VW’s Former Design Chief Now Drawing for Chinese Carmaker

Walter de Silva, who headed Volkswagen AG’s design between 2007 and 2015, is now doing the same as a contractor to an unidentified Chinese carmaker.

He took over in May as head of design and market strategy for German engineering company Edag Engineering GmbH. The company says his first project is to design a family of electric vehicles for a Chinese vehicle producer identified in media reports as the Arcfox unit of BAIC Group.

De Silva, now based in Barcelona, designed cars for Fiat SpA’s Alfa Romeo and Fiat brands before moving to VW’s SEAT unit in 1999. He later transferred to VW’s Audi brand, then to head of VW Group design before retiring two years ago.