► Frank Stephenson has left McLaren
► New design director is Rob Melville
► A McLaren veteran since 2009
McLaren Automotive has appointed a new design chief to style the next generation of supercars being developed in Woking.
Veteran designer Rob Melville has been promoted to design director, replacing Frank Stephenson who has left the business. There is no word yet on what his next steps are.
McLaren’s new design boss: a potted CV of Rob Melville
He joined McLaren in 2009 as senior designer and was promoted to chief designer in 2014. His CV includes the P1, the overhaul of the 12C to become the 650S and he led the recently launched 720S, the first second-generation modern McLaren road car.
Before McLaren he worked at Jaguar Land Rover, where he heavily influenced the LRX concept car which went on to become the Range Rover Evoque, and also had a stint at GM’s UK Advanced Design Group, where he worked on Cadillac.
Melville will report to chief operating officer Jens Ludmann. He’ll be a busy man: McLaren has promised 14 new or additional models in its Track22 business plan.
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