Stefan Sielaff resigns as Bentley’s head of design to reportedly join Geely Design, replacing Peter Horbury

After nearly six years of service as Bentley’s head of design, Stefan Sielaff has now left the British marque and will be replaced by Andreas Mindt from March 1 this year. Mindt is currently head of exterior design for Audi and brings with him more than 25 years of experience in automotive design.

“I am pleased to welcome Andreas to Bentley and look forward to working closely with him at such a critical, yet exciting time for the business. The hard work starts now as we accelerate our journey to full electrification by 2030,” said Matthias Rabe, Bentley’s board member for engineering.

“With Andreas’ creative experience in progressive electric car design delivery, and passion for Bentley and the Volkswagen Group, he is perfectly placed to help us achieve our ambitions as the leader in sustainable luxury mobility,” he added.

According to reports by Automotive News, Form Trends and Business Insider Germany, Sielaff is set to take over Peter Horbury’s role as head of Geely Design, although this has yet to be announced by the Chinese company.

Sielaff will reportedly start his new job in Gothenburg, Sweden after his obligatory gardening leave, which is expected to last three months, before heading off to Geely’s headquarters in Shanghai.

In the meantime, Horbury will continue to oversee design development of Geely Auto Group’s brands as well as the company’s design studios in Shanghai, China; Gothenburg, Sweden; Barcelona, Spain; California, USA; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Coventry, England. The British automotive designer, who turns 70 years old in a few weeks’ time, has led Geely Design since 2011 and is said to retire after Sielaff’s arrival.

His successor is certainly well known in the global design scene, putting out cars like the EXP 100 GT and Bacalar, the latter reviving Bentley’s Mulliner bespoke coachbuilding service. Throughout his tenure, the brand also introduced the new Continental, Flying Spur and refreshed Bentayga.

Prior to Bentley, Sielaff was design director at the Volkswagen Design Center in Potsdam, Germany, and before that, he held design roles in other brands within the Volkswagen Group like Audi. The 59-year-old German also designed interiors at the former Daimler-Chrysler group.

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