created these Chinese Buicks were actually Americans.
I like Boulay:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/capsule-review-2005-2008-mitsubishi-colt/