{"id":26834,"date":"2023-01-10T11:04:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T10:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/?p=26834"},"modified":"2023-03-01T17:32:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T16:32:16","slug":"interview-with-the-design-directors-of-citroen-peugeot-and-ds-the-creative-power-of-the-french-brands-from-stellantis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/?p=26834","title":{"rendered":"Interview with the design directors of Citro\u00ebn, Peugeot and DS: the creative power of the French brands from Stellantis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From left to right:
Pierre Leclercq – Born in 1972 – 50 years old – Citro\u00ebn Design Director since 2018
Matthias Hossann – Born in 1980 – 42 years old – Peugeot Design Director since 2020
Thierry M\u00e9troz – Born in 1963 – 59 years old – DS Design Director since 2014
Photo: Benjamin Asket of Virage Agency<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bringing together three design directors from brands that are bubbling over with projects is not easy. Fortunately, these three directors have lunch in the same canteen. When they have the time\u2026 We took them out of their respective studios to air them out a bit, right in front of the ADN (Automotive Design Network) boat, which was inaugurated in 2004. Rumour has it that this long building, 220 metres long, 60 metres wide and 40 metres high, sinks a few millimetres every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Peugeot terrace. Even in the snow, the programmes must progress. Here, the study of the 308 II which will be marketed in 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thus, in several centuries, it will be possible to access the presentation terraces of the secret Peugeot and Citro\u00ebn cars, which are now high up and out of sight, without making any effort. But that is fiction. What is real is the presence of the three design directors of the Citro\u00ebn (Pierre Leclercq), Peugeot (Matthias Hossann) and DS (Thierry M\u00e9troz) brands before us. In other words: the strike force of the aesthetic genius of the three French brands of the giant Stellantis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aerial view of the ADN, shortly after its inauguration. The complex is now more wooded.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These three renowned designers are not quite of the same generation. For example, the design of the oldest brand (Peugeot) is in the hands of the youngest of the three, Matthias Hossann (42): “I come from the East and when I was a kid I used to go and visit the Schlumpf Museum with my parents. There is an incredible collection of Bugattis there and that’s where I started to connect with the object, rather with the plastic that goes with it. I was passionate about volume, that’s really what brought me to the world of the automobile where we have to create an aesthetic for the masses while designing the most sophisticated objects.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matthias Hossann on the left and the exterior designer of the e-Legend concept: Nicolas Brissonneau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The youngest brand, DS Automobiles, is in the hands of the oldest of the three: Thierry M\u00e9troz, born in 1963. For him, the origin of his passion comes first from drawing. “That’s where I was good, much better than in maths or French! I was ten years old when my first emotion came from the Alpine Berlinette which was world champion that year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thierry M\u00e9troz on board the 2020 ASL concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bugatti, on Matthias’ side (Peugeot), Berlinette on Thierry’s side (DS) and cartoons and Italian bodywork on Pierre Leclercq’s side (Citro\u00ebn): “I had an uncle and a cousin in my family who were cartoonists, and that always inspired me a lot. And above all, I dreamt of the little aluminium plates on the sides of Italian cars, especially those made by Pininfarina!” Let’s not forget either that Pierre’s parents and grandparents drove\u2026 Citro\u00ebn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pierre Leclercq in front of one of the modules of “The Urban Coll\u00ebctif” concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s all very well to decorate the walls of your room with posters of Berlinettes or to slalom between Bugattis. What led them to become designers in the first place? Pierre Leclercq recalls that “my father was a doctor in a small town. So when I said I wanted to become a designer, I had to be very persuasive. I ended up at an industrial design school in Belgium, but that’s not what I wanted to do. The first questionnaire of the school was to know what your dream job was. I didn’t dare to put “car designer”, so some guys put it in my place and got yelled at! I was told that I had nothing to do here and fortunately, a school opened in Switzerland, in Vevey: it was the European branch of the American Art Center College. I went there as soon as I finished my studies in Belgium and I returned to Vevey just before the school closed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH JEAN-PIERRE PLOU\u00c9, CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER OF STELLANTIS EUROPE BRANDS HERE : http:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/?p=26695<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jean-Pierre Plou\u00e9 to whom the design directors of Stellantis’ European brands report.