15 Aug 2001 – Ford Motor Company has named Henrik Fisker as creative director of the company’s London Design Enterprise, and as the new design director for Aston Martin. Both appointments are effective from 1 September. The new London studio will be in operation from September, with the official opening in February.

“Henrik is a strong addition to our team – and is among several new players joining our strong lineup and helping make our global design organization the best in the world,” says J Mays, Ford Motor Company vice president of Design. “It goes without saying that Henrik’s a talented designer, but his strong business sense and background make him uniquely qualified for this position.”

Prior to joining the company, the Danish designer was president and chief executive officer of Designworks/USA, a subsidiary of BMW headquartered in Newbury Park, Calif., with a European office in Munich, Germany. Under Fisker’s direction, the industrial design firm created a variety of concept cars and products for companies spanning the globe – including office organizers, mobile phones, bicycle seats and snowboard graphics.

Before his appointment at Designworks/USA in January 2000, Fisker was a designer at BMW AG, which is BMW’s design headquarters.

Among other projects, from 1992 to 1997, he designed the exterior of the Z07 concept car for the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show and the exterior of the production Z8 roadster that was launched in 1999. From 1989 to 1992, Fisker worked as a designer at BMW Technik GmbH, which is BMW’s advanced design studio in Munich.

This autumn, Fisker will outline more fully the vision for the London Design Enterprise, a Ford Motor Company subsidiary where a team of 30 designers will explore new ideas in, among other areas, product design and marketing strategies relating to growing brands – including those in the Premier Automotive Group.

“The new London Design Enterprise and the introduction of Henrik Fisker provide us greater flexibility,” says Mays. “We’ll have a pool of creativity so our whole range of products will stay fresh and, at the same time, Ian Callum – who has been working as design director of both Aston Martin and Jaguar – will be able to concentrate exclusively on the expanding range of Jaguar products.”

Dr. Ulrich Bez, CEO of Aston Martin, says, “We are sorry to lose Ian Callum as he has contributed so much to the recent design element of Aston Martin – in particular the DB7, our most successful car of all time, and latterly the V-12 Vanquish, which has been recognized as a design benchmark. However, we recognize Ian has to dedicate himself to Jaguar, and his focus will be aimed at moving the design forward similar to the work he did for us at Aston Martin.

“Henrik Fisker brings a wealth of experience with him and we look forward to working with him. He joins us at an important point in helping to shape Aston Martin’s future.”

Fisker says he’s eager to continue helping create classic, powerful designs for Aston Martin. “Aston Martin has a great heritage and a great future,” Fisker says. “My challenge will be to create forms and shapes that are timeless and can only come to life with the artistry and hand work that are unique to Aston Martin.”

Henrik Fisker graduated from the Art Center College of Design (Europe) in Switzerland in 1989.