Another Aussie set to reshape Lincoln

FORD Australia designer Peter Jones has been named interior design manager for the Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln luxury car brand.

To be based at Blue Oval headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, Mr Jones takes up his new position early next month and will report to Lincoln director of design Max Wolff – a fellow Australian and former colleague who moved to Lincoln in January 2011 after 12 years with General Motors.

Mr Jones and Mr Wolff both graduated from Monash University in Melbourne in 1993 with a Bachelor of Industrial Design.

At graduation, Mr Jones received an encouragement award from the Design Institute of Australia and immediately went to work for GM Holden, while Mr Wolff joined him at GMH in 1998.

Mr Jones moved to Ford Australia’s design studio seven years ago and most recently served as interior design manager for the new-generation Ranger one-tonne utility.

He was also lead exterior designer for the FG Falcon Ute, working on the ‘Orion’ ute program under former Ford Australia design chief Steve Park.

Ford Asia Pacific and Africa design director Christopher Svensson said this week that Mr Jones’ appointment “not only proves that Australian know-how is highly regarded within the Ford Motor Company but also shows that highly accomplished Australian university graduates can confidently compete on the global automotive stage”.

Mr Svensson added that Ford’s internal global design competitions for key new ‘One Ford’ model programs had highlighted “a wealth of talented designers around the world”.

“The natural evolution of this process is to rotate key talent throughout our global design studios,” he said.

Mr Jones’ appointment in the Lincoln studio is for three years.

Mr Jones grew up on a farm in southern New South Wales and got his first taste of design working as a paste-up artist for a printing house.

Among his interests is a passion for restoring cars and motorcycles, the latter including a 1960 Lilac. He also recently added an XA Falcon Coupe to the list.

Mr Wolff was previously exterior design chief for GM’s Cadillac brand, having relocated to Detroit in 2007 after spending three years in South Korea as deputy director of advanced design for GM Daewoo.