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Born in 1980, Matthias Hossann had many more educational opportunities ahead of him than his two colleagues. “I started at Strate College in 1997, but I would like to thank Thierry, because with Jean-Pierre Plou\u00e9, they really cleared the way for design in France. I grew up with Jean-Pierre and Thierry’s sketches and it is thanks to them that schooling in terms of design has developed. So, when I arrived, there was already Strate, ENSAAMA, and others who created a real network in France.” Thierry M\u00e9troz can only agree because he followed practically the same studies as Jean-Pierre Plou\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matthias Hossann was responsible for concept cars before becoming head of Peugeot design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this type of school for young people who are aiming for 5 years of higher education, the job of design director of a car brand is not yet mentioned! Thierry M\u00e9troz confirms that “the school did not teach us to become managers. But during my studies I had the chance to meet extraordinary teachers who valued work well done. You can learn the basics of management thanks to the personality of the teachers, who teach you how to be demanding with yourself and your teams. There are designers who are excellent but who don’t want to, or can’t, become managers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Design director, a job that involves managing multi-talented teams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If the objective of a designer who joins a manufacturer’s team on leaving school is above all to constantly create and adapt to the brand’s genes, that of a brand’s design director is quite different, because he no longer draws. Matthias Hossann explains that this job “is about giving a brand a vision and a trajectory for the short, medium and long term.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A vision for the long term: the motto of the design director. Here, the Peugeot Design team in front of the e-Legend concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Thierry M\u00e9troz, after leading the Citro\u00ebn design team for more than two years from 2010, it was necessary to create a completely new team when the DS brand was unveiled in 2014. He recalls that “it was a novel situation because in 2013 we had to set up a dedicated DS team to anticipate the official split between Citro\u00ebn and DS in 2014. It was part of the Citro\u00ebn team that moved to DS. I chose those who had the most sensitivity to the story we wanted to tell. The core group of former Citro\u00ebn designers has remained the same since 2012.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thierry M\u00e9troz a construit son \u00e9quipe de designers DS en puisant logiquement chez Citro\u00ebn. A droite, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Soubirou, responsable du design ext\u00e9rieur de DS \u00e0 qui l’on doit les Citro\u00ebn C4 Picasso, Citro\u00ebn DS3 et Citro\u00ebn DS5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Pierre Leclercq, the situation was different: the team existed, but Pierre reorganised it considerably with many departures and just as many arrivals. Did he want to mark his territory? “Not necessarily”, explains Pierre. “When you join a new group, you don’t yet know the team you’re going to work with. A lot of people have already been there, sometimes for twenty years, so you have to integrate yourself at first. If my team has changed, it is also because the last four years, with the formation of Stellantis, have had an impact at Citro\u00ebn. We’ve really exploded the teams.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Angibaud, exterior designer of the Citro\u00ebn C5X: over 20 years of experience in Citro\u00ebn design.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In other words, the three style directors – and no doubt others in the Stellantis Europe group – are clearly lending themselves to designers?  “It has happened,” says Pierre Leclercq. “We do exchanges and often it is beneficial for the designers. Not so long ago, I asked Matthias if he had two or three guys to lend me for a few months.” “However, it’s more often transfers than loans,” says Thierry M\u00e9troz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For Thierry M\u00e9troz on the right, there is no question of “lending” the designer of the ASL concept and the DS4: Thomas Duhamel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Matthias Hossann, the story is different again as the team existed, like the one at Citro\u00ebn, but this time the new design director came from within as Matthias had the position of head of exploratory and early stage design (including concept cars). “Certainly the existing team was robust, and we have the opportunity to rejuvenate it with young talent coming in to support this historic team.