OLIVER STEFANIAs told to AATISH MISHRAFacing page: The
Vision iV is a concept
based on the MEB
platform. Above:
Oliver Stefani talks
about Skoda’s
design DNA. Left:
The Skoda Vision RS
(pictured) made it in
to production as the
Skoda Scalato be individualised for the market. Sometimes
it’s just a colour trim, surfaces and stuff like
wheels – things that are easy to replace with
more local things. Sometimes we can do more;
we can go more into the details of what the
market would like to have.”
Designing for India
“Skoda has a global design strategy because we
think that our strategy is so simple, so unique
that we can use it globally. But what we do is
really is that we talk to customers, we talk to
engineers, we talk to designers in the market
to get the influence. This is important that we
combine the Indian taste with our DNA and
create something new.
“The traffic in India is very dense so what
we realised that they are very much concerned
about security and also road presence is also
very important to us and that may be a little
different in Europe.
“We try to get as much information from the
Indian market. We talk to the customers, we go
to India, and we talk to our Indian colleagues
just to find out what is the right design for India
because we really make it serious. We want to
treat the customer as much as we can and to
deliver something from Skoda that he really
likes and for us designers it’s a new job, it’s a
new challenge to do so and we like new jobs
because we are creative people we want to do
new things.”
On shortlisting future designs
“Well this is one of the toughest jobs. What
really helps is that we are looking at the
competitors and talking to the customers again
to understand the market. Second, we have a
very strong design DNA, sometimes it’s like a
solution sheet – you can see whether it's fitting
or not or if it's a good development. Other times
you have to take a little risk, because you don’t
know what comes out of the design at the end of
the day. Some have more potential than others,
but sometimes you also have to let them grow
and see what it looks like.”Evolution of Skoda design
“I think Skoda design has changed from past
years quite a lot. Skoda was always probably
seen as a more functional car. The Superb PHEV
that we just released in Bratislava, you see
something that has a lot more value, a lot more
style, a lot more design to offer.”Functionality v Aesthetics
“They have to be in a very good balance. It
depends on what kind of car you are having,
like in the Combis, the functionality in the rear
is a little bit more than the functionality in
the limousine because they serve a differentpurpose. But the balance between functionality
and, let's say, visual effect. I also call this
emotion. There will be more balance in the
future.”Designing to a cost
“Of course the cost issue is always restricting
design a little bit but you have to see this in total- where do I save something where the customer
maybe does not see this so much, and also
spend money in the areas where the customer
really sees something and then notice also the
characteristics. Design plays a big role. First of
all, we have to try not to make a design that is
too costly or expensive but at the same time we
can point out some elements which are really
important to have on the car for a good design,
so the customer also has a very attractive car.
We have to find a balance and I think Skoda is a
company that can work to this way to design to
cost very nicely.”