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Having the last laugh

Thomas Ingenlath, Škoda Auto's chief designer, is keen to discuss the history of the Czech carmaker. He insists it is important to the understanding of the brand. The carmaker's history goes way back to 1895 when it manufactured bicycles and it made its first car, the Voiurette, as early as 1905. But by the 1970s the image of Škoda was associated with Eastern European design and quality. However, all was to change in 1991 when Volkswagen took over the brand.

Thomas Ingenlath, head of design has himself in mind when designing Škoda cars

"This was a very important step in establishing Škoda as a company that makes quality cars," explains Ingenlath. It was more like an evolution, he explains, and it did take ten years for the carmaker to reach where it is today. "Now we have a platform and a place to step and to fulfil our goal. With the Fabia, Octavia and Superb we have a nice range of cars and now we can do nice things like the road rally car that has added spice to the company."

The main challenge for Ingenlath is how far he can push forward and modernise a brand with so much history. "You have to fight with yourself to see how much tradition you must keep, and at the same time how far you can push forward the brand so that there is no stagnation," he adds. This, he adds, is the challenging part.

For Ingenlath maintaining the brand's heritage is crucial. He explains: "Although this is a Czech company, we are mainly Škoda and this is our tradition." To him this is very much a European tradition. Škoda, for instance, sells well in India. "The customer there may not know the depths of Czech culture, but he can feel that this is a car from Europe and perhaps this is why he buys this car," he adds.

Ingenlath describes the essence of Škoda as the front grill. "You can recognise Škoda when you look into its face," he explains. In fact the dominant grill belongs to the long tradition of the brand. It is a feature in Ingenlath's view that only a company with a hundred years of car making history can get away with, and make it into a design feature. The bold grille is something that the carmaker would like to develop into a future icon.

Another feature that Ingenlath would like to develop on future Škoda cars is the green house, an old term used for the cabin segment. "All our models have green houses on their cars and everything is connected with pillars that have body colours on it. For me this is a very different form of architecture," explains Ingenlath. Many cars have a base and they just add the greenhouse like an additional piece on top. But with Škoda, he says, the look is solid like one big volume. "The windows are then milled out from this mono volume. This is what makes the car look really precious," he adds. This is something Škoda wants to push forward in our future cars and Ingenlath believes that Škoda has many other design elements that can be looked into in the same way.

The VW group houses seven other brands. Ingenlath admits that there is a degree of co-ordination between them, but it is mainly about harmonisation so that it all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. "As a back up, being part of VW is perfect. We can use the resources for technical development, but it is also a huge challenge," he admits. There is a competitive element between the different design houses admits Ingenlath. "You want to be the brand with the clever solutions," he says.

The VW group shares many platforms for production, but Ingenlath does not see this as a creative obstacle. He admits that as a designer you always have limitations. "A designer will always have to work with a certain track or a wheelbase or even a certain heritage," he says.

Škoda makes a limited model range, but for Ingenlath this creates an advantage as you can concentrate on the job you are doing. His experience at VW, he admits, was the completely different to where he is now. "You could get involved in various projects and end up not seeing people for months even though you work in the same building," he says. Coming to Škoda was a relief for him. "Things were easy to see and move things quicker, you can be effective."

According to many designers working at VW teaches you to value quality. VW designers are constantly being moved around from one brand to another. Ingenlath says the advantage to this is a common understanding of quality. There are limitations at Škoda, where designers have to look at the cost of a project, and to the carmaker value for money is one of our main goals. "Therefore," says Ingenlath, "quality for us is not necessarily dependent on money, but on the quality of detail you give to the design and making."

There are two ways of looking at it, says Ingenlath. "As a back-up being part of VW is perfect. We can use the resources for technical development, but it is also a huge challenge." He admits that there is always a competitive element between the different design houses. "You want to be the brand with the clever solutions, or the one who does it all for less money."

"At VW all the brands are working on how to make this successful in the future. This is a very exciting time in design as this challenge is really new, and it adds a lot of professionalism to our business," says Ingenlath.

VW designers have the tendency to move around. In Ingenlath's view moving around as such is a challenge to the ability of the designer to do the right thing for the right company. "An intelligent designer needs to have the ability to do the job for any manufacturer and for a specific moment. You need to have a target, have a goal and need to know what you are fulfilling. If you are a professional designer you would need to design Škoda and Bentley," he adds.

Škoda has just launched the new Fabia RS and the Fabia world rally car, and Ingenlath was involved in the design of both. He adds that motor racing is good for the brand as it keeps the spirit going. "Motorsport is part of the company's history; not something we just gave our name to."

"The Fabia vRS is a nice beefy little car and a lot of fun to drive," says Ingenlath. This is his favourite Fabia. One reason is that the fabrics used inside are quite unusual. "They are obviously artificial textiles, but in the way, say, Nike designs sportswear. It is a younger way of interpreting the sports car," he explains.

The new Fabia vRS is a nice beefy little car and a lot of fun to drive, says Ingenlath

Interior luxury seems to be reflected through the use of leather, wood and chrome. "We are not a fashion orientated brand and so we cannot afford to make something that is just there for one season," explains Ingenlath. "This is good because a lot of the very short-term trends come and go. We are working on real long-term developments. It is different than say household products. Interior wise there was a lot of stagnation around the 80s and 90s, on the other hand our products have to last a longer time. T-shirt can be thrown away, but car seats have to last a long time."

Škoda makes cars with the same quality all-over. "We are the company with practical cars, we use technologies that are practical to use therefore our products are the right one to be sold in countries like India." Škoda has been in China for a long time.

To become a Škoda designer apart from having the professional skills, Ingenlath looks for an additional quality. "Škoda cars don't have to be 100 per cent mainstream. So if a student came up with an idea that might be too crazy for someone else, it may interest us. We like unusual people and we can offer them the ability to develop their craziness," he adds.

Ingenlath himself has collected a lot of engineering knowledge through the years. He sees this as crucial for when you want to make changes and to be taken seriously as a partner. "All the things we are doing are done as a common effort and the products we are developing needed the trust of both sides. There is team spirit in Škoda like a family."

Škoda employs 25 international designers at its design centre at Mladá Boleslav, near Prague. "We work in the Czech Republic and we are very interested in the culture. We have many Czech people here, but we make cars for an international market and so we need to have an international outlook," he says.

Ingenlath himself has always wanted to be a car designer, although at first he wasn't sure if it was just a childish dream. A German, he started off as an industrial designer, but two years into the job he realised that car design was more his thing. This is when he began work at VW, followed by a trainee place at Audi, who sponsored him to go to the Royal College of Art in London. "The first day I came to London I knew it was the right decision. The college delivers space for people from all over the world to come together and create an international creative atmosphere," he adds.

Ingenlath has himself in mind when he designs cars. "I would make a car that I desire. We make cars that are perhaps more oriented to a big family or older people, but at the very end it has to be a desirable car."