Online Extra: An Interview with BMW's Chief Designer

Dutch-born designer Adrian van Hooydonk raced up the ranks at BMW from his first job sketching cars at BMW's Munich studio to become BMW brand chief designer in only 12 years, including a three-year stint running BMW's California studio, DesignWorksUSA, from 2001-04. Van Hooydonk, now 42, earned a degree in automotive design at the Art Center Europe in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1992. His fast-paced climb reflects the openness to fresh ideas and talent that makes BMW's innovation engine hum constantly at high revs.

Van Hooydonk's first coup at DesignWorks was an early concept car for the Mini (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/11/06, "Maximum Mini"), followed by the Z9 concept car. But his first production-car win was the 7 Series (followed by the 6 Series). In fact, it was van Hooydonk—and not BMW Design Chief Chris Bangle—who penned the lines of the controversial 2002 7 Series and its provocatively heavy back end, since dubbed, erroneously, the "Bangle Butt."