The Designers, Pt 8 – Steve Mattin, Lada

Car Design News launched its first-ever Car Design Review yearbook at the Geneva Motor Show, featuring the award-winning Production Car and Concept Car Designs of 2013.

If you're interested in buying a copy of the 160-page yearbook this interview appears in, alongside trend reports, bespoke car design infographics and a special feature on Marcello Gandini, our inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Car Design Review can be purchased here.

Name Steve Mattin
Role Design director, Lada
Age, nationality 49, English
Location Moscow, Russia
Education Coventry University

"If you go back to 2011 and 2012 as the world was just coming out of the recession, companies were having big problems on all fronts. And of course if you haven't got the money to spend and haven't been developing new products you don't start showing concepts straight away.

"But gradually the markets have picked up a little bit, and the concept cars are now sitting at the shows and the streets are becoming more interesting with stronger and more individual production cars appearing. It was nice to see some of the concepts shown back one or two years ago become production reality in 2013 pretty unscathed, from the Alfa 4C to the BMW i3 and Porsche 918. Lots are coming through now. That's important.

"I know for sure, that for us, 2014 is going to be a good year. In 2012 we presented the XRay concept at the Moscow motor show and in 2014 we have more than one interesting product. I can't say now exactly what yet, as it's a bit early on but I think it's going to be a big surprise for most people.

"We have been very busy since the launch of the XRay, not only did we start defining the brand but we took the XRay and implemented a lot of those elements onto production vehicles. It's a very strong influence on the future as we go into new market segments in 2014 with this new DNA. The vehicles coming out are complete reworks, they have nothing to do with the vehicles you would see on the street today. That's why I took up the job.

"The advantage of the Lada brand is it has 40-odd years of history, but a lot of it was under socialist times where design was never really very important. They didn't really have the turnaround of products, it was only a few years ago when we stopped selling the ‘Zhiguli' [three-box sedan] which had been in production since day one. When these new products start hitting the street in 2015 there's going to be a huge turnaround, you won't recognize the Lada of the past compared to the Lada of the future. That was the great thing, coming in, and having a clean sheet of paper to try and redefine the brand.

"The design team has been growing since I arrived in October 2011. Our main studio is in the small city of Togliatti which is 1000 kilometers south east of Moscow (the next biggest city, Samara, is one hour away). It's a long way off. It was concluded before I arrived that it was essential to build a satellite studio in the centre of Moscow which has now been open since mid-2012.

"We have five designers and six modelers purely working in digital there. Back at the Togliatti HQ we have a big facility with 26 designers who do interior, exterior and color and trim. It's still a fairly small team considering the amount of projects we have though. It's very intense.

"Most of the employees are Russian but we have some French who are on exchange from Renault (as Lada is a brand under the Renault-Nissan Alliance) and we work closely with them. We are building up a young team, exciting new products and a good portfolio range. The brand is changing, the market place is changing and Russia is an exciting place to work."

Concept

1. Mercedes S-Class Coupé
2. Renault Initiale Paris
3. Opel Monza

"Mercedes' best execution of their current design language to date, bringing out the true values of the brand"

Production

1. BMW i3
2. Porsche 918 Spyder
3. Jaguar F-type Coupé

"BMW dared to challenge with this innovative electric vehicle. In Frankfurt it really stood out as being something unique and fresh on the market"

By Guy Bird