Michael Mauer appointed head of design at Porsche

Michael Mauer, 41, studied automobile design at Pforzheim University, and started his career at Mercedes-Benz. In 1989, he was appointed design project leader for the Mercedes V Class models, and was in charge of design work for the first SLK model generation. In 1995 he was appointed head of department and given design responsibility for the A-Class, SLK and SL models. In 1998, he moved to the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Tokyo as general manager. In 1999 he was appointed as Head of Design at Smart, where he was responsible for the initial development of the Roadster Coupe. Afterwards he moved to head Saab Design and in March 2003 became responsible for GM Europe's Advanced Design studio in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Harm Lagaay first worked for Simca before moving to Porsche in 1971. In the following six years he worked on the 924 and 911 programs. In 1977 he moved to Ford in Cologne as Design Manager, where his Advanced Design Department worked on the Escort, Sierra and Scorpio. In 1985, he became chief designer at BMW Technik in Munich and played a leading part in the development of the Z1. Lagaay returned to Porsche in 1989 as a head of design. Under his leadership, the Boxster concept and final Boxster model took shape, as well as the 996-series Porsche 911 and the Cayenne. Lagaay's career at Porsche culminated with the Carrera GT high-performance sports car.

By