Thursday 15th August 2019

Koenigsegg hires former Bugatti designer

Sasha Selipanov will help style a new generation of Swedish hypercars

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Koenigsegg has hired the man who styled both the Bugatti Chiron and the Vision Gran Turismo to be its new Head of Design. Sasha Selipanov’s appointment suggests that the Swedish brand is plotting a design transformation alongside its ambitious electrification plans. The new hiring was said to be responsible for exterior design at Bugatti, before joining Hyundai subsidiary Genesis to work on the all-electric Essentia and Mint concepts. He now joins Christian von Koenigsegg’s firm to lead both internal and client-serving design projects, with the latter run through the newly-formed RAW Design House.

Georgian-born Selipanov’s creations, which also include bits of the Lamborghini Huracan, have tended toward the cutting edge. Koenigsegg’s models aren’t exactly known for being understated, but Selipanov’s involvement has the potential to take its styling innovations to another level – particularly if the Swedish company begins development of an EV hypercar, as Christian has hinted it would once battery tech supersedes present turbo and electric compressor-based solutions for enormous power.

Selipanov will juggle his internal role alongside the positions of managing director and chief designer at RAW, where he’ll lead teams focussed on producing designs for external clients. But we suspect the Russian national is most excited about working on Koenigsegg’s in-house stuff, as hinted by his opening statement from today’s announcement.

“This is a dream come true,” said the 36-year-old. “I have followed Koenigsegg’s path for years and have been a huge fan of the company’s free spirit and commitment to innovation. In today’s world, Koenigsegg’s story and achievements are unparalleled; I am honoured to offer my professional expertise as well as my lifelong passion for sports cars to Koenigsegg.”

Company CEO Christian von Koenigsegg added: “It shows how far Koenigsegg has progressed that we can attract talent like Sasha. I look forward to fusing the Koenigsegg way of developing and designing cars with Sasha’s experience and radical methods. I expect spectacular results.”

[C.MW]

Oh no please... Koneigsegg have been doing extremely well with their design. Just the thought that their future products could even remotely resemble the Chiron makes me cringe.