Tesla snaps up Brit Kettle to pen hot designs
TESLA has secured the services of the young British designer behind the radical looks of the Volvo XC40, Auto Express can reveal.
Ian Kettle, a former Coventry University student, led the exterior design team on the well-received SUV.
However, his online work biography suggests he left his position at Volvo in February, and sources at the Swedish brand confirm that Kettle is no longer with the company. His current location is listed as “greater Los Angeles area”.
Auto Express understands that Kettle started work as a senior designer with Tesla a few weeks ago – part of a team reporting to the American company’s design director, Franz Von Holzhausen.
The move is a bold one for both parties; Tesla is likely to be hard at work on the raft of new models promised by the company’s boss Elon Musk over the next few years. Kettle, meanwhile, leaves Volvo during a strong period for the brand.
His senior designer role at Tesla is likely to include managing production projects, although the final sign-off for them would still be Von Holzhausen’s.
Tesla declined to confirm the appointment and Kettle himself was unavailable for comment.
Musk, meanwhile, made headlines last week by suggesting that he could take Tesla private. In an E-mail to company staff, the brand’s co-founder and chief executive said such a move would avoid the “wild swings in our stock price that can be a major distraction for everyone at Tesla”.
“Auto Express understands that Kettle started work as a senior designer at Tesla a few weeks ago”