Jozef Kabaň has joined MG/SAIC as vice president of its Global Design Centre. The Slovak designer started his career at Volkswagen and has worked at Audi (2003-08), Skoda (2008-17) and BMW/Rolls-Royce (2017-20). And then again at VW (2020-24).
Notable exterior design work includes the Bugatti Veyron, Skoda Octavia/Superb/Kodiaq and VW's Lupo (plus the related Seat Arosa).
However, Kaban's time at VW has not gone smoothly in recent years. In January 2023 he was removed from his position as the brand's passenger-car design boss, reportedly because VW CEO Thomas Schaefer didn't think Kaban's forward-looking concepts such as the ID.Life were right for the brand - despite Kaban also penning the highly acclaimed ID.Buzz.
Kaban was moved sideways into a newly created VW role as creative art director at the company's Future Center Europe in Potsdam, Germany. He was replaced as design boss by ex-Bentley stylist Andreas Mindt.
His new role puts him in charge of not just the MG brand's global design identity, but the entire portfolio of parent-company SAIC brands, including Maxus (aka LDV, which is distributed by a separate company in New Zealand).
Kaban will be based at the SAIC Motor R&D Innovation Headquarters (SRIH). Currently, SAIC Design oversees the Shanghai Anting Global Design Centre in London and the Tokyo Forward-looking Design Centre, with an international design team of over 300 people.