Dacia design boss David Durand shares his personal approach to design in this exclusive Car Design Review X interview
When we started the Manifesto concept it was not at all about a Dakar race vehicle, the goal was to speak about our new brand values – ‘robust outdoor’, ‘eco smart’ – it was a really free exercise. We opened the project up to all of our Dacia designers as a way to motivate the team and let them express what they had in mind. We were surprised by the response and happy to see the first drawings, some with no windscreen or doors, interesting ideas.
When Group CEO Luca de Meo arrived in 2020 he wanted designers grouped by brand and it does help to create a little family. It was an interesting exercise before to design an Alpine and then a Renault and a Dacia, but I think if we really want to have stronger brands, having a team which is dedicated to one brand and thinking within that atmosphere, creates results that are even more convincing.
We have almost 80 people in the Dacia team, 35 in Romania and the rest in France. COVID accelerated those teams being able to…
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This week’s round-up includes news from Audi, Dacia, DS, HiPhi, Lotus, Opel, Renault, VW and Zagato
