Michael Mauer leaves Saab for Porsche

[Nairda]

Michael Mauer has been appointed chief of design for Porsche AG.
http://cardesignnews.com/news/2004/0...uer/index.html

[9000anni]

He must like car manufacturers who's model numbers all start with 9

[Oliver]

... and Chris Bangle comes to join Trolhattan as head of design??

[saabluster]

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Say it is'nt so! He is pure genuis. I just hope he has been able to affect the future products of Saab. We have not yet seen a full car(production) from him yet. This is a sad sad day for Saab .

[ragtopcav]

Next year I start the design phase of my automotive manufacture engineering degree, is that a vacancy I see . Or will Ford keep me?

[garry]

One man can not create the optimal results required.... It is the team that one man can create and orchestrate that will generate and finalize the desired solutions.

Michael Mauer was not that man......

And GM need to wake up to what they are about to loose.... Not Michael Mauer, he's a capable nobody... but SAAB itself.

Wake up, smell the cheese. Invest now and don't pussyfoot.

[Mofflet]

Originally Posted by Oliver

... and Chris Bangle comes to join Trolhattan as head of design??

god i hope not!!, as a huge bmw fan im thinking of lynching him with his "one series" etc

i hope he doesn't release his creative brain farts on saab.

[ragtopcav]

Originally Posted by garry

And GM need to wake up to what they are about to loose.... Not Michael Mauer, he's a capable nobody... but SAAB itself.

Wake up, smell the cheese. Invest now and don't pussyfoot.

com'on Garry you must know it doesn't work like that. Why should GM worry about the opinions of the likes of us? we're neither willing or able [perhaps both] to chop in our old Saabs for a newbie, we don't fit in their business plan and as such have no opinion on what they do with Saab, only those whom have been involved with the latest products will have influence.

[GearHead]

if he is the one who designed the 9-2X then he should be shot!Be glad he is gone.Now he can ruin porsche as well as saab...

[Saabian]

Pfft, well the 9-2x is hardly a good judge of a designer's talents. Seeing as it's nothing more than a Subaru with a different front end. Anyone could have designed that. It's typical Saab. The rest of the car is Subaru's fault. And I really don't think it's that bad looking. It just looks like a Subaru. Not enough like a Saab.

-Ian

[GearHead]

what ever floats your boat...

[Willy Wonka]

Difficult to function within a matrix superimposed on a many interlinked pyramids. Funny that he is moving to a more autonomous organization. GM usually is usually quite good at allowing its key people to function, except when it's outside policy. But hey what do i know, I still can't understand how NG came about as an acronym, NFG as a name.

[SPG900]

Originally Posted by GearHead

if he is the one who designed the 9-2X then he should be shot!Be glad he is gone.Now he can ruin porsche as well as saab...

That's one of the most stupid things I've ever read on here, period. You really have no idea, do you?

I'll try... The 9-2X is here because GM wanted it, not because Mauer or anyone at Saab wanted it. You design what they want you to design. If Porsche wants their next model to be a rebadged Metro, it'll come, no matter who their designer is. And finally, Michael Mauer is one of the best people currently out there, (partly) responsible for the 9-X, Merc SLK, Smart Roadster... All pretty innovative. A brilliant career for a guy his age. Honestly, don't post such crap.

[MyOwnRoad]

Originally Posted by SPG900

The 9-2X is here because GM wanted it, not because Mauer or anyone at Saab wanted it. You design what they want you to design.

Only if Mauer and team really had free reign with the 9-2 design, that would've been a killer car. Because Saab's budget wasn't enough to design an all-new car, GM put restrictions on the 9-2 project, involving R&D costs and time constraints into getting the car to market. Pretty sure Mauer wasn't too thrilled when he was faced with just slapping a new front-end to a WRX.

In the end, it's always the top brass who makes the decisions whether if that great design on the drawing board is feasable for production.

[SPG900]

Originally Posted by MyOwnRoad

Only if Mauer and team really had free reign with the 9-2 design, that would've been a killer car.

Obviously. I'll rephrase: "The 9-2X IN ITS CURRENT FORM is here because GM wanted it, not because Mauer or anyone at Saab wanted it."

[MyOwnRoad]

Originally Posted by SPG900

Obviously. I'll rephrase: "The 9-2X IN ITS CURRENT FORM is here because GM wanted it, not because Mauer or anyone at Saab wanted it."

Well yeah you got it right there.

But anyway, who will be successor? Could be someone in-house, perhaps Anthony Lo, head of advanced design.

[saabluster]

Originally Posted by garry

Michael Mauer was not that man......

, he's a capable nobody...
.

Gee lets see, Porsche, one of the only independant car companys left, which in this day and age is nothing short of astounding, wants him to head their designs. THINK about it!!

[Saba]

Originally Posted by saabluster

Gee lets see, Porsche, one of the only independant car companys left, which in this day and age is nothing short of astounding, wants him to head their designs. THINK about it!!

Got a good resume hey?

[saabluster]

Here is a question for you. Do you think he will take Anthony Lo with him? I seem to remember that they were close and that he brought Lo with him from M-B

[Saba]

Another article about it

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentSe...o1&segid=03052