Flavio Manzoni to Head Ferrari Design

Flavio Manzoni, Head of Creative Design at the Volkswagen Group, is set to take on a new role as Chief of Design at Ferrari starting January 1, 2010. Manzoni, currently part of the design team headed up by Walter de'Silva, will be based at Centro Stile Ferrari and charged with creating a new brand identity for the Italian marque. He will report directly to Managing Director Amedeo Felisa.

Born in Sardinia, Italy, Manzoni obtained a degree in Architecture from the University of Florence and  worked in the fields of architecture and industrial design before entering the automotive sector. He was hired by Fiat in 1993 and filled a series of exterior and interior design roles at Fiat and Lancia before moving to Seat, Volkswagen's Spanish subsidiary. Manzoni later went back to head Fiat, Lancia and Fiat Group's Light Commercial Vehicles design efforts before joining Audi in 2006. He became Creative Director at the Volkswagen Group in February 2007.

Most recently credited with the designs of Volkswagen's Up! and BlueSport concepts and the new Golf and Polo models, Manzoni worked on the interiors of the Tango, Salsa, Leon/Toledo and Altea during his time at the Seat Styling Centre in Spain and developed the interiors of the Lancia Lybra, Thesis, Maserati 3200 GT and the Dialogos concept car while at Fiat. Manzoni coordinated projects for the Lancia Ypsilon, Musa and the Granturismo, Stilnovo and Fulvia Coupe concept cars as well as production programs such as the Stilo, Multipla, and the Palio facelift.

Ferrari has not yet formally made any official comment regarding Manzoni's appointment, nor is it clear where the Italian supercar manufacturer's current Chief of Design, Donato Coco, will be moving on to. Speculative reports suggest he will be absorbed into a new as yet unspecified role within the Fiat Group.

Related Article:
Donato Coco announced as new Ferrari Design Chief

By Eric Gallina