Joel Piaskowski becomes Director of Exterior Design at Ford North America

Joel Piaskowski is set to become Ford's North American Director of Exterior Design. He will be filling the position previously vacated by Moray Callum, who was promoted to Executive Director for Ford Americas design when Peter Horbury went back to head up Volvo's design efforts earlier this year.

"I'm very much looking forward to working with the team at Ford," Piaskowski told Car Design News. "What they've been able to do is a testament to their leadership team; they've been creating products that speak for themselves."

Credited with leading the teams responsible for creation the highly acclaimed Sonata, Genesis sedan and coupe and the Tuscon SUV during his tenure as Chief Designer at Hyundai's North American design studio, Piaskowski left the Korean automaker in January last year after being headhunted by Mercedes-Benz to fill Gordon Wagener's former position at the company's Advanced Design studio in Irvine, California. He declined to comment on why he parted company with the German automaker after only 14 months.

Born and raised in Michigan, Piaskowski graduated from the College of Creative Studies before starting his design career at GM, working on production exterior and interior design for the Chevrolet, Pontiac, Opel/Vauxhall/Holden and Buick brands.

Following his 14 year career at GM, Piaskowski joined Hyundai and Kia North America as Chief Designer, and was responsible for several Hyundai concept models – including the HCD8, HCD9 Talus and HCD10 Hellion.

Piaskowski told CDN he felt like he was "going back to [his] roots" with the appointment to Ford's Dearborn studio.

Piaskowski starts his new role on Friday, October 1.

By Eric Gallina