--- title: Andrew Hart-Barron · HICONIUM description: Andrew Hart-Barron in the HICONIUM register — one file carrying their credit. canonical_url: https://hiconium.dev/people/andrew-hart-barron image: https://hiconium.dev/og/people/andrew-hart-barron.png --- > HICONIUM · Index: https://hiconium.dev/llms.txt · Every page: append `.md` or send `Accept: text/markdown`. > Path: [Home](https://hiconium.dev/) › [People](https://hiconium.dev/people) › Andrew Hart-Barron > On this page: [VW cues, stripped cabin](#vw-cues-stripped-cabin) · [Specified with the client](#specified-with-the-client) · [One file carries this name](#one-file-carries-this-name) People # Andrew Hart-Barron Automotive interior designer; JLR Interior Design Director; former Bentley Head of Interior Design | Label | Value | | --- | --- | | Nationality | British | The record British automotive designer credited by Andrew English with the Volkswagen XL1 interior, later Head of Interior Design at Volkswagen Group’s Future Center Europe and on Bentley’s 2022 Batur, and by 2023 Interior Design Director at JLR. At Pforzheim University’s July 2003 Transportation Design degree show, Hart-Barron presented LSV, a lightweight concept for driving and flying enthusiasts. Car Design News described an ultralight aircraft that could convert to road transport; wings could be stored or hired, and different wings and engines could tailor road and air performance. It also said the pilot’s position was intended to intensify the experience. The report listed him with the master’s students, not that summer’s graduating diploma class. In a 2011 first drive of Volkswagen’s XL1, Andrew English identified Hart-Barron as a British designer and credited him with the interior. English wrote that the brief was to keep it recognisably Volkswagen while showing how different it was, using Volkswagen Group instruments, a feature-length piano-black ventilation duct and a matt carbon-fibre background he compared with velvet. By April 2017 he was Head of Interior Design at Volkswagen Group’s Future Center Europe. Lem Bingley interviewed him in London with Peter Wouda, the studio’s vehicle design director, about Sedric, the first concept issued under the Group name rather than a single brand. The interview names Hart-Barron as the studio’s interior lead, not as Sedric’s sole author. Bentley’s 21 August 2022 Monterey release, and the 1 September UK-debut note, listed Hart-Barron as Head of Interior Design in Andreas Mindt’s design team. Contemporary coverage described the two-seat Batur cabin as a long-haul grand-touring interior with customer-specified materials, built on elements of the Bacalar cabin; choices included low-carbon Scottish leather, sustainably tanned Italian leather, Dinamica and natural-fibre composite. After Batur the Bentley title became historical. Pforzheim’s 2023 master’s brochure named him Head of Interior Design for Jaguar, Land Rover and Defender. A February 2024 LinkedIn post shows him recruiting for JLR’s four brands. As of August 2026 a professional directory still listed him as Vehicle Concept Design and Interior Design Director at JLR, in Royal Leamington Spa. ### VW cues, stripped cabin For XL1, Andrew English credited Hart-Barron with a mix of Volkswagen Group instruments, a feature-length piano-black ventilation duct and a matt carbon-fibre background. English reported the design goal in the quotation below. ### Specified with the client Bentley and Auto & Design described Batur’s interior as highly configurable and based on Bacalar cabin elements, with low-carbon leather, sustainably tanned leather, Dinamica and natural-fibre composite among the choices. The sources place Hart-Barron in the Batur design team but do not award him sole authorship. The stations 1. 2016–2019 Volkswagen Group Future Center Europe Head of Interior Design 2. 2019–2023 Bentley Motors Head of Interior Design 3. 2023– JLR Interior Design Director; Vehicle Concept Design Director The house [![Bentley](https://hiconium.dev/images/marques/full/bentley.svg)](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/bentley) Credited through Bentley. In the register ## One file carries this name - [Bentley Mulliner Batur Head of Interior Design · Bentley Bentley’s August 2022 release named him Head of Interior Design in Andreas Mindt’s team. Auto & Design placed him with Tobias Suehlmann on the project and described a two-seat, client-specified cabin built on Bacalar elements; the sources do not give him sole authorship. 2023– €2M 2023– €2M Rating 91.0](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/bentley/mulliner-batur) The files above are the register's own record of this name. [The people index](https://hiconium.dev/people) holds everyone the register credits. In their words > “We wanted it to be recognisably a VW, but also to show how different it was.” Andrew Hart-Barron · Top Gear, April 2011 (Andrew English) Sources - [cardesignnews.com](https://www.cardesignnews.com/shows/pforzheim-university-summer-degree-show-2003/508148) - [topgear.com](https://www.topgear.com/car-news/vw-xl1-first-drive) - [bentleymedia.com](https://www.bentleymedia.com/en/newsitem/1365-batur-starts-design-revolution-for-bentley) - [bentleymedia.com](https://www.bentleymedia.com/it/newsitem/1370-bentley-batur-to-make-uk-debut-at-10th-anniversary-of-concours-of-elegance) - [autodesignmagazine.com](https://autodesignmagazine.com/en/2022/08/bentley-batur-tailor-made-revolution/) - [designpf.hs-pforzheim.de](https://designpf.hs-pforzheim.de/fileadmin/user_upload/uploads_redakteur_gestaltung/Studieren_Studiengaenge/Studiengangflyer/HS_PF_Studiengangflyer_MA_TD_2023.pdf) - [lembingley.co.uk](http://www.lembingley.co.uk/2017/05/vw-group-sedric-self-driving-car.html) - [npr.org](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/03/05/173521794/vw-introduces-worlds-most-efficient-car-at-geneva-motor-show) - [keranews.org](https://www.keranews.org/2013-03-05/vw-introduces-worlds-most-efficient-car-at-geneva-motor-show) - [sportscardigest.com](https://sportscardigest.com/introducing-the-bentley-mulliner-batur/) - [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-hart-barron-5096a1155_lead-designer-interior-activity-7168689555783557120-rCbY) - [rocketreach.co](https://rocketreach.co/andrew-hart-barron-email_75554453)