Lambo Design Chief to Head Italdesign

Filippo Perini has been named the new design director of Volkswagen AG's Italdesign engineering and design unit. He succeeds Wolfgang Egger, who now heads VW Group's interbrand design studio.

Perini will retain his current responsibilities as the head of design for VW's Lamborghini operations, a position he's held since 2006. He previously was a designer for Alfa Romeo for 10 years.

VW's Audi unit bought a 90% stake in Italdesign Giugiaro SpA in 2010. Lamborghini purchased the remaining shares earlier this summer from founder Giorgetto Giugiaro, who along with his son Fabrizio left the company at that time.

VW Group Design Chief Walter De Silva, who became chairman of Italdesign on Sept. 1, says the design house will have a greater role as an innovation leader for all of VW Group's 12 brands and compete directly with them on future products. Italdesign plans to hire 50 employees by the end of the year increasing its staff to about 1,000 people to support the effort.