BMW Names New Design Chief for Mini Brand

BMW AG has named Oliver Heilmer to lead design activities for its Mini small-car brand, effective Sept. 1.

Mini’s previous design chief, Anders Warming, quit last July after six years in the job to pursue other opportunities, according to a media report at the time.

Heilmer, 42, currently is president of the carmaker’s Designworks unit, which operates design studios in California, Munich and Shanghai. He previously headed interior design for the BMW brand.

In his new role, Heilmer will lead a design overhaul of the Mini lineup. BMW signaled the new look with the Mini Vision Next 100 concept (pictured) it unveiled a year ago.

Succeeding Heilmer as head of Designworks will be Holger Hampf, who was a member of the group between 2002 and 2010 before leaving to join another design studio. He returned to BMW in 2014 to oversee the design group’s move to digitization.