Martin Smith (designer)
Encyclopedia
Martin Smith is an automobile designer
Automotive design
Automotive design is the profession involved in the development of the appearance, and to some extent the ergonomics, of motor vehicles or more specifically road vehicles. This most commonly refers to automobiles but also refers to motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans...

, currently Executive Design Director for Ford of Europe
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

.

Background

Born in 1949 in Broomhill, Sheffield
Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Broomhill ward—which includes the districts of Broomhill, Crookesmoor, Endcliffe, and Tapton—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the western part of the city and covers an area of 2.7 km2. The population of this ward in 2001 was 16,800...

, England, Smith attended King Edward VII School
King Edward VII School (Sheffield)
King Edward VII School is a secondary school and language college located in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. KES, named after the reigning monarch, was formed in 1905 when Wesley College was merged with Sheffield Royal Grammar School on the site of the former on Glossop Road...

. A car fanatic since he was a boy, he wrote letters to Mini
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...

 designer Alec Issigonis
Alec Issigonis
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959.- Early life:Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrna ...

 asking how to become a car designer and received kindly and encouraging replies. He studied Engineering at the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...

 before graduating with a Masters degree in Vehicle Design from the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

 in London.

Audi

Having begun his career at Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

 in 1973 which also included a short stint working on commercial vehicles for Ogle Design
Ogle Design
Ogle Design is a British design consultancy company, founded in 1954 by David Ogle, based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.-History:* 1954 Ogle Design was founded and produced many successful designs of industrial and household products....

 in Letchworth
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...

, Smith moved to Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....

 in 1977, then briefly to BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

 only to return to Audi where he would remain for the majority of the 1980s and 1990s. At Audi he transformed the mundane Audi Coupe into the legendary Audi Quattro
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, now part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March.The word quattro is derived from the Italian word for "four"...

 and subsequently became Head of Audi's Munich Design Studio. He helped introduce a slippery aerodynamic look and austere functional cockpits to the Audi range as evidenced by the 1982 Audi 100
Audi 100
The restyled C2 Audi 100 was launched in 1976, with an in-line five-cylinder engine...

 and 1986 Audi 80
Audi 80
The Audi 80 is a compact executive car produced by the German car manufacturer Audi, from 1966 to 1996. It shared its platform with the Volkswagen Passat from 1973 to 1986 and was available as a saloon car/sedan, and an Avant...

. Whilst in charge of the Audi Munich Design Studio, he worked with J Mays
J Mays
J Mays, born in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, U.S., is Group Vice President of Global Design and Chief Creative Officer at Ford Motor Company. His name is simply "J", named after his grandfather, S J Mays.-Background:...

 on the 1991 Audi Avus Quattro
Audi Avus Quattro
The Audi Avus quattro was a "supercar-styled" concept car from the German car manufacturer Audi. It was first introduced at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show. The Avus quattro had an aluminum body, which made it a lightweight and safe automobile...

 concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....

 which previewed a geometrical style as well as the extensive use of aluminium. His last position at Audi was the Head of Interior Design where he oversaw and developed the first generation Audi TT
Audi TT
The Audi TT is a two-door sports car manufactured by the German automaker and Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi since 1998.The Audi TT has been produced in two generations. Both generations have been available in two car body styles; as a 2+2 Coupé, or two-seater Roadster...

 interior.

General Motors

In 1997 he moved to General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

' Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

 subsidiary as Design Director for compact cars, working on the Opel Speedster and the 2004 Astra
Opel Astra
The Opel Astra is a small family car engineered and manufactured by the German automaker Opel since 1991.It is branded as Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, the Buick Excelle XT in China and the Chevrolet Astra/Vectra in Latin America...

. In 2002 he became Executive Design Director for Opel responsible for the design of the entire product line-up and where he realigned Opel design from the inoffensive but bland of the 1990s to a more dynamic direction in line with his 2004 Opel Astra, Insignia
Opel Insignia
The Opel Insignia is a large family car engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel. Production of the Insignia began in 2008 as a replacement for the Opel Vectra. Opel launched the vehicle at the 2008 British International Motor Show in London as the Vauxhall Insignia, reflecting the...

 concept and Vauxhall VX Lightning
Vauxhall VX220
The Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 is a British-built mid engined, targa-topped, 2-seater sports car introduced in the summer of 2000.It was built in both right-hand drive and left-hand drive versions at the Lotus Cars plant in Hethel, Norfolk, England. It was sold as the Vauxhall VX220 in the UK,...

