Exclusive: Pierre Castinel resigns from Head of Design role at Tata

Tata's Head of Design, Pierre Castinel, has resigned from his post to accept a position at PSA, Car Design News has learned.

Castinel was originally hired to develop the design direction and form a brand identity for Tata's full line of vehicles, including cars, pickups, SUVs, MPVs, trucks and buses, but things haven't been going well at the Indian automaker.

According to insiders, Tata closed Castinel's design studio in the British midlands last year, forcing the UK-based team to move into the automaker's engineering center in Warwickshire.

The French designer has spent less than three years working for Tata, having been appointed to the position of Head of Design in summer 2007. Prior to joining Tata, Castinel worked at Renault for 20 years.

As Gilles Vidal and Thierry Metroz have both only recently been promoted to their posts at Peugeot and Citroën, respectively, we wonder what role Castinel would potentially fill at PSA. But if that is indeed the case, then Castinel will have come full circle back to the French company: he began his design career as a modeler for Peugeot. 

By Eric Gallina