Entrevista a Walter da Silva: ‘VW design should be unique and not complicated’

[i]What is the starting point for the design of the seventh-generation Golf?
VW design should be unique and not complicated. This is the true design of VW, but it was not like this when I took over three years ago. VW design has to be distinctive because VWs are world cars that everybody understands and recognises as VWs.
When I took over, I stopped the excessive decoration and over-design of models. I did this initially with the Golf and Polo. Now all the other models have followed. Everything should be clean, precise and have meaning. Before I arrived, this was not VW style.
How will that approach translate into the design of the next Golf?
The design language will stay the same; the new cars will evolve. We will develop the horizontal face and some of the smaller details such as the lights, door handles and side mirrors — all microcosms of VW’s designs. We’ve done a similar thing with Audi — and now it’s VW’s turn.
There won’t be any stylistic additions to the next range of VW’s designs. Cars will have to stay in proportion and be elegant. On the Golf, expect great proportions, thanks to a new platform.
Does VW need a halo car, free of its current design theme?
VW used to be famous for staple cars like the Golf, Polo and Sharan — this was it. Now we have everything from the Up to the Amarok [pick-up]. We need a wide range of products to cover the segments and are always very open minded when it comes to new designs.
We need sports cars, MPVs, city cars, everything. Anything we do will need to be instantly recognisable as a VW but personalised for the market and segment. And always remember it is for a global market.
What can we expect from the design of the Up city car?
The Up will be recognisable as a VW — no question. But VW doesn’t have a design mask that is a camouflage you scale up or down to fit the segment. The architecture of the Up means that it’s more different to design than anything else in our range. It has a long wheelbase and short overhangs and a real wheel-in-each-corner design in the spirit of the original Mini.
We don’t want to compromise on interior space with design, though. People aren’t going to be made smaller to fit in, so it has to be a clear VW design, but also a more practical one.
Will VW extend its range of sporty R models?
Yes, we want to do more R models. VW is an advocate of sporty cars and we want to race them, as with the Scirocco. But you have to remember that we have a lot of brands in our group and can’t do everything we want.
And what about a bigger sports car above the BlueSport?
We will do a sports car for the right customer and the right market. The BlueSport is still a work in progress, but we won’t do a mission of the Porsche brand.[/i]

[url url=http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/254200/]Autocar[/url]

la entrevista tiene sustancia… cuenta el colega que básicamente quiere hacer con VW lo que ya hizo con Audi, que sean todos iguales. que el Golf será más de lo mismo. me gusta que hable de proporciones, que es algo que le fallaba a VW últimamente. y habla de sus intenciones para VW en competición, imagino que monomarca y poco más.

el problema es que a este hombre lo avalan los números. los Audi aburridos y clónicos se venden como churros, y los nuevos VW aburridos y clónicos (aunque bonitos por lo general) se están vendiendo de fábula también.

una puntualización a añadir sería que VW, exceptuando el Escarabajo original (diseñado por Porsche), nunca se ha caracterizado por el diseño. la sosez, que dicho en positivo sería sobriedad, va en el ADN de la marca. de lo que se había alejado en esta última generación era de las proporciones, de la sensación de solidez, y otros parámetros antiguamente ligados a VW, y que es por lo que Walter apuesta. aunque lo de «hacerlos todos iguales» sí es de su cosecha, y no lo veo necesario, pero como he dicho antes es lo que vende hoy día, comprar un mismo coche en distintos tamaños.

Todos los VW de esa época son buenos diseños: el Golf IV, el Bora IV, el New Beetle, el restyling del Polo (6N2) y el Passat B5, incluso el Lupo. a partir del Polo 9N y del restyling del Passat B5 la cosa empezó a degenerar.