A replacement for de Silva hasn’t been named yet.
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De Silva will retain an advisory role at the Group after he leaves.
Volkswagen Group design chief Walter Maria de Silva has reportedly quit the company, a source tells Reuters. He will continue with VW Group as an adviser.
De Silva has been leading the design at VW Group for nine years, and worked at Fiat and Alfa Romeo before joining Volkswagen. He then moved to Audi where he created the single frame grille to give brand’s cars a standout design from BMW and Mercedes-Benz rivals.
Volkswagen was not immediately reachable for comment on the report, which said Mr de Silva would leave at the end of November and also said a VW spokesman had confirmed it. He had led the Group’s overall design since 2007. Acknowledging de Silva’s definitive achievements for Volkswagen, Müller said: “Walter de Silva succeeded in establishing a design culture and methodology across all Group brands that is unique in our industry”.
The German business paper Handelsblatt reported today that VW was looking at reduce the annual design budget of €100 million, according to Automotive News Europe.
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As VW’s head of group design, de Silva eliminated what critics had called overstyling done under predecessor Murat Guenak, ordering late changes to the sixth-generation VW Golf that went on sale in late 2008.
