Top 5 Brands regarding Automotive Design between 2015 - 2020. Brand #2

 Personal opinion on the top 5 established automotive companies that are crafting their brand trough Design. 

This is not only about "The visual appeal" of their final products at all. Is more related to their Design process and the "weight" of Design in their corporate decision making agenda.

2

Ferrari

A lot of people often set goals for themselves. Some of these goals are worth of a lifetime pursuit. In all the most important things in life, material stuff is not the most important. But being able to buy a Ferrari is one of those goals people agree to achieve... and sometimes they put an effort as endurable as a lifetime to make that dream come true.

Ferrari is one of those beloved brands in the world. There are collectors spending the unthinkable to own a piece of history of the brand.. or several pieces. Some of their cars are all-time favorite for a lot of people. 

And today they are delivering vehicles with a remarkable surfacing. For the better, their last proposals take into consideration aerodynamics and engineering driven elements but solved with a pleasant visual appeal.

When you look at other brands, is easy to spot their lineup because all their vehicles share design cues. Ferrari isn't the case. Every car they have in the road is unique and at the same time recognizable as a Ferrari: Not an easy thing to do.

But the most important thing I want to cheer about them is ...their team.

To design for a brand with that heritage is a serious activity. You literally need to design a remarkable vehicle every time, a milestone in every project. You could be very passionate about designing for a brand like Ferrari, but also you need an extraordinary balance between your hard skills and your soft skills including a deep commitment for teamwork: because making cars like the ones they design, requires communication with the engineering team to ensure an integral project.

You have to be ultra-focused to work in that team and know how to deal with expectations, critics and to manage the stress... this painful balance is required so it doesn't erode your passion.

Is also not strange that these kind of jobs could easily drain your inner peace.

The leadership is also remarkable, under Mr. Manzoni guidance the brand is a reference in design execution, developing very iconic proposals for the record. Manzoni is praised as the one that lead a cultural transformation within the company. Out-dated workflows were upgraded, new pipelines were introduced like using clay for the development.

Right now one of the challenges for the brand is to survive the new era of  the automotive industry: an era without petrol engines.

Remarkable surfacing, great teamwork and outstanding leadership are few reasons why I do believe Ferrari has performed quite well in this past 5 years.

With a heritage like the one they have to preserve, we can keep an eye to their design team: The times ahead are challenging for everyone.