LONDON — Rolls-Royce has appointed former Mini design chief Anders Warming to move up its design workforce, which has lacked a director since Jozef Kaban left in 2019.

Warming, 48, takes up the place July 1, Rolls-Royce mentioned in a statement.

“Anders joins us as we transfer ahead to full electrification of our model, which can form Rolls-Royce for many years to come back,” CEO Torsten Müller-Ötelevisionös mentioned within the assertion.

Warming left the BMW Group in 2016 after six years main design at Mini Earlier than that he spent three years as head of exterior design at BMW. He briefly joined the Chinese-backed Borgward brand earlier than beginning his personal design studio in 2019.

BMW mentioned on the time the departure was amicable, paving the best way for his return. Rolls-Royce is owned by the BMW Group.

The ultraluxury model has lacked a design chief since former head of design for Skoda, Jozef Kaban, left the company after simply six months to rejoin the VW Group as head of design for the Volkswagen model.

Kaban was a belated appointment to exchange Giles Taylor, who left Rolls-Royce in 2018 to lead design at the Hongqi luxury brand from Chinese language automaker FAW.