Audi Design: Frascella follows Lichte

Audi has a new chief designer. Exactly ten years after taking over as Head of Audi Design, Marc Lichte has left the company. He has been replaced by Massimo Frascella, previously Design Director at Jaguar Land Rover.

Frascella, a graduate of the IAAD design school in Turin, began his career at Bertone, where he developed the Bella concept in 1999. He then moved to Ford, where he worked for several brands in the UK and California. From 2005 to the end of 2011, he worked at Kia in Irvine, California, where he was responsible for a number of highly successful vehicles, including the 2009 Sorento, the 2010 Sportage, the 2011 Rio and the 2013 Soul. He then moved to Land Rover. His most important vehicles there are the currently produced Discovery Sport, Discovery, Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque and the Defender. In May 2021, he was promoted to Design Director of Jaguar Land Rover.

Frascella is considered a star designer, his portfolio is characterized by timeless cars that convey precision, clarity and minimalism. He takes over Audi's design department at a challenging time: The company is in the midst of transitioning to electric vehicles, and there is a backlog of new models coming to market this year and next - including the all-electric Q6 and A6 model series as well as the conventionally and hybrid-powered A5 and A7.

Frascella will report directly to Audi boss Gernot Döllner in Ingolstadt from June 1. He will be responsible for a number of international studios.

Marc Lichte has spent his entire career in the Volkswagen Group; the Pforzheim graduate's first important model was the fifth-generation Golf. He then worked on the Golf 6 and 7, the Passat 6, 7 and 8, the second and third generation Touareg and the Arteon. His first model at Audi was the current A8; among other things, he designed the e-tron GT and has launched the four all-electric concept cars Skysphere, Grandsphere, Urbansphere and Activesphere in recent years. He is poised to take on a new role within the Group.