Who's Where: Verena Kloos named President of DesignworksUSA

Thu, 10 Jun 2004

DesignworksUSA, the California-based international strategic design consultancy owned by BMW Group, has announced that Verena C. Kloos has been named President of DesignworksUSA. In this position, she will oversee the company's day-to-day operations and strategic direction. She will report directly to Chris Bangle, Director of BMW Group Design. Verena Kloos succeeds Adrian van Hooydonk, who is re-locating to Munich to head the BMW automobile brand studio.

Previously, Ms. Kloos was head of the DaimlerChrysler Advanced Design studio in Como, Italy. In this post, which she held since March of 2000, she was responsible for the design and development of advanced interior concepts for passenger cars of future Mercedes-Benz product lines. In addition, she has held various senior management positions at DaimlerChrysler and senior design positions in other companies in the automotive industry.

She has extensive experience in the United States, having served as Design Director for Volkswagen in Simi Valley, California from 1991-94. A native of Wolfsburg, Germany, Verena Kloos earned a Bachelor of Design degree in the Industrial Design Studies program of the University of Fine Arts in Braunschweig.

DesignworksUSA is headquartered in Newbury Park, California with a branch office in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1972 by designer Charles Pelly, the company was acquired by the BMW Group in 1995, and covers four main areas: Product Development, Transportation Design, Automotive Design and Advanced Communication.

Web site: www.designworksusa.com