Bentley's new design chief is ex-Audi styling boss Sielaff

FRANKFURT -- Bentley’s design chief, Luc Donckerwolke, a veteran of Volkswagen Group who has headed design for three different brands including Lamborghini and Seat, has decided to leave the carmaker, VW said in a statement on Thursday, without citing reasons.

VW named Stefan Sielaff, the 53-year-old head of its Potsdam design center in Germany, to replace Donckerwolke as design chief of its UK-based ultraluxury brand starting July 1.

Donckerwolke, Bentley’s design chief since 2012, made headlines in March after he slammed the new design of the Lincoln Continental as a copy of his Bentley Flying Spur, sarcastically asking the troubled U.S. premium marque on Facebook “Do you want us to send you the product tooling?” The comment was considered “offensive” by Lincoln’s designer, David Woodhouse.

During his time at Volkswagen, Donckerwolke was responsible for the designs of the Audi R8 Le Mans, the Lamborghini Murcielago and Lamborghini Gallardo, as well as the Seat Tribu SUV concept. He also won the prestigious Red Dot design award.

In the statement, VW head of group design Walter de Silva thanked the Belgian for his work over the years. “Luc Donckerwolke has played a key role in the design of various Group brands,” he said.

Donckerwolke's successor Sielaff joined Volkswagen in 1990, beginning his career in the interior design department at Audi. After a three year stint at DaimlerChrysler, he returned to the Volkswagen group in 2006 to become Audi’s design boss. In 2012, he was then appointed head of the Volkswagen design center in Potsdam and chief of group interior design strategy in 2012.

In his new function as director of design at Bentley, Sielaff reports to the brand’s engineering chief, Rolf Frech. He remains head of group interior design strategy, where he continues to report to de Silva.