Hartmut Warkuß

Automotive designer whose work at Audi and Volkswagen included design leadership on the Golf IV and Phaeton. Bugatti identifies Jozef Kabaň as the exterior designer of the 1999 EB 18/4 Veyron under Warkuß’s direction.

Warkuß was born in Breslau on 8 June 1940. Car Design News reports that he trained as an engraver in Solingen before beginning at Mercedes-Benz in 1964, moving to Ford in 1966 and Audi in 1968. At Audi, he was interviewed by Ludwig Kraus. Volkswagen credits him as designer of the first Audi 80; MotorZeitung describes him as a young designer with substantial involvement.

At Audi, the second Audi 80 and the 1982 Audi 100 incorporated new aerodynamic work; iF says the latter had a decisive effect on Audi style. iF dates Warkuß’s responsibility for Audi design from 1976, while Car Design News dates his title as head of Audi design to 1983. iF records his Volkswagen design responsibility from 1993; Car Design News dates the Volkswagen Center of Excellence role to 1994.

Volkswagen says the Golf IV emerged under Warkuß’s direction, and identifies the Passat B5’s front arch as the “Warkuß arch.” It credits him with the Phaeton body’s clean lines. Warkuß said that a Concept 1 study from Volkswagen’s California Design Centre became the New Beetle. In 2002 Peter Schreyer became head of Volkswagen-brand design; Warkuß took the Group design role and retired in 2003.

Volkswagen commissioned Italdesign for the early Bugatti studies. Bugatti says the EB 18/4 Veyron, shown at Tokyo in October 1999, marked a move to an in-house Volkswagen Group design under Warkuß’s direction, with its exterior penned by Jozef Kabaň. Its styling strongly foreshadowed the production car. Series production was decided in 2001 and began in September 2005.