 |
Frank Stephenson
Head
Alfa Romeo Styling Centre
Frank Stephenson is considered one of the hottest talents in the automotive design industry. He is the designer of the 2001 BMW MINI Cooper and the BMW X5. He moved to Ferrari/Maserati in 2002 as design director where he worked on the Ferrari F430, Ferrari FXX and Maserati MC12, as well as overseeing Pininfarina's work on the Maserati Quattroporte, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Today, at age 47, Stephenson is head of the Fiat, Lancia and Light Commercial Vehicle Design Centers in Turin, Italy. He was born in Casablanca, Morocco to a Norwegian father and Spanish mother. By the age of six he was also speaking French and Arabic. Today he is a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and speaks eight languages, including Italian, Norwegian, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Turkish and German. "It's just a matter of osmosis" he says, of moving around all his life and picking them up along the way. Today, the future design direction of the Italian automaker Fiat rests largely in his hands. He must create cars that express Italian design with the instant desireability factor, in order to help reverse a dramatic 15-year sales slide that has threatened the 106-year-old company's very existence. Important up-coming model launches with the new design direction for Fiat and Lancia will lead the way.
|
