McLaren’s recruitment drive continues with the appointment of another high-ranking executive. This time, the company has announced that Tobias Sühlmann will be returning to the company after a brief stint with Bentley.
Sühlmann will become McLaren‘s Chief Design Officer, a role in which he will be responsible for all aspects of the brand’s aesthetics. He will control exterior and interior styling, as well as colors and materials, and will work directly with customers on bespoke vehicles.
According to his LinkedIn page, Sühlmann worked for McLaren between October 2020 and September 2021, during which time he was the chief designer of special projects, and participated in the creation of the Solus GT.
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He left that position in 2021 to become the head of exterior design at Bentley, before being promoted to director of design for the company in January 2023, following an internal shakeup within the Volkswagen empire.
Now, just four months later, he has announced that he will change lanes yet again, leading design for McLaren as of September 2023.
“[Sühlmann] is a highly experienced automotive designer with an existing understanding of McLaren having previously worked on our ground-breaking Solus GT project,” said Michael Leiters, McLaren’s CEO. “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.”
In the midst of a hiring spree, McLaren previously announced the appointments of executives from around the automotive world. They include Charles Saunderson, its new Chief Technical Officer, who previously worked with Rivian, and Emmanuele Raveglia, its new vehicle line executive director, who formerly worked at Ferrari.
