McLaren Automotive has recently announced the appointment of Tobias Sühlmann as the company’s new Chief Design Officer, taking up the role in September 2023. Sühlmann’s career in automotive design spans two decades, having worked for a range of luxury brands including Bentley, Bugatti and Aston Martin.
It is a welcome return to McLaren for Sühlmann who was previously the Lead Designer for Special Projects, overseeing the design of the track-only McLaren Solus GT single-seat hypercar based on a video game concept.
Tobias Sühlmann will play a leading role in developing McLaren’s new design language
Based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, Sühlmann will be responsible for every aspect of brand design, leading a design team whose roles span future concepts, exterior and interior styling, colour and materials, often working directly with customers to personalise their vehicles before they are hand-built in the adjoining McLaren Production Centre.
Tobias graduated with a diploma at Pforzheim University in 2005 before he joined Volkswagen that same year. He went on to become Head of Exterior Design at Bugatti and Head of Exterior Design at Aston Martin before joining McLaren and then becoming Bentley’s Director of Design which was his last role before he re-joins McLaren. Sühlmann will report directly to Michael Leiters, McLaren Automotive Chief Executive Officer.
“We are delighted to welcome Tobias to the McLaren team. He is a highly experienced automotive designer with an existing understanding of McLaren having previously worked on our ground-breaking Solus GT project. Tobias will play a leading role in developing McLaren’s new design language across our developing product portfolio as part of our Future of Performance business strategy.” Michael Leiters, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Automotive
