Holden designer heads for the USA

THE leading Australian designer Michael Simcoehas been handed the task of improving thelooks of the General Motors car family in NorthAmerica.

Mr Simcoe takes up the three-year positionof Executive Director Design, Body FrameIntegral Architectures at GM’s Warren designheadquarters, near Detroit in Michigan in lateSeptember.

In his new role he will be in charge of all carand car-based exterior design such as cross-oversdeveloped by GM's North American subsidiaries.

That lot includes Buick, Chevrolet, Pontiac andSaturn, as well as the increasingly global luxurybrand Cadillac.

Mr Simcoe will also have charge over theexterior design adaptation of GM monocoquevehicles that are developed outside NorthAmerica and sold there or overseas under one ofthe domestic nameplates.

Mr Simcoe succeeds Bryan Nesbitt, whohas moved to Opel in Europe to replace MartinSmith, who has left for Ford. The rotation is a keyindicator of GM global product czar Bob Lutz'sdetermination to globalise the company's designphilosophy.

It also demonstrates how far the GM world haschanged. It wasn't that long ago that Americanslike the late Joe Schemansky and his successorLeo Pruneau were being sent out to Holden to runits design department.

Mr Lutz has placed Mr Simcoe in a crucial job.

GM, like Ford and Chrysler Group, is seeking toreclaim ground lost in the car market to theJapanese, who in turn are now eating into the bigthree’s domestic truck volume.

While a gifted designer in his own right,Mr Simcoe is also regarded as a strong leader,organiser and motivator. That’s important in hisnew role, where he will be responsible for 1500staff. Currently, around 140 GM employees reportto him.

The first design updates he will influence areprobably less than three years away, while it willbe closer to five years before all-new productsbearing his stamp will be unveiled.

Mr Simcoe said his priorities would be toensure car designs emerging from Warren were“world class and best practice”, with a particularemphasis on improving packaging and perceivedquality.

"There is nothing specific about American carsor trucks that I don’t like other than they probablyneed to be a bit more focused,” the 46-year oldsaid. "They need to be quite specific, the designneeds to suit the brand which some doesn’t andneeds to get away from the “me too” that theyhave been into. In fact rather than being leaders,they are being led in some cases.”

Mr Simcoe will be in-line with four otherexecutive directors reporting directly to worlddesign chief Ed Welburn. The other EDsare responsible for body on frame interiors advanced and engineering.

It is the second time Mr Simcoe has beenoffered this job by Mr Lutz. The first time, twoyears ago, Mr Simcoe was Holden design directorand wanted to see through the development of thenew generation VE Commodore family, which isbased on the all-new Zeta architecture.

In between Mr Simcoe took on the role ofExecutive Director GM Asia Pacific Design,a halfway house position that enabled him toleave his family based in Melbourne, althoughhe spent two weeks in every month in Seoul atGM Daewoo, as well as overseeing a small designstudio in China.

Reflecting GM’s priorities, Mr Simcoe’sreplacement in the Asia-Pacific role, AmericanDave Lyon, will be based in Seoul.

There’s a certain irony to Mr Simcoe’sappointment, as the man who led the creationof the Commodore-based Monaro coupe, whichhas since been sold on to the Americans as a 21stcentury Pontiac GTO.

Although met with widespread acclaim for itsperformance, the car’s styling has been brandedas underwhelming by the Americans, a concernreflected in slower than expected initial sales.

"I guess they (GM) are coming to Australialooking for someone out of the studios herebecause we have got car experience and ... that’s not working well for them inNorth America," explained Mr Simcoe. "Clearlythey like what they see here and are chasing thatexpertise.

"I guess what they are chasing from me is goodsolid design related to getting their architecturesright, getting their cars right and what we havebeen able to do here, and … to some degree tameengineering and make sure that the engineeringguys and manufacturing for that matter can helpdeliver what essentially is what sells the vehicle,and that’s the appearance of it."Mr Simcoe’s appointment undoubtedly relatesto the global ambitions GM has developed forZeta, which will underpin Buick, Chevrolet andPontiac future models.

Mr Simcoe previously spent two years workingat Warren in the early 1990s, a period he hassaid was vital in his development of the recordbreaking VT Commodore’s exterior shape.