. Under his guidance, this new direction influenced the whole Opel range including the 2004 Opel Tigra TwinTop, 2005 Opel Zafira
Opel Zafira
The Opel Zafira is a compact MPV engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel. The Zafira is sold under the Vauxhall marque in the United Kingdom.- Zafira A :...

, 2005 facelift of the Opel Vectra
Opel Vectra
The Opel Vectra is a large family car that was engineered and produced by Opel. In the United Kingdom, the car was sold under the Vauxhall marque as the Vauxhall Cavalier and later as the Vauxhall Vectra, from 1995 onwards...

/Opel Signum
Opel Signum
The Opel Signum was a large family car/executive hatchback engineered and manufactured by Opel in Germany between 2003 and 2008. It was almost exclusively sold in Europe. In the United Kingdom it was sold under the Vauxhall Signum nameplate...

, the 2006 Opel Corsa
Opel Corsa
The front-wheel drive Opel Corsa was first launched in September 1982 to replace the Opel Kadett C City, and to fill the gap vacated as the Kadett grew in size and price. Built in Zaragoza, Spain, the first Corsas were three-door hatchback and two-door saloon models, with four-door and five-door...

, and 2007 Opel Antara
Opel Antara
The Opel Antara is a compact crossover SUV, which was a co-development between Opel, the German subsidiary of General Motors , and GM Daewoo, the South Korean equivalent. The Antara, based on the GM Theta platform, shares its underpinnings and powertrains with the Chevrolet Captiva. However, it has...


Ford

In 2004 Ford's European Design staff underwent a comprehensive reorganisation, the first step coming in July 2004 seeing Smith lured from Opel to become Executive Design Director for Ford of Europe, where he reports to the Ford global group Vice President for Design, former colleague J Mays. This was quickly followed by fellow Opel refugee Stefan Lamm joining in autumn 2004 as Chief Designer for Exteriors at Ford. Smith was also reunited with another former colleague, Chris Bird, who moved to Ford as Design Director from Audi in 1998. This reorganised staff quickly made its aims clear: to move Ford of Europe design its New Edge
New Edge
New Edge was a styling theme used by Ford Motor Company for many of its passenger vehicles in the late 1990s and early 2000s and initially authored by Jack Telnack, who served as Vice President of Design for Ford from 1980 to 1997...

 design philosophy towards the ethos of 'Kinetic Design' which roughly translates to 'Energy in Motion', a language that consists of clean angles and complex surfacing to give Fords a sportier, more dynamic, exciting look. This language was first implemented by Smith and his team on the Ford SAV Concept, and has progressively been developed in a series of other concepts including the Ford Iosis
Ford Iosis
The Ford Iosis is a four-door, four-seat sedan concept car developed by Ford of Europe. It first saw publicity at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show...

, Iosis X and Verve concepts. These designs, or at least elements of these designs, have increasingly been adopted on production models, with the 2006 Ford S-MAX
Ford S-MAX
The Ford S-Max is an MPV/saloon produced by the Ford Motor Company for the European market and by Chang'an Ford Automobile Co., Ltd for the Chinese market. Introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, the S-Max went on sale alongside the new generation Galaxy in June 2006. It is intended to be...

, 2006 Ford Galaxy
Ford Galaxy
The first Galaxy was designed as a joint venture product between Ford and the Volkswagen Group. Produced at the joint-venture AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal, the vehicle was badge-engineered to create three vehicles: the Ford Galaxy; by Volkswagen Passenger Cars as the Volkswagen Sharan;...

, 2007 Ford Mondeo
Ford Mondeo
The Mondeo was launched on 8 January 1993, and sales began on 22 March 1993. Available as a four-door saloon, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door estate, all models for the European market were produced at Ford's plant in the Belgian city of Genk...

, and 2008 Ford Kuga
Ford Kuga
The Ford Kuga is a compact crossover SUV designed and produced by Ford. The car is based on the C1 platform that also form the underpinnings of the Ford Focus and Ford C-MAX...

 all designed within the Kinetic Design paradigm. Smith's design team is also working on bringing the remaining line up in line with Kinetic Design with the 2007 C-MAX Facelift, 2008 Ford Focus Facelift, and upcoming 2008/2009 Ford Fiesta
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...

as previewed by the Verve concept. In addition to his responsibilities at Ford of Europe; in May 2006 Smith was given the responsibility of overseeing vehicle design in the Australian, Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets, with the task of giving the line-up a more consistent look.

External links

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