[vladinecko]

To those who are quick to judge this man I say, nothing is as black and white as it seems. You must keep in mind that design, especially automobile design, is subject to many crutches. From existing set of rules and conventions to brand identity, global market considerations, safety restrictions, production limitations, budget constraints or segment delineations, to name a few.

However, the most important factor that outsiders quickly dismiss is that everybody has a boss. You can see that from the Adrian van Hooydonk vs. Chris Bangle relationship. Bangle gets most of the heat for his controversial designs whereas it was actually van Hooydonk who was directly responsible for majority of them. Now the roles have shifted, van Hooydonk is the big boss and Kaban will be in his shadow making very limited and censored choices for BMW. In the long run, good or bad, van Hooydonk will be credited with anything of significance.

There is a high attrition rate in this post for a reason. As a designer, you want to roam free. If you create a masterpiece and someone in a more expensive suit tells you to put their doodle on it, it's an attack not only on your creation but also on your artistic identity. In a conglomerate like the BMW Group or the VW Group, you can bet your behind that any head designer has to dodge countless, unsolicited and unqualified pieces of advice per day and that is not easy to live with. You either persevere, like van Hooydonk, and become the head honcho or you throw in the towel in submission and capitulate.

BMW would not make choosing their lead designer a capricious matter. Kaban must have been thoroughly vetted on his talent, leadership skills, real-world experience and portfolio. Bugatti Veyron, regardless of its design, is an iconic car of its era. Having that and only that car on a resume would qualify any designer for Kaban's new job.

So let's scale back the criticism until there's something concrete to criticize, shall we?