Former Porsche designer moves to Chery

Hakan Sarakoglu will travel to Shanghai, China to lead a new design studio for state-owned automaker Chery.

After designing Porsches in Germany for the past 15 years, 47-year-old Hakan Sarakoglu heads to Shanghai, China to head up a new design studio for state-owned automaker Chery.

Sarakoglu, who helped style models such as the upcoming 918 Spyder and the latest Cayman and Boxster during his time at Porsche, will now use his talents to bring much-needed elegance to future Chery models.

Chery currently produces a range of compact cars and is probably best known for its QQ minicar.

In 2007, the Chinese automaker was close to a deal to supply Chrysler with a new subcompact, although the two companies decided it was best to go their separate ways.

Since then, Chery's design has improved, and most recently, the company entered into an alliance with Jaguar Land Rover.

“Chery is not just QQ, we are going to change that,” Sarakoglu said in an interview with Bloomberg. “The company is reinventing itself. Chery stands for value, design and customer confidence. That's where we want to go."

Sarakoglu will lead a 30-person team at Chery's design studio in Shanghai, working on both concepts and production models.

Born in Germany, Sarakoglu earned a degree in vehicle design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and has worked not only for Porsche, but also for Ford.

Sarakoglu is just the latest in a growing list of foreign executives and designers hired by Asian firms to bolster their authority in the automotive industry. Karl-Peter Forster, longtime chief executive of General Motors Europe, recently joined Geely, and former Audi designer Peter Schreyer, who has helped shape Kia's lineup styling significantly, was recently appointed President of Kia and Head of Design for Kia and Hyundai.

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