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A logical transfer of power when Gilles Vidal (left) left the management of Peugeot design. Matthias Hossann (right) took over a team he knows well<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And exchanging or lending designers goes beyond the borders of V\u00e9lizy’s DNA, as Matthias Hossann explains: “We have had quite a few exchanges between the French studios and those in Turin, Italy. All this is easily organised, but we mustn’t forget that Stellantis is still new and that all this has to be put in place.” Stellantis is therefore making the best use of the synergies between all the departments involved in car design, even in the field of design. Pierre Leclercq, who has worked in Germany at BMW and in Korea at Kia, was surprised when he arrived at PSA (now Stellantis). “With only three brands (BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce), the design of the BMW Group was rather well organised, with a real sharing of responsibilities, but in Korea, this was not the case! When I arrived here, I clearly found that everything was well organised. We have a big meeting once a year to present the DNA of each other’s styles. It takes time but it’s imperative.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After his experience with the BMW group and the Kia brand in Korea, Pierre Leclercq found a high level of organisational rigour at Stellantis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the guarantee of differentiation between all the brands remains the prerogative of Jean-Pierre Plou\u00e9 who is the Design Director of the European brands of Stellantis. Jean-Pierre Plou\u00e9 is also, surprise, responsible for the design of the Lancia brand. Belonging to the same division as the DS and Alfa Romeo brands, did Thierry M\u00e9troz have to send designers from his team to Lancia? “Yes, we did. It is the strength of the group to be able to help each other and there have been transfers of designers to Lancia.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What will be the formal language of Lancia design? Answer soon\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And in this case, do we keep the best? Thierry M\u00e9troz affirms that “no, frankly, those who left me, whether at Alfa or Lancia, were among the best! And then it would be to put a brand in difficulty and it would not benefit the group in any way. The good ones who have a real added value will, on the contrary, allow the whole group to be strengthened.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Genesis of the DS4 in the DS Automobiles studio, in the centre of the large ADN building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The premium division (Lancia, DS and Alfa Romeo) is therefore relatively young in terms of the creation of design teams. The ‘generalist’ (Mainstream) division includes Peugeot, which is moving upmarket, and Opel. On the access side, there is the division which includes the Citro\u00ebn and Fiat brands. Is the Italian becoming Citro\u00ebn’s biggest rival? Pierre Leclercq does not think so. “I don’t see Fiat as a competitor. In terms of design, there is enormous competition between us all, not only with Fiat, and Jean-Pierre Plou\u00e9 also likes to push us further and further by stirring it up. Here, in the studios behind us, there is an exceptional competition that is stronger than any I have ever known.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matthias Hossann agrees: “I agree with what Pierre said. Today, the challenge is to make sure that there is a differentiation on each of the brands in order to offer products that are sufficiently different from one brand or from one division to another, in order to respond to different needs. Clearly, the field of competition is really in front of us, and not internally.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Internal competition and the early development of concepts for the future mean that we have to go through the stage of manifestos. Here, the Peugeot 408 presented at the recent Paris Motor Show, which dates from\u2026 2015 !<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So the competition is elsewhere, especially internationally. Is it necessary to have international experience in order to become a design director of a brand? Thierry M\u00e9troz believes that it is not mandatory. “It’s a plus, obviously, but it’s not a mandatory condition. For a simple reason, it is that within a group, you can have international positions, as when I was at Renault, I directed studios in Barcelona and Korea for the group.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thierry M\u00e9troz at the wheel of the DS X E-Tense concept car<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same applies to Matthias Hossann who joined the group in 2002 and very quickly set foot abroad. “I was lucky enough in 2008 to be able to spend five years in the PSA studio in China. You immerse yourself in the international culture and when you come back to France, you are no longer the same. The whole point of Stellantis is now to be able to offer positions in studios in the United States, Brazil or Italy.” Pierre, as we have seen, has known the BMW group and the Hyundai Kia group in Korea where he almost became head of world design for the Kia brand before leaving Korea for France and Citro\u00ebn in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While in China at the PSA design studio, Matthias Hossann managed the Citro\u00ebn