New leadership at the helm for BMW Group DesignworksUSA Singapore Studio.

Global design consultancy expands its capabilities after three years of
continuous growth. Singapore. BMW Group DesignworksUSA Singapore
Studio, the Asian division of the California-based strategic design
consultancy and BMW Group subsidiary, has appointed a new studio
director. Magnus Aspegren will take over at the helm of the design
consultancy from Niko von Saurma from 1 April 2009. "Within
three years, Niko von Saurma has set an excellent foundation for the
Singapore studio to build upon. His contribution to the studio's success
is clearly evident through the stellar work that the team has produced
so far" said Verena Kloos, President of BMW Group DesignworksUSA.
Niko is returning to Germany to drive the future growth of the Munich
Studio, while Magnus will take over the reins at the Singapore studio.
Magnus joined DesignworksUSA in 2005 as creative director in the
transportation design team where he led a number of successful projects
particularly in business jet interior design. Prior to DesignworksUSA,
Magnus had extensive design experience in commercial aviation,
architecture and material development. Magnus' new leadership will
continue to strengthen the Singapore team's existing competencies and
expand its design specialties to meet the demand in potential growth
areas such as aviation, healthcare and sustainability design. The
studio's capability development is also best demonstrated by its rapid
team growth since establishing in Singapore in 2006. From a one man
operation, it is now a team of ten international talents trained in
product, automotive, and aviation design as well as business, providing
clients with creative solutions to business challenges. "With a
healthy year-on-year first quarter growth, a promising project pipeline
from existing clients and new partner companies planning development
activities, I look forward to building DesignworksUSA's success in
Asia," Magnus said. In the short span of three years, the
Singapore team has provided successful solutions for numerous prominent
brands. By providing design development as part of a global aligned
strategy for HP, DesignworksUSA ensured its role as a global design
consultancy. Through the development of an exterior identity and
interior design for BJETS' fleet of executive jets, and headphone
development for Sennheiser Electronics, DesignworksUSA provided
comprehensive design services as a regional partner for Asian-based
companies; with the development of sports lifestyle products for PUMA
and strategic as well as automotive development for the BMW Group,
DesignworksUSA provided unique insights into the Asian market. Its
recent work for BMW was a large scale project to provide the Asian
perspective on the next aesthetic influencers on the BMW Group
portfolio. An international design team created two full size cars that
were built in Singapore and shipped to Munich for review by the senior
BMW design team. Commenting on the project, BMW Group Chief of
Design, Adrian Van Hooydonk said, "This exemplified the importance
of the Singapore studio as creative hub and listening post to consumer
trends and market dynamics in Asia." With DesignworksUSA's growing
presence in Singapore and its pool of international designers, among
who are talented Singaporeans, it provides the insights into Asia for
the global team. The design consultancy also seeks to further build up
its team and continues its contribution to the development of local
design capabilities through advisory roles at Singapore design
institutes and national projects such as the Singapore National Day
Parade 2008. BMW Group DesignworksUSA BMW Group DesignworksUSA is a
global design consultancy and subsidiary of the BMW Group. The company,
which was acquired by the BMW Group in 1995, now operates globally from
its locations in Europe, America and Asia. Clients turn to
DesignworksUSA for brand communications, strategy, research, design
development, engineering, modeling, and color, materials, and finish.
Unique to DesignworksUSA, they have both an automotive and industrial
design studio, enabling the transfer of collective knowledge and
inspiration from automotive design to product design and vice versa. The
studio represents a guiding force for the BMW Group brand design
studios (BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars) and simultaneously
operates as an innovation driver for the most diverse industries from
IT to medical, lifestyle or aviation. Since 2004, Verena C. Kloos has
overseen the strategy and operations for the Munich, Los Angeles and
Singapore design studios. The designs consistently express the
individual identity of a brand, so each product devised by BMW Group
DesignworksUSA gains its specific uniqueness. Thanks to this approach
the design studio stands out significantly from its competitors,
convincing big brand names - from Microsoft and HP, Starbucks, Embraer,
Advanced Medical Optics and Bavaria Yachts to Boeing Business Jets.