Anders Warming returns to BMW group as chief designer at Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce has appointed former Mini design chief Anders Warming as its new Director of Design.

Warming, 48, will join Rolls-Royce from Warming Design, the company he founded in 2019, when he starts in the role on July 1.

He makes a return to the BMW family after starting his career with the Bavarian marque in 1996 at its Designworks studio in California, following the conclusion of his studies at the nearby Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Warming's experience includes almost 20 years in senior positions in the BMW Group, including Head of Design at Mini and Exterior Chief Designer at BMW.

Warming is best known within the industry for his work while at Mini from 2011, heading up the design of the third-generation Mini Hatch and the second-generation Clubman/Countryman.

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Despite being without a chief designer, Rolls-Royce released the Silver Bullet in 2020

With Warming stepping into the role, Rolls-Royce has finally found a chief designer to fill the hole Jozef Kaban left when he departed after just six months in the job to instead take up a role at Volkswagen.

Warming's appointment to the role of design chief means Rolls-Royce now has direction with its design language due to the role being empty since Kaban’s departure in October 2019.

Speaking about the appointment, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer at Rolls-Royce, said: "As our Director of Design, he will have a key role in defining our future aesthetic direction and realising our clients’ dreams and aspirations.

"Anders joins us as we move forward to full electrification of our brand, which will shape Rolls-Royce for decades to come. He will face the challenge of upholding the fundamental design principles of Sir Henry Royce himself, which have guided us for over 100 years.”

“It is a tremendous privilege and a humbling experience to be asked to take up this role. I am personally thrilled to be joining Rolls-Royce and am fully committed to the challenges presented by this great and historic brand as it moves into the future," Warming himself added.

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The Mini Clubman remains as Warming's most recent work with BMW before his departure

During his previous time at BMW, Warming designed the first-gen BMW Z4 and was a part of the team overseeing models like the X1, X3, X5, 1 Series, 5 Series and 6 Series from 2009 until 2013.

Warming can also be attributed to the design of a few notable concept cars, such as the BMW Gina and Vision Efficient Dynamics as well as Mini’s Vision Next Concept and the Rocketman.

His brief tenure at Borgward saw the Isabella Concept released in 2017, though the car has never made it into production.