Metropolis concept car, one of the French brand’s most elegant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DS is a young brand, whereas Peugeot and Citro\u00ebn are century-old brands. Does the weight of the image, of the History with a capital “H” of each of their brands weigh on the shoulders of Pierre and Matthias? “Peugeot is the oldest brand in the world car industry, so there is obviously an affection for the brand”, Matthias Hossann concedes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The letter from Jean-Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Peugeot who, together with Jean-Pierre Peugeot, accelerated the renovation of the Sous-Cratet mill into a steel factory in 1811. One of the starting points of the Grande Aventure\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Order our bilingual books on automotive news, design and archives here. Booklet of 130 pages, \u20ac28.<\/strong> https:\/\/lignesautoeditions.fr\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Matthias continues: “The risk would be to be imprisoned by its history and that is the challenge of a brand like Peugeot: you have to accept your history, and sometimes play with it, but what I ask the teams is to be forward-looking, so it is always a fine balance to find where we can play with our codes, but above all not to lock ourselves in. We don’t want to do retro-design. On the contrary, we want to project this brand into the future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For Pierre Leclercq, history obviously counts. “During Citro\u00ebn’s 100th anniversary, I saw entire families wearing Citro\u00ebn T-shirts and with flashes of passion in their eyes. You can only have respect for this brand and its lovers. What I like about Citro\u00ebn is that people wait for the next model with curiosity and impatience. Not all brands can say that. What is important is not necessarily to be a fan of the brand for the design manager, but to understand its philosophy coupled with a passion for car design. We need to have the desire to change the codes. I’m not interested in neo-retro either, it’s relatively easy to fall into that theme. It’s much more interesting to understand the brand’s philosophy and to come up with the right answers, like with our recent OLI concept car.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Citro\u00ebn Oli concept car will be followed in a few weeks by the Peugeot Inception Concept. Find more about the OLI concept here : https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/?p=26127<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pierre Leclercq, Matthias Hossann and Thierry Metroz don’t hide their plans from each other and their badges work to get into the studios without having to play MacGyver to break in. Pierre Leclercq says that seeing other brands’ programmes “motivates me! I go back to my studio and push the teams to go further.” There is no question of stealing an idea from the neighbour that would probably not correspond to the brand’s DNA. And, as Pierre points out, “none of us want to have the neighbour’s recipe.” Which, with 13 neighbours for each of the Stellantis group’s brands, is not a given, but quite a challenge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The DS Automobiles design studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We will be able to see the results of all their work within ten years. And in ten years, where will they be? For Thierry M\u00e9troz, unless there are new drastic reforms concerning retirement, he will be busy with other things. Pierre Leclercq sidesteps this by explaining that “a designer is a sponge. And there is always a plan B or C!” Matthias, the youngest of the three, seems very comfortable because “I am certainly passionate about cars, but I am also attracted to other worlds, such as fashion or cooking. The role of a designer is to be curious and if you remain passionate, you can do almost anything! But the world is changing fast, so thinking about what we’ll be doing in ten years’ time\u2026”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special thanks to St\u00e9phanie Cardine, from the Peugeot Design communication department. And of course, to the three design directors, without forgetting the autumn sun and Benjamin Asket from Virage Agency for the “family photo”. The other photos come from the communication services of Peugeot Design, Citro\u00ebn Design and DS Automobiles Design, as well as from the author’s personal archives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you like this article? You might like this one: http:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/?p=24401<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Bringing together three design directors from brands that are bubbling over with projects is not easy. Fortunately, these three directors have lunch in the same canteen. When they have the time\u2026 We took them out of their respective studios to air them out a bit, right in front of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26834"}],"version-history":[{"count":69,"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27850,"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26834\/revisions\/27850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lignesauto.fr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}