Ford Focus RS creator to head Bentley design
Bentley Motors has appointed David Hilton as its new head of exterior design.
Hilton's previous work includes stints as chief designer at Ford Racing in Britain, Ford in Detroit and Germany and with Mazda in Japan.
His early successes included the 2002 Ford Focus RS, and the S-Max people mover.
In 2002, he founded his own design company, Motorcity Europe, which was effectively a group of designers based in Germany but working throughout Europe. Clients include McLaren, Fiat, Jaguar and Peugeot.
In 2009 he penned the Mazda superlight concept, but most interesting was his 447kW V10-powered mid-engine supercar, the MC1 concept of 2008. The concept never made it to production, nor was the client ever revealed, but it showed what Hilton was capable of.
Hilton should be a worthy successor to Raul Piers, credited as a crucial player in the turnaround of the Bentley marque after Volkswagen Group acquired the company in 1998.