Jozef Kabaň

Slovak automotive designer credited with the exterior of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, excluding its wheels, by TASR.

Born on 4 January 1973, Kabaň studied product and industrial design at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava from 1991. TASR reports that he had previously attended an art school in Kremnica, placed second in a Volkswagen-run Škoda competition, and began at Volkswagen as a scholarship holder before becoming an exterior designer. He completed an MA in vehicle design at London’s Royal College of Art in 1997.

Volkswagen dates the start of Kabaň’s career at Volkswagen Design to 1993. TASR says he began work on the Bugatti Veyron in 1999 and designed the whole exterior except the wheels. Bugatti identifies him as the exterior designer of the EB 18/4, presented at Tokyo in October 1999 under Hartmut Warkuß; it says that concept foreshadowed the production Veyron, whose production began in 2005.

In 2003 he moved to Audi; Volkswagen describes his role there as head of exterior design. From 2008 to 2017 he was Head of Design at Škoda Auto. BMW announced in February 2017 that he would be responsible for core BMW design under Adrian van Hooydonk; in March 2019 it announced his move to lead Rolls-Royce design from 1 April. Rolls-Royce later said he left with immediate effect.

Kabaň returned to Volkswagen as Chief Designer in 2020. Volkswagen announced on 24 January 2023 that Andreas Mindt would succeed him from 1 February and that Kabaň had been appointed Creative Art Director Volkswagen at the Group Future Center Europe in Potsdam. SAIC announced his appointment as Global Design Vice President in April 2024; interviews in February and July 2026 subsequently described him in SAIC design roles.