Schreyer: hits and misses

Since defecting from the Volkswagen group to Kia Motors in 2006, Peter Schreyer has led the transformation of the fledgling Korean brand from ugly duckling to the darling of Asia.

Never one to pass public judgement on the work of his design peers, Schreyer was uncharacteristically happy to do just that at the end of what was a landmark day of global reveals at the Geneva motor show opening on March 3.

In a wide-ranging interview with motoring.com.au, the grandfather of Audi's iconic TT said the third-generation German coupe has lost its way, described BMW's first people-mover as a failure and offered Toyota's fuel cell vehicle as an example of bad design.

In his nine years at Kia, Schreyer has established a distinctive new design language, completed the renewal of the entire model range, laid the groundwork for a number of additional models including a compact SUV and pushed hard for two new image-leading GT coupe models.

Now, he says his challenge is to build on that success without trying to reinvent his cheeky 'near premium' design theme.

"We have reached this kind of level and to have a brand image like this is quite an achievement," he said.

"We still want to work on that without creating another new image. You know, it's hard work and we're adding more products to the range where we have gaps. But we won't start with a new design language or anything like that."

The German-born designer nominated improving the perceived quality of both Kia and its larger sister brand Hyundai, for which he took over design duties in 2013, as his other big challenge.

"I think the culture has changed since I joined Kia. It has become close to premium in that time, even if it's a volume brand. Look at the new Sorento...

"I've only been there two years, but the Hyundai range is much wider. Within the Hyundai brand you have a hierarchy, but they both need to improve quality... their 'accessible quality'. If you don't improve you'll be overtaken by others.

"If you're a newcomer with premium products it takes time. It took Audi three generations of A8 to be successful. You cannot say premium; you have to be premium. But we don't want to be premium – we are near premium."

However, Schreyer said the Hyundai-Kia group had a luxury other more established car-makers don't: tradition, or lack thereof.

"I think in many ways we have an advantage. We don't have the burden of history. BMW and Audi have to be like that. You can search more fields and be more flexible."

Schreyer said an example of that was BMW's new 2 Series Active Tourer, the Bavarian brand's first people-mover.

"What happened was they've never worked with front-wheel drive. To do a good front-wheel drive is quite difficult. They tried to put a typical BMW design on it and it didn't work. The i3 worked much better..."

Schreyer said redesigning an iconic design like the TT was never going to be easy, but Audi has strayed from the original concept.

"The way it started was very iconic and when you replace cars like this you earn criticism and it's not easy.

"The new TT and also the second blends into the Audi range. The first one stood out and this one gets a little lost."

Schreyer said fuel cell vehicles represented the next frontier for automotive designers, but Toyota's Mirai was a poor example of advanced design.

"Fuel cell technology is so advanced it needs to have its own body, but only if it doesn't look like that Toyota...

"Not for the sake of making it different, but making it right. Whatever design it is, it has to have purpose and reflect what's in it."

Schreyer said the problem with modern automotive design is that most designers are in too much of a rush.

"Even with the best tools you can't buy time – time to sit back and reflect. Maybe that's the Toyota problem.

"Of course our designers are under pressure too, but I encourage all my designers to slow down and let it sink in. Spend a couple of hours considering something rather than rushing down the wrong direction."

In contrast, Schreyer nominated the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 supercar as an example of good design, and said he is enthusiastic about the blending of traditional vehicle types.

"What I really like is that cars are more emotional and not so sober. Of course they need to be practical but I like lowish lifestyle vehicles like the Sportspace and four-door coupes like the GT.

"More combinations of crossover stuff and not just SUVs... they open more doors we can walk through."

The 61-year-old German said that while increasingly stringent global safety expectations made designing vehicles more difficult, the possibilities created by new technologies including infotainment systems still inspired him.

"Design is getting more complex. It was much simpler in the old days. But design was more restrained then too.

"Safety regulations make it more complex, but electronics make it more exciting. The possibilities are fantastic. Infotainment is not so easy. The question is what is right? It has to be as simple as possible.

"Laws that say you can't set your nav on the move are missing the point. It's a fast process that goes faster than the life of the car. That makes it challenging. You have to live with it. When I drive a car after a while I think why did we do that? Simplicity is important."

Schreyer said that after designing landmark Volkswagen group models like the TT, A3, A4, A6 and New Beetle, he was inspired by the challenge of developing a new design language for an ambitious car-maker like Hyundai-Kia.

"It's been a very interesting experience after so long in the Volkswagen world to learn that Wolfsburg is not the centre of car design and there are clever people elsewhere.

"It makes you more wise. It showed me there is another world out there, another way of thinking, another culture. It's a very exciting experience."