@wheelsaustralia 17
THE ART OF
ADDING LESS
“You can camouflage bad proportions by throwing
a lot of stuff on the design,” says Gorden Wagener,
bringing to mind several Japanese SUVs. “Purity is
a higher form of design. The pure approach says
that you should take lines out until the car is just
a signature line. I tell my designers that if you
like the design, take a line out. If you still really
like it, take another line out. It creates a sexy and
appealing vehicle that becomes balanced with a
contemporary, modern and luxurious form.”
Wagener, who became Mercedes’ design boss at
just 39 in 2008 and was appointed to the board in
2016, says: “Every car is finished up to 2020 and
we have platforms that go out to 2035 or so.” He
points out that car designs have long lives: the
product is created five years ahead of launch, it’s
on the market for at least seven years and lives for
years afterwards. His aim is for designs that don’t
just focus on the market launch period, but look
fresh and contemporary for years after they hit
the showroom.
“As creative people we can imagine what the
future can be and we can drive it,” he claims.
Wagener was born in Germany, yet says he feels
very Anglo-Saxon. A graduate of London’s Royal
College of Art, he worked as an exterior designer
for Volkswagen, Mazda and General Motors before
joining Mercedes-Benz in 1997. He spent time in
California as Mercedes’ director of strategic and
advanced design, before moving back to Germany
in 2008 to take up his current position.Strong shoulder line gives a sense
of elongation to the three-box
profile, and emphasises the
proportions, despite much shorter
overhangs at both ends. Simplicity
greatly enhances the designThe Great Wall Steed has earned a two-star
ANCAP crash rating. According to the test
report, the underpinnings of the Steed “differ
little to that of the previous-generation dual-
cab ute”, a vehicle that was deemed “marginal”
for whiplash protection and suffered excessive
footwell deformation in the frontal offset
crash test. Great Wall spokesperson Andrew
Ellis said the Australian distributor had “set up
a response team to investigate what needs to
be done to improve the ANCAP performance
of our product.”Trojan horse