GM Design celebrates its 85th birthday this month, and the 1,900 men and women in GM’s 10 global design centers are doing what they’ve always done and are focused on the future. United in their vision to entice customers to fall in love and see the vehicles as they do: art that moves you. Many of GM’s designs make up the majority of the hot rods and customs of today.
The Holden Efigy Concept - (Australia).
“Our global team is united around its passion for designing vehicles that make an emotional connection with their owners,” said Ed Welburn, GM vice president, Global Design. “What was true 85 years ago is still true today: A designer’s role is to create a beautifully executed exterior with great proportions to draw you in, and an interior environment that invites you into a relationship that develops and grows.”
Buick Y-Job Concept Car
GM was the first automobile manufacturer to single out automotive design. On June 23, 1927, the Executive Committee of General Motors approved the creation of a new department to study the question of art and color combinations in General Motors products.
Welburn, the sixth design chief in GM’s 104-year history and the very first to have global vehicle design leadership responsibilities, will serve as honorary chairman of another visionary group at the 25th annual EyesOn Design Automotive Design Exhibition on Sunday, June 17.
1951 Buick LeSabre Show Car
Under Welburn’s strategic eye, each of GM’s eight global passenger car brands is distinctive in form and vocabulary from one another as well as from other brands in the marketplace.
Cadillac and Buick have each undergone a design renaissance, and Chevrolet has become a global brand with a globally recognized design language.
GM continues to push the envelope in both form and function always striving to be one step ahead of the curve and know what’s “next” before that ever elusive “next” has even arrived.
This brings us to the modern Camaro Design, still pushing the envelope.
Welburn and his global design team say their best work lies ahead. Tomorrow’s classic cars, he said, are on the sketchpads and computers of today’s designers. GM Design is at the forefront of an ongoing global product renaissance that will see 70 percent of the vehicle portfolio replaced within the next three years.
