Italdesign Quaranta Concept (2008)

The report by Autoblog.it refers to interviews published by several Italian printed magazines and newspapers.

Giorgetto Giugiaro, who has recently celebrated his 70th birthday and the 40th anniversary of Italdesign, has appeared rather distant from the present, almost disenchanted and disillusioned and oriented towards a future where the way of thinking, building and presentig automobiles will have to be changed.

A common idea shared among these interviews is the "Think Small" concept, not just intended in terms of low prices and minimal dimensions.

Giugiaro at the drawing board (Source: Automotive News Europe)

Giugiaro proposes a new distribution of volumes and dimensions; cars should be wider than today - a supporting example is the Toyota iQ.

On this regard three years ago Italdesign has developed a compact car under 3.5 meters of length with an interior volume comparable to that of a Golf Plus.

In Giugiaro's opinion the car of the future already exists, but no automakers are really interested in producing it, because thy should revise both the technical and marketing approaches.

As he explains "technically, widening a platform is far more difficult than lengthening it. Just think about adding a 'stripe' to a floor-pan along its width or for the whole length of the car."

But the main problem is not economic: it resides in the current market approach which is driven by numbers, revenues, niches.

In his opinion this way of thinking has turned cars from men's favorite toys into rather unpleasant objects, subjected to a growing number of laws and restrictions that try to make them presentable.

VAD.HO Concept (2007)

To support this, he gives a rather discouraging description of the process that turns an idea into the final product sold in the dealerships. There is no space for anything but numbers and marketing.

"Automakers do their best to comply with laws, which will be stricter and stricter in the future. They'd like to try something new, but they have to mediate with parameters presented by technicians, who often say: 'this cannot be done... this costs too much.'

"And in addition to this the marketing teams with their schemes and positionings give benchmarks and directions for the new products.

"Not to mention some executives who come from different fields such as finance or politics, but want to be 'the stylists': they never come to you and say: 'a four-meters car, this tall: I'll leave it to you.' "

Ford Mustang by Giugiaro (2006)

He continues by citing the example of SUVs: "People love SUVs so automakers will keep on making them.

"Regarding their usage, we have to consider that if you are used to travel in a high position and you feel safe with 'all that surrounding metal sheet', you will not change your tastes and attitudes until there are rules that give some kind of limitations. As far as I have the freedom of choosing the tank I want, I choose the one I like most."

So automakers know that if there is not a change on this regard, we might run into a SUV-forbidding law, which would be very harmful for people who work in the automotive industry.

Giugiaro gives also a personal note, as reported by Italian magazine Quattroruote: "Italian automakers could be a little more kind to designers. I have not been working for Fiat Group for four years now: I was not involved in the 500 and the MiTo projects, nor am I in the future small Fiat models."

Giugiaro (Source: Automotive News Europe)

He explains that the Grande Punto project was supplied to Fiat under favourable conditions given the moment, very critical for the Italian automaker.

"Now they could do something for Italian designers: we and Pininfarina are doing fine, but I don't know if Bertone will survive."

Below we report an official press release by Italdesign which includes further thoughts and comments.

From 0 to 70 (years old) with style

Even after more than a half century as a car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro can think of nothing else he wants to do. His dedication to his craft has led to some impressive achievements.

Giugiaro, who turned 70 on August 7, has designed more than 200 cars during his 53-year professional career.

When combined, the total number of Giugiaro-designed vehicles produced stands at an estimated 60 million. It is easy to understand why Giugiaro has been so prolific.

Maserati Bora (1968) - design sketch (Source: maserati-alfieri.co.uk)

During the week he gets to the office every morning by 9 a.m. and works until about 7:30 p.m.

“My normal business day includes a couple of hours at the drawing board, one hour of meetings with clients to discuss projects and the remaining time closely watching the construction of styling models and prototypes,” Giugiaro said in an interview with Automotive News Europe.

To save time and keep fit, he uses his bicycle to get around the campus of his company, Italdesign, which is located outside Turin. He is also at the office every other Saturday and, when needed to finish a project, he works on Sundays.

His five decades of service have made Giugiaro one of the most respected people in the auto industry. In 2000 he was named a member of the inaugural class of the European Automotive Hall of Fame.

1988 Italdesign Aztec Concept

During the interview with ANE, he shared some provocative views on future car design and provided an insider’s look at the tension that exists during the creation of a new model.

One size, no problem

Giugiaro would love it if lawmakers would impose a maximum size for automobiles.

“I think limiting the overall length by law to 4.5 meters and the height to 1.7 meters would allow us to make a car that fits any buyer’s needs,” he said.

He believes that cars with those proportions would be lighter than many cars on the road today. This means less CO2, a greenhouse gas EU lawmakers want carmakers to reduce significantly by 2012.

2004 Toyota Alesssandro Volta - Design sketch

The 4500mm-long car would be a premium vehicle, while a 3500mm-long car that could accommodate up to five passengers and their luggage would be for the mass market.

“I just designed a car of this size and it offers plenty of space,” he said. In his view, shape matters more than size.

“I feel it is simply stupid to measure a car’s value and status based on its size,” he said. “What really matters, what makes you different is the shape of the car – its design.”

Design freedom is no help

Giugiaro thinks that mandatory limits on a vehicle’s size would not affect design creativity.

Alfa Romeo Brera Concept (2002)

“I have faced hundreds of new rules and I have welcomed all of them because boundaries stimulate creativity,” he said.

Giugiaro is convinced that total freedom – the mythical blank sheet that many designers would love to have from clients – is of no help.

“I have never sketched on a clean sheet of paper because that is art, not design.

" I have always worked on the technical layout, which includes the platform and the powertrain layout, to be sure everything I was designing was technically feasible.”

Although he was named designer of the 20th century in 1999, Giugiaro says that very few of his original design proposals went into production without any significant modifications.

“I would say the first VW Golf and Scirocco, as well the Audi 80, the Fiat Panda, Uno, Punto and Grande Punto, the Lancia Delta, the Alfa Brera and 159 and the Lexus GS300 went into production as I proposed them,” he said.

Fiat Panda (1980), winner of the Compasso d'Oro Design Award

In many other cases, the customer asked for modifications that he said progressively altered the spirit of the original design.

“Every auto executive is convinced he understands design and wants to have a word – or even too many words – on it,” he said.

Giugiaro said that sometimes designers are treated like surgeons who are trusted fully with the style of a new model. But sometimes they are treated like a grocery clerk, who gets no feedback at all on the quality of the product.

Despite the sometimes-disrespectful treatment of his work, Giugiaro plans to continue expanding his legacy by perhaps trying something he had never done: work as a design consultant for an automaker.

“I have always been asked to offer my own proposal, but never to be a pure consultant,” he said. “This could be a really nice opportunity for a future development of my career.”

(Source: Autoblog.it, Italdesign)